Since some time, Scrivener doesn’t save its layout for any project. That means that each time I launch any project, I end up with a very small window and I have to spend some time to resize it like I want (since I’m using two screens and dual display, it’s not just like if clicking on “maximize” was enough).
Before that, each time I would launch Scrivener I would have the same layout as when I used it the last time. No resizing to do, everything stayed the same.
Creating manually a layout with the layout manager doesn’t work either. It exists but it doesn’t take anything into account.
I’m veeeryyy patient, but it is becoming really annoying now, even if it takes only 20 seconds each time to resize everything.
Anybody knows why it is like this?
Since it happened after a crash, maybe a file linked to layout saving has been corrupted? But how to know which one and how to fix it?
Note that no update corrected the issue.
This sounds like the ui file is corrupted in the project. With the project closed, try removing the “ui.ini” file from the project’s Settings folder. When you reopen the project, it will be back to the default settings, so you will need to redo everything again–window size, which elements are open, whether label colours are shown in the binder, etc.–but so long as the project is closing correctly now, it should all save properly when you close and not need to be redone on open.
If that doesn’t do it, it may not be a problem with the file but rather that something is causing the project to crash during the closing, so that the ui.ini file is never updated. If you have automatic backups running on close, are those saved correctly for this project?
I did like you said, I removed the ui.ini file of a project, then set up everything like I wanted, then I closed it.
When I opened the project again I could see that It didn’t solve the issue, once again the Scrivener window was tiny (default size I suppose).
Also, backups are done correctly by Scrivener.
Note that this issue concerns ALL projects (I’m juggling with four at the same time), so I’m guessing that there is an issue with a file in the Scrivener folder rather than in all the projects.
That file is created only if you modify or create a preset format (those found in Format/ Formatting/ Apply preset), and is not related to the layouts savings feature. So, I don’t think it is the cause of the problem you describe
None of the layout information is saved outside of the project. The textpresets.bin isn’t related at all; it’s just for saving the text formatting presets, as r6d2 said.
Do you have a sample project you could share, either uploaded here or sent to windows.support AT literatureandlatte DOT com, so I could take a look at it directly and test it? You can use Save As to create a new copy and then delete most of the text, etc. from it, or use the project replace to swap a bunch of characters to obfuscate the text. As long as the layout problem persists through closing and reopening it should be fine for testing, and you can then use File > Back Up > Back Up To… to create a zipped copy for uploading or emailing.
Sorry for the delay; we’ve been on holiday and are just now back and working through the backlog. The project you sent is saving its window size and placement correctly in my tests on Windows 7, but I’m working at the moment with only a single monitor. Have you tried a single-monitor setup as well, or are all your tests thus far on the dual-monitor setup? What if you resize the project window so it is only on the main screen and not touching any of the edges, does it reopen correctly in that case?
I’m aware of a problem on XP where a project will reopen maximize if the top and bottom edges of the window were touching the top and bottom of the screen (i.e. extended full height though not maximized in width); this obviously isn’t quite what you’re seeing, since your window is going smaller, but it may be a similar issue. Which version of Windows are you running?
I’ve tried with a single monitor and indeed it works… So the issue happens only when I use dual monitors.
My second monitor is on top the first one (I know, it’s quite unusual, but it’s very helpful). So I guess Scrivener has an issue only in this situation.
But what is weird is that it used to work that way for a long time then it stopped all of the sudden… Maybe something broke following an update?
Okay, I’ve taken a more thorough look at this with the two monitors and I see what’s going on. Sorry for the earller confusion. The reset this way is actually intentional behaviour, to avoid more serious problems that can occur when switching from a multi-monitor setup to a setup with fewer screens. Windows doesn’t have great windows management for these situations, and it’s very easy to run into a problem of a window opening offscreen. We had a number of users fall into this in earlier days, switching from two screens at home to one at work and so on. So to prevent this mess, projects that are closed while stretched across multiple screens reset to fit in a single monitor.
In your case, this is obviously not ideal, since you’re re-opening on the same setup and have to go through an elaborate resizing routine each time. The best solution would be to use the Layouts to save the window state and then just manually load that next time you open the project. It’s an extra click, but a lot easier than resizing, and avoids the problems we’d have if Scrivener tried to reopen exactly as it was.
As you noted, the Layouts Manager isn’t saving the layout currently, and I’ve filed a bug report for that. The layout should retain its size and leave it up to the user to implement it or not, and it’s just an oversight that it’s being reset like the main window. So unfortunately I don’t have a solution for you immediately, but it should be fixed in the future.
Alright, I understand. It makes perfect sense, I can see what issues you are talking about.
Thank you for your help, even if for good reasons it couldn’t solve my issue!
