BeGentleWithMe-INeedHelp
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Is there a way to get 5 web browser windows to open in set positions with set URLs?
I need to open 5 browser windows and position them on the screen so they don't overlap. I'm envisioning them not having the full frame - don't want the tabs atlong the top, don't want the address bar, etc. Just a thin frame around the windows (which will be video cameras from Nest). Each has a unique URL
Anyone know of a script / powershell / something else that will allow that? Click on it and it opens the windows, sized, placed correctly and in bare bones frames?
I can drop in the correct URL to a script. The URLs would look like: https://home.nest.com/camera/3cb550e7abbf4cf6ad794c97824c72e2
The machine would also be used for general surfing, so setting home pages isn't really the best answer (if that's even an answer)
Anyone know of a script / powershell / something else that will allow that? Click on it and it opens the windows, sized, placed correctly and in bare bones frames?
I can drop in the correct URL to a script. The URLs would look like: https://home.nest.com/camera/3cb550e7abbf4cf6ad794c97824c72e2
The machine would also be used for general surfing, so setting home pages isn't really the best answer (if that's even an answer)
Which browser? Forgetting the opening, sizing, and positioning of five windows for a moment, how does your browser achieve the thin, bare bones frame on a window?
ASKER
Joe - I can't find examples now, but I've seen when you click on a web page, it opens a pop up window to another page and that doesn't have the tabs / address bar of a typical web window. But it's a webpage.
something like this? A series of these lines? But not sure of syntax for position, size, and running that. is that VB? Power shell?
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31710446/how-to-open-a-browser-window-without-any-bars-like-address-bars-bookmarks-bars
something like this? A series of these lines? But not sure of syntax for position, size, and running that. is that VB? Power shell?
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31710446/how-to-open-a-browser-window-without-any-bars-like-address-bars-bookmarks-bars
The easiest way that I could think of would be to create your own (local) HTML page which has 5 correctly positioned "iframe" tags that point to your 5 URL's for the camera. That way you won't get all the tabs/address stuff. It will depend on whether the camera feeds are happy to live inside iframes though, but quite simple to try it and see.
Which browser?
This might help
You will need to tweak the top and left etc to get the windows as you want but it will open multiple windows to a specific URL as you requested
Simple HTML page , open in you browser and click the button
See window.open information
or as already suggested using iframes
Note in this example google does not allow content in an iframe :)
You will need to tweak the top and left etc to get the windows as you want but it will open multiple windows to a specific URL as you requested
Simple HTML page , open in you browser and click the button
See window.open information
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<script language="javascript">
function popupWindow(url, top,left,width,height) {
window.open(url,'popupWindow','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,copyhistory=no,width='+width+',height='+height+',screenX=150,screenY=150,top='+top+',left='+left+'')
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<input type="button" value="open windows" onclick="popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',0,0,250,250);popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',0,260,250,250);popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',0,520,250,250);popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',260,0,250,250);" >
</body>
</html>
or as already suggested using iframes
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Untitled Document</title>
</head>
<body>
<br>
<br>
<iframe width="500" height="500" src="https://google.co.uk"></iframe>
<iframe width="500" height="500" src="https://google.co.uk"></iframe>
<iframe width="500" height="500" src="https://google.co.uk"></iframe>
<iframe width="500" height="500" src="https://google.co.uk"></iframe>
<iframe width="500" height="500" src="https://google.co.uk"></iframe>
</body>
</html>
Note in this example google does not allow content in an iframe :)
Without using IFrame you can tile five separate browser windows (or any windows for that matter) with my Tiler tool
https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/31834/Window-Tiler.html
https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/31834/Window-Tiler.html
ASKER
I tried a simple iframe html and that didn't work (just white boxes)... so maybe nest doesn't let you use iframes on their pages?
GM: I tried your first script. some questions:
I need 5 windows. So I added another popup.... and ended that one with a semicolon?
I only get 1 window when I click on the open windows button
Can you just have it run / open the 5 windows without needing the click on the button'?
