Added 'focus_on_window_activation' directive

When a window receives a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW message, it can steal the focus. This may not be preferable to all users.
With this directive, the user can choose from one of the following:
1) 'smart' - focus the container if its workspace is visible, otherwise set the urgency flag (default)
2) 'urgent' - always set the urgency flag, do not steal focus
3) 'focus' - always switch focus, never set the urgency hint
4) 'none' - ignore the request entirely (do not switch focus, nor set the urgency hint)

fixes #1426

include/config.h

@@ -167,6 +167,18 @@ struct Config {
      * flag can be delayed using an urgency timer. */
     float workspace_urgency_timer;
 
+    /** Behavior when a window sends a NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW message. */
+    enum {
+        /* Focus if the target workspace is visible, set urgency hint otherwise. */
+        FOWA_SMART,
+        /* Always set the urgency hint. */
+        FOWA_URGENT,
+        /* Always focus the window. */
+        FOWA_FOCUS,
+        /* Ignore the request (no focus, no urgency hint). */
+        FOWA_NONE
+    } focus_on_window_activation;
+
     /** The default border style for new windows. */
     border_style_t default_border;
 

include/config_directives.h

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ CFGFUN(force_focus_wrapping, const char *value);
 CFGFUN(force_xinerama, const char *value);
 CFGFUN(fake_outputs, const char *outputs);
 CFGFUN(force_display_urgency_hint, const long duration_ms);
+CFGFUN(focus_on_window_activation, const char *mode);
 CFGFUN(hide_edge_borders, const char *borders);
 CFGFUN(assign, const char *workspace);
 CFGFUN(ipc_socket, const char *path);

parser-specs/config.spec

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ state INITIAL:
   'workspace_auto_back_and_forth'          -> WORKSPACE_BACK_AND_FORTH
   'fake_outputs', 'fake-outputs'           -> FAKE_OUTPUTS
   'force_display_urgency_hint'             -> FORCE_DISPLAY_URGENCY_HINT
+  'focus_on_window_activation'             -> FOCUS_ON_WINDOW_ACTIVATION
   'workspace'                              -> WORKSPACE
   'ipc_socket', 'ipc-socket'               -> IPC_SOCKET
   'restart_state'                          -> RESTART_STATE
@@ -210,6 +211,11 @@ state FORCE_DISPLAY_URGENCY_HINT_MS:
   end
       -> call cfg_force_display_urgency_hint(&duration_ms)
 
+# focus_on_window_activation <smart|urgent|focus|none>
+state FOCUS_ON_WINDOW_ACTIVATION:
+  mode = word
+      -> call cfg_focus_on_window_activation($mode)
+
 # workspace <workspace> output <output>
 state WORKSPACE:
   workspace = word

src/config_directives.c

@@ -329,6 +329,23 @@ CFGFUN(force_display_urgency_hint, const long duration_ms) {
     config.workspace_urgency_timer = duration_ms / 1000.0;
 }
 
+CFGFUN(focus_on_window_activation, const char *mode) {
+    if (strcmp(mode, "smart") == 0)
+        config.focus_on_window_activation = FOWA_SMART;
+    else if (strcmp(mode, "urgent") == 0)
+        config.focus_on_window_activation = FOWA_URGENT;
+    else if (strcmp(mode, "focus") == 0)
+        config.focus_on_window_activation = FOWA_FOCUS;
+    else if (strcmp(mode, "none") == 0)
+        config.focus_on_window_activation = FOWA_NONE;
+    else {
+        ELOG("Unknown focus_on_window_activation mode \"%s\", ignoring it.\n", mode);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    DLOG("Set new focus_on_window_activation mode = %i", config.focus_on_window_activation);
+}
+
 CFGFUN(workspace, const char *workspace, const char *output) {
     DLOG("Assigning workspace \"%s\" to output \"%s\"\n", workspace, output);
     /* Check for earlier assignments of the same workspace so that we

src/handlers.c

@@ -743,16 +743,17 @@ static void handle_client_message(xcb_client_message_event_t *event) {
             workspace_show(ws);
             con_focus(con);
         } else {
-            /* If the request is from an application, only focus if the
-             * workspace is visible. Otherwise set the urgency hint. */
-            if (workspace_is_visible(ws)) {
-                DLOG("Request to focus con on a visible workspace. Focusing con = %p\n", con);
+            /* Request is from an application. */
+
+            if (config.focus_on_window_activation == FOWA_FOCUS || (config.focus_on_window_activation == FOWA_SMART && workspace_is_visible(ws))) {
+                DLOG("Focusing con = %p\n", con);
                 workspace_show(ws);
                 con_focus(con);
-            } else {
-                DLOG("Request to focus con on a hidden workspace. Setting urgent con = %p\n", con);
+            } else if (config.focus_on_window_activation == FOWA_URGENT || (config.focus_on_window_activation == FOWA_SMART && !workspace_is_visible(ws))) {
+                DLOG("Marking con = %p urgent\n", con);
                 con_set_urgency(con, true);
-            }
+            } else
+                DLOG("Ignoring request for con = %p", con);
         }
 
         tree_render();

testcases/t/201-config-parser.t

@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@ client.focused          #4c7899 #285577 #ffffff #2e9ef4
 EOT
 
 my $expected_all_tokens = <<'EOT';
-ERROR: CONFIG: Expected one of these tokens: <end>, '#', 'set', 'bindsym', 'bindcode', 'bind', 'bar', 'font', 'mode', 'floating_minimum_size', 'floating_maximum_size', 'floating_modifier', 'default_orientation', 'workspace_layout', 'new_window', 'new_float', 'hide_edge_borders', 'for_window', 'assign', 'focus_follows_mouse', 'mouse_warping', 'force_focus_wrapping', 'force_xinerama', 'force-xinerama', 'workspace_auto_back_and_forth', 'fake_outputs', 'fake-outputs', 'force_display_urgency_hint', 'workspace', 'ipc_socket', 'ipc-socket', 'restart_state', 'popup_during_fullscreen', 'exec_always', 'exec', 'client.background', 'client.focused_inactive', 'client.focused', 'client.unfocused', 'client.urgent', 'client.placeholder'
+ERROR: CONFIG: Expected one of these tokens: <end>, '#', 'set', 'bindsym', 'bindcode', 'bind', 'bar', 'font', 'mode', 'floating_minimum_size', 'floating_maximum_size', 'floating_modifier', 'default_orientation', 'workspace_layout', 'new_window', 'new_float', 'hide_edge_borders', 'for_window', 'assign', 'focus_follows_mouse', 'mouse_warping', 'force_focus_wrapping', 'force_xinerama', 'force-xinerama', 'workspace_auto_back_and_forth', 'fake_outputs', 'fake-outputs', 'force_display_urgency_hint', 'focus_on_window_activation', 'workspace', 'ipc_socket', 'ipc-socket', 'restart_state', 'popup_during_fullscreen', 'exec_always', 'exec', 'client.background', 'client.focused_inactive', 'client.focused', 'client.unfocused', 'client.urgent', 'client.placeholder'
 EOT
 
 my $expected_end = <<'EOT';