Re: Odd problem with window geometry

[Al Eisner]

On Wed, 4 Dec 2024, Joel Reicher wrote:

(I initially wrote)

> > I have had a consistent problem in starting up emacs on a Rocky
> > 9 Linux platform.  (I have no control over the machine, but it
> > appears to be using emacs-27.2.)  If I specify window size (with
> > either -g or --geometry) on the command line, I first see a
> > window of appropriate size (which changes when I change the
> > values), but then as initialization completes it collapses to a
> > window with only 3 or 4 lines; there is also a small change in
> > width.  This happens whether or not I have a .emacs file.  (I
> > have no other initializtion file.)  I have longed used emacs on
> > both Redhat=6 Linix and Linux OS-7, with no such problem, but I
> > think the emacs version there was 25.  In case it matters, I use
> > XMing as my X server, but that is unchanged from my usage on the
> > other platforms.
> >
> > Does this behavior ring a bell with anyone?  I must be missing
> > something.
>
> This is just a stab in the dark, but I've noticed a weird geometry
> change when the toolbar is being removed. Maybe there's also one
> happening when it's being drawn? Perhaps experiment with having it
> enabled or disabled? And maybe same for the menu bar?
>
> Regards,

I need the menu bar and prefer to keep the toolbar as well.

But I've adequately figured this out.  This page in the Emacs Lisp manual
proved very helpful: 
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Frame-Parameters.html

If instead of specifying geometry on the command line I define it by adding
to default-frame-alist in my .emacs file, I see three steps when I start
emacs:  first a plausible initial window, second it shrinks to the problem
window, and third it changes to my selected defaults (provided I have selected
a fixed-width font). The manual does not mention that second step, which 
still seems anomalous, but I don't think I need to worry about it.

The one remaining issue is that if I additionally specify geometry on the
command line (which the manual says affects the initial window, not the
default window), step 1 respects that as an initial window, step 2 is still
the proble, but then for some reason step 3 is ignored, so I'm left with 
the 3-or-4-line window.  It is possible that using a timer, as suggested
in a previous thread linked by Joost, will deal with this issue.  But 
I don't really need to include geometry on the command line.

Thanks for all the responses.