Should I be editin gthe +height+ fields with numbers? like this:
(url,'popupWindow','toolba r=no,locat ion=no,dir ectories=n o,status=n o,menubar= no,scrollb ars=yes,re sizable=ye s,copyhist ory=no,wid th='500',h eight='500 ',screenX= 150,screen Y=150,top= '+top+',le ft='+left+ '')
again, I'm looking for 5 windows, each with a DIFFERENT URL
GM: I tried your first script. some questions:
I need 5 windows. So I added another popup.... and ended that one with a semicolon?
I only get 1 window when I click on the open windows button
Can you just have it run / open the 5 windows without needing the click on the button'?
Should I be editin gthe +height+ fields with numbers? like this:
(url,'popupWindow','toolba
again, I'm looking for 5 windows, each with a DIFFERENT URL
For the third time: Which browser?
Chrome? Edge? Firefox? IE11? Vivaldi? Anything that works? :)
Chrome? Edge? Firefox? IE11? Vivaldi? Anything that works? :)
I suspect the browser is irrelevant in this case
this example will open 5 windows when the page loads,
You do not need to alter the java function, only the onload event
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<script language="javascript">
function popupWindow(url, top,left,width,height) {
window.open(url,'popupWindow','toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,copyhistory=no,width='+width+',height='+height+',top='+top+',left='+left+'')
}
</script>
</head>
<body onLoad="popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',0,0,250,250);
popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',0,260,250,250);
popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',0,520,250,250);
popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',260,0,250,250);
popupWindow('http://google.co.uk',260,260,250,250)">
<br>
<br>
</body>
</html>
this example will open 5 windows when the page loads,
You do not need to alter the java function, only the onload event
> I suspect the browser is irrelevant in this case
It's not irrelevant...depending on how you implement it. For example, I'd be inclined to use IE COM calls to do it. This allows for easy control of the visibility of the address bar, menu bar, toolbar, and status bar (in order to have just a thin border on all four sides), as well as the ability to resize each window to the specified size and move each one to the specified location. But, of course, IE COM won't work with other browsers. Regards, Joe
It's not irrelevant...depending on how you implement it. For example, I'd be inclined to use IE COM calls to do it. This allows for easy control of the visibility of the address bar, menu bar, toolbar, and status bar (in order to have just a thin border on all four sides), as well as the ability to resize each window to the specified size and move each one to the specified location. But, of course, IE COM won't work with other browsers. Regards, Joe
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It is irrelevant if you use the Tiler tool
@Shaun Vermaak
While your tool is useful, in Windows 10 you can right click on the task bar and select "Show windows side by side" which means no code to compile or download. I know its not automatic but still a quick option
That said, I like the tool
While your tool is useful, in Windows 10 you can right click on the task bar and select "Show windows side by side" which means no code to compile or download. I know its not automatic but still a quick option
That said, I like the tool
You are missing the part where it does that on a timer GMGenius :)
Look at the video
Look at the video
ASKER
Thanks guys! Sorry Joe, missed the which browser part of your post.
Shaun - I quickly looked at your app. Thanks for putting it out there. But seemed too complicated (for me).
GM: Looks like you nailed what I was looking for. THANKS!
A small gripe with chrome (certainly not you!!) - I get a message 'popups blocked', I clicked allow and try again, and get the same message, allow, check settings and the file path is in the allow section. I just turned off popups for now and it worked. I'll see if I put the file on a website, if chrome does better with the allow command.
Shaun - I quickly looked at your app. Thanks for putting it out there. But seemed too complicated (for me).
GM: Looks like you nailed what I was looking for. THANKS!
A small gripe with chrome (certainly not you!!) - I get a message 'popups blocked', I clicked allow and try again, and get the same message, allow, check settings and the file path is in the allow section. I just turned off popups for now and it worked. I'll see if I put the file on a website, if chrome does better with the allow command.
