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From: mouse@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re:  386i/OpenWindows 2.0/MIT Distrib Problems
Message-ID: <9101010632.AA27736@Larry.McRCIM.McGill.EDU>
Date: 1 Jan 91 06:32:38 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 33

> [W]e have a Sun 386i in our office, and I am trying to install some
> software on it to help us out.  We are running Open Windows 2.0 from
> Sun.  The programs that we wish to run are contributed programs from
> the MIT X project (like Xfig, and many others).  Our problem is that
> the programs compile nicely, but then do not accept input from the
> keyboard (some do, some don't).

This is undoubtedly the non-ICCCM-compliance problem.  The ICCCM
specifies a way for programs to tell the window manager whether they
are interested in keyboard input, and if so, what model they expect to
use (ie, how they expect to deal with keyboard focus).

The problem is that many programs, particularly those designed for R3,
do not set the hints on their top-level window(s) correctly for this.
I am not sure whether the WM_HINTS property is not being set or whether
it's being set to something incompatible with the ICCCM definition, but
in any case, most window managers seem to deal with this situation as
if the program had claimed to be uninterested in keyboard input.

Some window managers will give a window focus whether it asks for it or
not.  Others, such as (I hear) olwm, are much pickier about this.

The proper fix, of course, is to make the program set its hints
correctly.  If for some reason this cannot be done, it may be possible
to persuade the window manager to give focus to windows even though
they haven't asked for it; at least some of the strict window managers
have some way to tell them to be less strict.  (I don't use such a wm,
so I don't know the details.  Check your documentation.)

					der Mouse

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