Re: application make task in taskbar flick

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

On Sun, Nov 03, 2002 at 08:16:11PM -0600, Ben Jansens wrote:
> On Sun, Nov 03, 2002 at 05:58:46PM -0800, Ramiro T. wrote:
> > Hi!
> > 
> > Is there a draf about the ability of an application to make his own
> > button(in the taskbar) flickering if he want it.
> > 
> > Ramiro
> 
> Sounds like you just want to set the urgency hint on your window. The
> window manager decides how to display that to the user. 

That's how it should work.

(GNOME, Gtk+, et al. don't recognize the hint so far as I have seen.)

The EWMH might be misleading here because it only mentions the urgency hint
for dialog boxes:

  7.4. Urgency

  Dialog boxes should indicate their urgency level (information or warning)
  using the urgency bit in the WM_HINTS.flags property, as defined in the
  ICCCM.

Presumably this is following from the rationale in the ICCCM:

     This mechanism is useful for alarm dialog boxes or
     reminder windows, in cases where mapping the win-
     dow is not enough (e.g., in the presence of multi-
     workspace or virtual desktop window managers), and
     where using an override-redirect window is too
     intrusive.


The urgency hint is boolean so it cannot indicate a level of urgency,
only the presence or absence of it. The wording of the EWMH then seems
to imply that only information or only warning dialogs should set the
hint true; presumably warnings. But the ICCCM indicates that the hint
is useful for both types. (The language is different. I'm assuming
that ICCCM "alarm dialog boxes" are EWMH "warning dialog boxes" and
that ICCCM "reminder windows" are EWMH "information dialogs boxes",
or at least similar enough.)

Nowhere does the ICCCM forbid setting the hint for non-dialog windows.
Use for dialogs is presented as the rationale for the hint, and I believe
that will be the most common use of it, but not the only possible use.
For example:
  A web broswer might indicate in its main window, instead of a dialog, that
  a page has failed to load. If the broswer window is not visible at the time
  it could set the urgency flag. This might be done on the premise that
  the user expected slow loading but wanted the window out of the way and
  now he wants to try again or go elsewhere.

That may be a weak example, but action like this is preferable to a
window asking to be raised for no obvious reason.

That said, I suggest this rewording:

  7.4. Urgency

  Windows expecting immediate user action should indicate this using the
  urgency bit in the WM_HINTS.flags property, as defined in the ICCCM.


This may reach beyond the spec into interfaces, but perhaps it should
also be stated that the window should turn off the flag when focused?


Cheers,
Greg Merchan