Sorry Joe, missed the which browser part of your post.No problem. I just didn't want to spend time on it if you weren't interested in IE, which is what I was using because of COM. I'm glad that GM's script works for you (a very nice piece of code, btw), although I'm surprised that it meets your needs, because it still has a title bar with the standard window controls and an address bar. I tested GM's script in Chrome and one of the windows looks like this (expanded to a larger size for posting here):
You said in your initial post, "...don't want the tabs along the top, don't want the address bar, etc. Just a thin frame around the windows ..." That's what I was shooting for and the window with my IE11 COM code looks like this:
Regards, Joe
ASKER
Joe - me saying GW's code 'meets my needs'.... certainly not to disparage GW with this, but most anything near the mark would be light years beyond what we had (which was nothing). I didn't even notice the address bar was there till you mentioned it. I got the 5 windows, a 'reasonably small' amount of border / window info. And it's simple enough that even >> I << could tweak it for window size and placement on the screen (that's about the limit to my abilities).
As it turns out, I personally like chrome better than IE, my experience is that it's faster... and I think now chrome is much more popular than IE / Edge? (not that I was ignoring your question) .
Yes, that last picture you posted with the thin frame / no address, IS nicer. But just limited to use in IE? I was away from my desk, GW posted the 17 lines of code and I went with that. I'm finally realizing the need to not obsess over issues. I'm helping a non-techie friend with this, so even more so for him - anything is better than what he had.
And as much as I just said I am learning not to obsess, I need to share what caused all this (a rant about Nest cameras... nest, owned by that small company / limited resourses company called,,, google? Alphabet? You may have heard of them : )
The friend had bought 4 nest cams, paying Nest monthly for storing 10 days of activity form each cam. Going to nest.com and logging in, he'd see all 4 cams on a single 'home' page and the video would be live. Same on a Nest iphone app.
I set up a 5th cam for him. Then he tells me that the home page refreshes every 12 or so seconds, rather than live video. I clean his machine, empty cache, try IE (we had been using Chrome... a google product). Same thing.
Their tech support says 'yeah, it should be live video'. they have us do the same things I already did. They say they';ll look into it.
I try that home page on several PCs on different networks - mine, clients, etc. all the same slow video in a web browser. But iphone app is live video - so I'm thinking its a systemic issue with their web home page.
Calling more, getting to sr. reps, then emailing to president of nest, get to executive customer disservice.
>>>> AFTER 2 WEEKS of back and forth <<< sr techs not sure if there's a problem like in this conversation:
Using a test account they had, They say 'we have live video'.
how many cams do you have on that account?
4
can you add a fifth
after a call back... yeah we can reproduce the issue
Is the issue by design or a bug?
Not sure. (Sr. Techs not sure how their product works???? again, from live video to 12+ seconds between screen grab refreshes when adding 1 more cam)
and the exec customer disservice rep asking me to make a 30 second video (why don't you log in as me - I'll give you the credentials... no we can't do that). and asking for the AV running on a machine, processor, bandwidth at different locations, etc....
all the while, again, keep in mind - the iphone app is working fine on loads of networks / 3 different iphones (so it's not an issue with the bandwidth for the cams)... and if you click on each cam on that home page, you can get 5 windows with 5 cams showing live video... so the system CAN send 5 cams of live video... just not on that 1 page
Then after the 2 weeks I get FROM EXECUTIVE CUSTOMER DISSERVICE:
===
Thank you so much for your patience. I wanted to reach back out to clarify and answer your questions.
I was able to confirm that the behavior is actually intended, the reasoning behind this behavior is so that the network does not get slowed down or interfere with the normal operation of the the wireless network. The behavior occurs once a 5th camera is added and continues with additional cams after 5.
I'm very sorry for any confusion that was caused surrounding this.
Aaron R. | Nest Executive Customer Relations | aaronr@nestlabs.com|
=====
I think you'll agree that's a crock! The iphone app works fine so they should 'break' that to have it conform with that BS explanation.
