Re: Collating proposed changes to 1.9e

[Michael ROGERS <M Rogers cs ucl ac uk>]

>Unfortunately, that is not the intent of the WM_HINTS urgency flag
>as defined by the ICCCM. According to the ICCCM, if the flag is set,
>the window manager "must make some effort to draw the user's attention
>to this window". This explicitly includes icons or windows on other
>virtual desktops, though it is not specified how it should be done,
>and the window manager is not obligated to map them or change the
>stacking order.

Nor should it be.  ;)

>The urgency flag implies a behavior that most clients will not want
>if they simply want to stay on top -- it does not even require that
>they be placed on top. (A window manager would be well within it's
>rights to make an urgent window sticky, for instance, so that it
>would always be seen.)

There are two scenarios where I can imagine a client might use a stay-on-top  
hint: 

The client wishes to keep one of its windows stacked above its other windows, 
eg because it is a modal dialog. Most window managers will attmpt to keep 
transient windows stacked above their owners, especially if they are modal, 
so no hint is needed for this.

The user has asked the client to stay on top of other clients, so that it is 
always visible. The user can just as easily request this via the window 
manager, so no hint is needed.

One scenario where I can imagine a client might misuse this hint:

It maps an urgent dialog and wishes to attract the user's attention. The user
is currently working in another app. A dialog pops up, and the user assumes it
comes from the app he/she is currently working with (the widgets look the
same... isn't consistency a wonderful thing?). If the client had used a
semantic hint, the window manager could have handled the situation more
intelligently.


Michael