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When I open several instances of the same application (eg I'm viewing multiple PDF files, or MATLAB) it merges buttons for the same program in the Unity Launcher into a single one. When I click on the merged button, it shows me a preview of all windows. When I choose one of the windows it opens in full screen mode. But when I want to switch to next window and I press on the button again, the order of windows in the preview mode is completely changed so I'm confused about what is next.

How can I prevent Ubuntu from reordering windows in preview mode? The below photo shows what I mean by preview mode.

preview mode

Zanna
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Mo Sani
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    you could use Alt+~ (the button above tab) to switch between windows of the same app.... probably not the solution you are looking for but maybe? – Joshua Besneatte Sep 21 '18 at 15:20
  • Thanks for your reply. But in the method you mentioned the same thing happens. The order of windows changes and I really get confused. – Mo Sani Sep 21 '18 at 15:31
  • the windows should always show in the order they are in from topmost to bottom most window... so when you select a window and it moves to the top, its location will be in the left of the list of windows... it shouldn't rearrange anything else though.... – Joshua Besneatte Sep 21 '18 at 15:38
  • This has been asked before: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1056871/can-i-change-the-ordering-for-grouped-dock-items-to-be-static – vanadium Sep 21 '18 at 15:56
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    The only thing I found is that if I right click on the Matlab button on the taskabr, it shows all the instances in name and here the order is constant. – Mo Sani Sep 21 '18 at 17:46
  • @vanadium It looks like launcher in Unity in the screenshot, not Ubuntu dock in GNOME. – pomsky Sep 23 '18 at 15:29
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    @pomsky, thank you. So this is not a duplicate as I indicated. Yet, same issue in Ubuntu 18.04 Dock. Dash to panel does it right, though. – vanadium Sep 23 '18 at 16:15

1 Answers1

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If you are working with many MATLAB (or Octave, Scilab) figures - I can recommend to switch to MATE DE. It will not group their icons on taskbar and will show them in order of appearance. In other words - Unity or GNOME Shell are not so good as MATE (and maybe Xfce).

Below is example of how MATE orders Scilab figure windows which are produced with the following code:

xdel(winsid());for i=1:10, f=scf(i); f.figure_name=sprintf('f %d', i); plot3d(); end;

Scilab 5.5.2 on Ubuntu MATE 16.04.5 LTS

- it is completely logical and predictable.

N0rbert
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    Valid recommendation, perhaps, but not an answer to this question. – vanadium Sep 21 '18 at 15:58
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    @vanadium OP will decide. I'm just showing working method to make things clear. – N0rbert Sep 21 '18 at 15:59
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    I agree, but I do not like answers on questions about Gnome Shell that are shortcut with an advising a change to Mate or another DE. The question here is specifically on reordering the windows in preview mode. Indeed, unfortunately, Dash to Dock does not do that. However, Dash to Panel does that right, and indeed, using a different DE can be suggested. – vanadium Sep 21 '18 at 16:06