953847 - New Conversation takes focus from current task

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Instantbird Graveyard :: Conversation, defect)

Description

[Instantbot]

*** Original post on bio 406 by deOmega <jahkae AT gmail.com> at 2010-04-21 22:03:00 UTC ***

In the state where no conversation window is opened, when one  receives anew message.. not only does the new message window  open on top of other apps, but it also steals the focus.   
In my experience, I have had unfortunate situations where I would be  typing my password into a program, but I would then get a new message...  because I would generally hit the enter key after  entering my password,  part of what I typed would end up in the new message window.  This also happens with  other information besides password.

To resolve issues lie this, I typically would create an  empty message window, and minimize it to the task bar.

IDEA: The  option  to minimize new conversations to taskbar or even tray could resolve incidents like these among others relating to privacy.

Comment 1

[Patrick Cloke [:clokep]]

*** Original post on bio 406 at 2010-09-29 19:16:53 UTC ***

I'm going to confirm this. It can be pretty annoying to pop up when you're doing something else, might be better to open it in the background but notify the user via the taskbar, etc. like receiving a new IM.

Comment 2

[Instantbot]

*** Original post on bio 406 by deOmega <jahkae AT gmail.com> at 2010-10-05 01:04:22 UTC ***

(In reply to comment #1)
> I'm going to confirm this. It can be pretty annoying to pop up when you're
> doing something else, might be better to open it in the background but notify
> the user via the taskbar, etc. like receiving a new IM.

Thank you clokep,

I like your idea as I have seen it in other messengers:  

IDEA: The option to minimize new conversations to taskbar or even tray could
resolve incidents like these among others relating to privacy.

Comment 3

[Benedikt Pfeifer]

*** Original post on bio 406 at 2010-10-05 17:44:34 UTC ***

We just tried this with IRC private messages:

clokep, running Windows 7, experienced the problem.
For me, running Windows XP, the window opened in the background and flashed (or even stayed highlighted? I can't remember.)

Comment 4

[Instantbot]

*** Original post on bio 406 by deOmega <jahkae AT gmail.com> at 2010-10-05 19:36:48 UTC ***

I have had situations where the popping up is intermittent, but it  seems to be dependent on what program it is popping up behind... but either case, it does pop open in its  fight for priority.  I am also running windows 7.

Comment 6

[aleth [:aleth]]

*** Original post on bio 406 at 2012-06-30 20:44:30 UTC ***

To what extent is this fixed (given the interruptions manager etc) and what remains to be done?

Comment 7

[Instantbot]

*** Original post on bio 406 by deOmega <jahkae AT gmail.com> at 2012-06-30 21:29:59 UTC ***

I do not think that the interruptions manager directly relates to this, because the manager is dependent on one's status.  This is  really just a request  to have an option to prevent new messages from popping up.

Comment 9

[Patrick Cloke [:clokep]]

*** Original post on bio 406 at 2012-07-01 04:30:55 UTC ***

(In reply to comment #7)
> To what extent is this fixed (given the interruptions manager etc) and what
> remains to be done?

This isn't fixed at all. This relates to when a new conversation window is created it appears as the top most window on your screen...even if you aren't using Instantbird! This clearly interrupts the user and needs to be fixed. It's not directly related to the interruptions manager as (I think) we want the window to appear below the current task and flash the task bar (if the user has this option set).

Comment 10

[Instantbot]

*** Original post on bio 406 by deOmega <jahkae AT gmail.com> at 2012-07-01 05:06:47 UTC ***

Exactly as clokep states it.

Comment 11

[aleth [:aleth]]

*** Original post on bio 406 at 2012-07-01 12:41:59 UTC ***

(In reply to comment #10)
> This isn't fixed at all. This relates to when a new conversation window is
> created it appears as the top most window on your screen...even if you aren't
> using Instantbird! This clearly interrupts the user and needs to be fixed. It's
> not directly related to the interruptions manager as (I think) we want the
> window to appear below the current task and flash the task bar (if the user has
> this option set).

I asked because this "wanted" behaviour is precisely what already happens on Linux/KDE :)

I seem to remember adding window.focus() calls to the buddy list when activated from the tray for Linux specifically to bring the opened window to the front in that case. Here, it seems the reverse is needed for Windows.

Comment 13

[Instantbot]

*** Original post on bio 406 by Kissaki <kissaki0 AT googlemail.com> at 2013-01-26 14:41:26 UTC ***

Maybe the version number should be increased to 1.3 as the issue persists / is confirmed to exist in 1.3 as well!?

Comment 14

[Patrick Cloke [:clokep]]

*** Original post on bio 406 at 2013-01-26 14:42:18 UTC ***

(In reply to comment #14)
> Maybe the version number should be increased to 1.3 as the issue persists / is
> confirmed to exist in 1.3 as well!?

The version means that this bug has existed *since* that version.

Comment 15

[Patrick Cloke [:clokep]]

Attachment: WIP

*** Original post on bio 406 as attmnt 2235 at 2013-02-17 16:59:00 UTC ***

This is a WIP I have for this, it behaves funky when you explicitly open a conversation: the conversation ends as unfocused and lowered.

Also, commenting out the if block in imWindows.jsm is obviously not the right thing to do. :) (It also can cause a JS error if conv doesn't exist yet.)

I'd love some feedback about how to fix this issue though!

Comment 16

[Patrick Cloke [:clokep]]

Comment on attachment 8353998 [details] [diff] [review]
WIP

*** Original change on bio 406 attmnt 2235 at 2013-04-17 12:44:32 UTC ***

aleth, have any ideas on this one?

Comment 17

[aleth [:aleth]]

Comment on attachment 8353998 [details] [diff] [review]
WIP

*** Original change on bio 406 attmnt 2235 at 2013-06-04 11:51:56 UTC ***

Sorry I forgot about this one!

>This is a WIP I have for this, it behaves funky when you explicitly open a
>conversation: the conversation ends as unfocused and lowered.
Check whether IB as a whole has focus? You could then use the alwaysLowered flag hack only when that is not the case.

That might also help with the commented-out bits in imWindows. Those made me wonder whether in fact it would be enough to simply not explicitly focus() there if (isWindows && ibIsNotActiveWindow), making the alwaysLowered hack unnecessary? (i.e. does this Windows bug only occur due to the explicit focus() in imWindows?)

>+    // The window is opened as alwaysLowered to pop-under, now set it to normal
>+    // so it can be brought in front of other windows. Wait 1 second to allow
>+    // the window to fully initialize first.
>+    setTimeout(function() {
>+      xulWindow.zLevel = xulWindow.normalZ;
>+      window.blur();
>+    }, 1000);
This timeout should be replaced by a suitable event listener. (When you've found the right one, we can probably use it for the minimize-on-startup issue on Windows too!)

Comment 18

[Sylvestre Ledru [:Sylvestre]]

On the behalf of Florian:
Closing bugs related to the Instantbird UI as WONTFIX, as the development of the standalone chat client Instantbird has stopped. Instantbird users are encouraged to migrate to Thunderbird. The user interface of instant messaging in Thunderbird will feel familiar, as the Thunderbird IM support started as a fork of Instantbird.

Comment 19

[Sylvestre Ledru [:Sylvestre]]

On the behalf of Florian:
Closing bugs related to the Instantbird UI as WONTFIX, as the development of the standalone chat client Instantbird has stopped. Instantbird users are encouraged to migrate to Thunderbird. The user interface of instant messaging in Thunderbird will feel familiar, as the Thunderbird IM support started as a fork of Instantbird.