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Bug 83483 - dialog windows in taskbar list
dialog windows in taskbar list
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Product: libwnck
Classification: Core
Component: general
unspecified
Other Solaris
: Normal major
: ---
Assigned To: libwnck maintainers
libwnck maintainers
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2002-05-30 04:34 UTC by Hidetoshi Tajima
Modified: 2004-12-22 21:47 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---


Attachments
4 irritating "Htt IM Status" Input Method dialogs in task list (289.52 KB, image/gif)
2002-06-14 03:47 UTC, Hidetoshi Tajima
Details

Description Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-05-30 04:34:45 UTC
Transient-for windows are all listed in gnome-control-panel.
Comment 1 Luis Villa 2002-05-30 18:05:08 UTC
Is this a WM or panel bug? [slowly trying to pick up WM knowledge]
Comment 2 Havoc Pennington 2002-05-30 21:03:28 UTC
It's a libwnck issue, I'd like to hear from the UI guys on whether
they consider it a bug though.
Comment 3 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-05-30 21:34:20 UTC
Sorry for wrong address. :-)

The trouble is for users in CJK locales. Input methods uses
so-it-called lookup-choice windows and they are usually 
created as popup-dialogs. They can be poped up and down as
often as every keystroke in some cases - and will update the
panel as many times.

Comment 4 Havoc Pennington 2002-05-30 21:44:41 UTC
I hate to make such a major UI decision just to work around one app
though.

I'm sure the input methods are closed source and we can't add "skip
task list" hints to them. :-/

Maybe we could hardcode a workaround for specific window classes...
Comment 5 Luis Villa 2002-05-30 22:00:59 UTC
Usability folks? Can you take a look at this?

[Didn't realize libwnck did window list too.]
Comment 6 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-05 02:14:45 UTC
I was not aware of libwnck's skip task list - I'd try this in
an input method at least for testing purpose, (But judging from
the comments in libwnck/window.h - WNCK_I_KNOW_THIS_IS_UNSTABLE...
I'm afraid this API is safe to use.:-)

As Havoc said, it would be easier to adapt existing input methods to 
the workaround. But where can this workaround be prepared? In metacity?



Comment 7 Havoc Pennington 2002-06-05 02:48:44 UTC
The point about libwnck isn't that it would be used by the input
methods, the point about libwnck is that you would put the code in
there to ignore dialog windows in the task list. i.e. the task list is
in libwnck.

To have an input method set the skip tasklist hint, you just need 
a fairly simple Xlib function, or a GTK patch such as the one attached
to bug 83057.

I wonder if Metacity should have a blacklist feature, where a file 
/usr/share/metacity/blacklist.xml contains something like:

<metacity_blacklist>
 <window class="InputMethod" name="foo">
   <problem name="does_not_set_skip_tasklist"/>
 </window>
 <window class="javax*">
   <problem name="popup_menus_marked_transient_for"/>
 </window>
</metacity_blacklist>

This is just the matched windows feature which I really hate, but 
maybe if it's billed as a blacklist of broken apps and only available
by editing a text file I could live with it. Since it might let us 
avoid adding so many workarounds to Metacity for the general case.

I don't know though, it would add quite a bit of code complexity and
size most likely.
Comment 8 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-05 06:28:53 UTC
Yeah - I don't want my input methods 
listed in metacity's blacklist, even
saying <authtor="toshi">.. It's great if libwnck would ignore dialogs
in the task
list.

Another UI issue in the current way is
users can close dialogs in the task list
even if the dialog windows themselves
don't have WM decoration or command menu.
Comment 9 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-05 16:55:39 UTC
mmm, mismatch with WM decoration is also the case with regular
toplevel windows? I'll create a test case and open a separate 
libwnck bugzilla if it's so.
Comment 10 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-07 18:34:14 UTC
Raised this up to higher/major.
Comment 11 Havoc Pennington 2002-06-07 18:55:11 UTC
It isn't obvious to me that dialog windows in general should skip the
task list, and I have no way to special-case input methods. So 
I would like someone to check what Windows XP does, and get some UI
team feedback.
Comment 12 Luis Villa 2002-06-10 11:40:35 UTC
I'm not really sure that this is a high priority bug. It is
irritating, but irritating to a small subset of users of proprietary
software and 'fixing' it in the proposed manner would have
implications for every one else that may or may not be desirable.
Removing the 'high' tag.
Comment 13 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-14 03:43:02 UTC
A small subsets of users in Asian countries - if this is 
hundreds, thousands, or 100 thousands order - will be 
irritated out of this. Not major problem, you say?

I'll attach a sample screenshot to demostrate how irritating it is.
It's the screenshot when I run a 
mozilla and opens 4 brower windows of it. There are 
four "Htt IM Status" windows in the task list as it
is created per application's toplevel window. Imagine
you have 10 brower window's open and 20 other applications
served by the input method, you will see 30 "Htt IM Status"
windows in the task list - while they are not necessary
to be controlled separately from these transient parent
windows.




Comment 14 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-14 03:47:55 UTC
Created attachment 9215 [details]
4 irritating "Htt IM Status" Input Method dialogs in task list
Comment 15 Calum Benson 2002-06-14 11:07:45 UTC
<hp> I would like someone to check what Windows XP does, and get some
UI team feedback.

In XP, it's only top level windows that appear in the tasklist, and
the occasional app-modal alert box (although they're not really
supposed to, they're just supposed to flash the top-level window's
entry in the tasklist to draw your attention to it).

Things like download progress indicators also appear in the tasklist,
but although they look like secondary windows it actually makes sense
to have them be top level windows, so you can continue to download a
file even after you've closed all your browser windows for example.
Comment 16 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-21 04:38:09 UTC
Havoc: skip_taskbar_hints works for me but only when
I sent the ClientMessage *after* mapping a window.

When I send the client message before XMapWindow,
metacity does not seem to process the client message 
event, since "if (window)" test at display.c:line 1369 
fails, and does not reach to meta_window_client_message().

Of course, I can first map a window then send 
skip_taskbar_hint. I'd just like to know if it is 
expected behaviour or not.

Comment 17 Havoc Pennington 2002-06-21 14:50:56 UTC
Before mapping the window you need to set the property directly
instead of sending the client message.

However, I was planning to make the change to avoid putting transients
in the tasklist.
Comment 18 Hidetoshi Tajima 2002-06-25 01:55:43 UTC
Thanks, setting properties to the transients works
very well regardless of mapping states.

But, yes please - it's much better if metacity(or libwnck) can
avoid putting them in the tasklist.
Comment 19 Havoc Pennington 2002-07-07 02:09:50 UTC
Fixed in CVS libwnck
Comment 20 Neven Boric 2002-09-22 08:00:11 UTC
I must say I really hate this change. Now mozilla download windows
don't show on the taskbar, and I have to minimize mozilla to see how
the downloads are doing.
I agree that maybe pref dialogs could skip the taskbar, but not
download progress indicators, I think what Windows does is right this time
Comment 21 Havoc Pennington 2002-09-22 14:42:11 UTC
There is already an open bug report on mozilla to fix that, as noted 
in the other bug on this topic.