I wanted him to sell the cams and get amazon or someone else's cams... but that admittedly may be jumping from frying pan into fire - there'll be some other issues likely.
Is it me or is customer service quality for most companies dropping off a cliff these days?
Rant over
As it turns out, I personally like chrome better than IE, my experience is that it's faster... and I think now chrome is much more popular than IE / Edge? (not that I was ignoring your question) .
Yes, that last picture you posted with the thin frame / no address, IS nicer. But just limited to use in IE? I was away from my desk, GW posted the 17 lines of code and I went with that. I'm finally realizing the need to not obsess over issues. I'm helping a non-techie friend with this, so even more so for him - anything is better than what he had.
And as much as I just said I am learning not to obsess, I need to share what caused all this (a rant about Nest cameras... nest, owned by that small company / limited resourses company called,,, google? Alphabet? You may have heard of them : )
The friend had bought 4 nest cams, paying Nest monthly for storing 10 days of activity form each cam. Going to nest.com and logging in, he'd see all 4 cams on a single 'home' page and the video would be live. Same on a Nest iphone app.
I set up a 5th cam for him. Then he tells me that the home page refreshes every 12 or so seconds, rather than live video. I clean his machine, empty cache, try IE (we had been using Chrome... a google product). Same thing.
Their tech support says 'yeah, it should be live video'. they have us do the same things I already did. They say they';ll look into it.
I try that home page on several PCs on different networks - mine, clients, etc. all the same slow video in a web browser. But iphone app is live video - so I'm thinking its a systemic issue with their web home page.
Calling more, getting to sr. reps, then emailing to president of nest, get to executive customer disservice.
>>>> AFTER 2 WEEKS of back and forth <<< sr techs not sure if there's a problem like in this conversation:
Using a test account they had, They say 'we have live video'.
how many cams do you have on that account?
4
can you add a fifth
after a call back... yeah we can reproduce the issue
Is the issue by design or a bug?
Not sure. (Sr. Techs not sure how their product works???? again, from live video to 12+ seconds between screen grab refreshes when adding 1 more cam)
and the exec customer disservice rep asking me to make a 30 second video (why don't you log in as me - I'll give you the credentials... no we can't do that). and asking for the AV running on a machine, processor, bandwidth at different locations, etc....
all the while, again, keep in mind - the iphone app is working fine on loads of networks / 3 different iphones (so it's not an issue with the bandwidth for the cams)... and if you click on each cam on that home page, you can get 5 windows with 5 cams showing live video... so the system CAN send 5 cams of live video... just not on that 1 page
Then after the 2 weeks I get FROM EXECUTIVE CUSTOMER DISSERVICE:
===
Thank you so much for your patience. I wanted to reach back out to clarify and answer your questions.
I was able to confirm that the behavior is actually intended, the reasoning behind this behavior is so that the network does not get slowed down or interfere with the normal operation of the the wireless network. The behavior occurs once a 5th camera is added and continues with additional cams after 5.
I'm very sorry for any confusion that was caused surrounding this.
Aaron R. | Nest Executive Customer Relations | aaronr@nestlabs.com|
=====
I think you'll agree that's a crock! The iphone app works fine so they should 'break' that to have it conform with that BS explanation.
I wanted him to sell the cams and get amazon or someone else's cams... but that admittedly may be jumping from frying pan into fire - there'll be some other issues likely.
Is it me or is customer service quality for most companies dropping off a cliff these days?
Rant over
I feel so silly addressing you as BeGentleWithMe-INeedHelp.. .how about sharing a real name...even just a first name is fine. Anyway, I guess I took your request too literally...thought it was important for you to have windows with just a thin border all around. That's quite a story about the Nest cameras...thanks for sharing! Regards, Joe
ASKER
Mike. As always, thanks!
You're welcome, Mike. As always, very happy to help...or, at least, try to. :) Regards, Joe
You have to fit that many manually so far as I know. Snap To might handle more than two. Snap To easily handles two.