focus-follows-mouse

focus-follows-mouse

[Sam Steingold]

GNU Emacs 23.0.60.4 (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 2.8.20)
 of 2008-05-05 on nyc-qws-005
 '--with-x-toolkit=gtk' '--prefix=/mnt/office/dev/opt'

I just noticed that I need to click the mouse to switch the focus
between emacs windows (as opposed to emacs frames/X windows which are
switched between based on the mouse movement).
Even though the documentation of focus-follows-mouse makes it abundantly
clear that this is not the intent of the variable, I think it would be
better if emacs switched the emacs window focus based on mouse movement
when this variable is set to non-nil.

-- 
Sam Steingold (http://sds.podval.org/) on Fedora Core release 5 (Bordeaux)
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Only the mediocre are always at their best.

Re: focus-follows-mouse

[David Kastrup]

"Sam Steingold" <ssteingold@janestcapital.com> writes:

> GNU Emacs 23.0.60.4 (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 2.8.20)
>  of 2008-05-05 on nyc-qws-005
>  '--with-x-toolkit=gtk' '--prefix=/mnt/office/dev/opt'
>
> I just noticed that I need to click the mouse to switch the focus
> between emacs windows (as opposed to emacs frames/X windows which are
> switched between based on the mouse movement).
> Even though the documentation of focus-follows-mouse makes it abundantly
> clear that this is not the intent of the variable, I think it would be
> better if emacs switched the emacs window focus based on mouse movement
> when this variable is set to non-nil.

I disagree since that makes the desktop inconsistent.  Even if Emacs
could reliably ignore the window manager for such functions.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

Re: focus-follows-mouse

[Sam Steingold]

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Hash: SHA1

David Kastrup wrote:
| "Sam Steingold" <ssteingold@janestcapital.com> writes:
|
|> GNU Emacs 23.0.60.4 (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version 2.8.20)
|>  of 2008-05-05 on nyc-qws-005
|>  '--with-x-toolkit=gtk' '--prefix=/mnt/office/dev/opt'
|>
|> I just noticed that I need to click the mouse to switch the focus
|> between emacs windows (as opposed to emacs frames/X windows which are
|> switched between based on the mouse movement).
|> Even though the documentation of focus-follows-mouse makes it abundantly
|> clear that this is not the intent of the variable, I think it would be
|> better if emacs switched the emacs window focus based on mouse movement
|> when this variable is set to non-nil.
|
| I disagree since that makes the desktop inconsistent.  Even if Emacs
| could reliably ignore the window manager for such functions.
|

I think you misunderstood me. My suggestion makes the desktop _more_
consistent.
What I am saying is:
I set focus-follows-mouse to t in emacs because I set my WM to "focus
follows mouse", i.e., when I switch between WM windows (emacs frames),
focus already follows the mouse.
what I _want_ is that when I move mouse between two emacs windows within
the same emacs frame (i.e., the same WM window, i.e., the WM does not
need to change anything), I want the focus to switch between the two
emacs windows as if by C-x o (or similar).
The behavior when focus-follows-mouse is nil should not change.
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Re: focus-follows-mouse

[Stefan Monnier]

> I just noticed that I need to click the mouse to switch the focus
> between emacs windows (as opposed to emacs frames/X windows which are
> switched between based on the mouse movement).
> Even though the documentation of focus-follows-mouse makes it abundantly
> clear that this is not the intent of the variable, I think it would be
> better if emacs switched the emacs window focus based on mouse movement
> when this variable is set to non-nil.

You mean that mouse-autoselect-window should default to the value of
focus-follows-mouse?

This has been proposed and it might make sense, but I'm not sure it's
a good idea: just like focus-follows-mouse is problematic in MacOS
(because you may need to move the mouse over some other frame just in
order to access the menu-bar), mouse-autoselect-window is problematic
because you may need to move your mouse over another window in order to
reach the menu-bar.


        Stefan "who uses mouse-autoselect-window"

Re: focus-follows-mouse

[David Kastrup]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>> I just noticed that I need to click the mouse to switch the focus
>> between emacs windows (as opposed to emacs frames/X windows which are
>> switched between based on the mouse movement).
>> Even though the documentation of focus-follows-mouse makes it abundantly
>> clear that this is not the intent of the variable, I think it would be
>> better if emacs switched the emacs window focus based on mouse movement
>> when this variable is set to non-nil.
>
> You mean that mouse-autoselect-window should default to the value of
> focus-follows-mouse?
>
> This has been proposed and it might make sense, but I'm not sure it's
> a good idea: just like focus-follows-mouse is problematic in MacOS
> (because you may need to move the mouse over some other frame just in
> order to access the menu-bar), mouse-autoselect-window is problematic
> because you may need to move your mouse over another window in order
> to reach the menu-bar.

Not just that.  In my window manager, I prefer lazy focus, which means
that accidental movement of the mouse does not cause any change on
workspaces with a single Emacs frame and no other windows (where the
track pad feels touched sometimes, this is quite important).

mouse-autoselect-window would disturb me.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum

Re: focus-follows-mouse

[martin rudalics]

 > ..., mouse-autoselect-window is problematic
 > because you may need to move your mouse over another window in order to
 > reach the menu-bar.

Simon and me spent quite some time resolving this in a reasonable way.
Do you have a test case where it doesn't work?

Re: focus-follows-mouse

[Miles Bader]

"Sam Steingold" <ssteingold@janestcapital.com> writes:
> Even though the documentation of focus-follows-mouse makes it abundantly
> clear that this is not the intent of the variable, I think it would be
> better if emacs switched the emacs window focus based on mouse movement
> when this variable is set to non-nil.

Please, no.  There is a very strong historical distinction between frame
and window behavior, and users are used to it.  This is core behavior,
and it can't just be changed based on a whim (and to my knowledge has
been essentially no demand for such a change).

[Morever, the behavior you want seems inconsistent with other apps --
pretty much everything that has a text entry "focus" requires a click or
command to change it, regardless of WM focus behavior (they typically
maintain a separate input focus per WM-window).]

-Miles

-- 
Opportunity, n. A favorable occasion for grasping a disappointment.