Disable focus request/alerting/attention demand/orange for one application

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1

I have an application (vinagre) that seems to demand attention constantly (aka the task bar is orange). Is there a way to have kde ignore the attention demand for just this application, while letting other more well-behaved apps demand attention? I like the general feature and it works well for other apps, just not vinagre.

2

I have a potential solution that utilises a KWin script which watches for the demands attention state of windows changing and if one is a Vinagre window which is also demanding attention, it changes that state to not be demanding attention.

Important Note: I’ve tried to write the script so that it will continue to work under KDE 6 (credit to @RedBearAK for some code I pinched for this) however I’ve only tested the below KWin script with KDE Plasma 5 as I don’t have a VM currently set up with KDE Plasma 6 (which I need to do for my own scripts), but I believe this should work. Additionally, I don’t know if I should be disconnecting the signals when windows are closed (or if I can), so hopefully this script doesn’t just cause any issues due to that.

The script is dependent on the window class (for this KWin script this is the resourceClass) being vinagre. I only did some basic testing using the main Vinagre window that opens when you load the application.

You need to put create a folder somewhere, let’s say it’s just under your home directory (~) called shut-up-vinagre. You want to have the following directory structure with the files noted:

shut-up-vinagre/
├─ contents/
│  ├─ code/
│  │  ├─ main.js
├─ metadata.json

In the main.js file, add the following:

// Check if we're using KWin 6. If not, assume it's KWin 5.
const isKWIN6 = typeof workspace.windowList === 'function';

let windowAdded;

// Abstract away API differences between KWin 5 and KWin 6.
if (isKWIN6) {
    windowAdded = workspace.windowAdded;
} else {
    windowAdded = workspace.clientAdded;
}

// Watch for windows being opened so we can check for
// Vinagre windows.
windowAdded.connect(function(win) {
    // Check if the window class is 'vinagre'.
    if (win.resourceClass.toLowerCase() == 'vinagre') {
        // Connect to the demandsAttentionChanged signal for Vinagre
        // windows and if the window demands attention, unset the
        // demands attention state.
        win.demandsAttentionChanged.connect(function() {
            if (win.demandsAttention) {
                win.demandsAttention = false;
            }
        })
    }
});

In the metadata.json file, add the following:

{
    "KPlugin": {
        "Name": "Shut up Vinagre!",
        "Description": "Prevents Vinagre from demanding attention.",
        "Icon": "preferences-system-windows-script-test",

        "Authors": [
            {
                "Name": "byteit101"
            }
        ],
        "Id": "shut-up-vinagre",
        "Version": "1.0"
    },
    "X-Plasma-API": "javascript",
    "X-Plasma-MainScript": "code/main.js",
    "KPackageStructure": "KWin/Script"
}

Once you’ve done all that, run the following command to install the script (it will be installed to ~/.local/share/kwin/scripts/):

Under KDE 5:

kpackagetool5 --type=KWin/Script -i ~/shut-up-vinagre/

Under KDE 6 (again, untested, but I believe should work):

kpackagetool6 --type=KWin/Script -i ~/shut-up-vinagre/

Then you need to go to System Settings and under Window Management > KWin Scripts, tick on the Shut up Vinagre! script from the list and click Apply. This should enable the script and whenever a Vinagre window demands attention it should immediately change back to not demanding attention.

I’ll try to get a VM set up with the most recent KDE Plasma 6 so that I can check if the script still works there, along with the kpackagetool6 command and the System Settings navigation.

Edit: I was able to test the updates in a VM and I’ve made a change to the script as the resourceClass was capitalized there and was able to confirm the kpackagetool6 and System Settings navigation.

2 Likes
3

It sounds like this app is misbehaving quite badly. Has anyone submitted a bug report for its developers to look at?

4

That works perfectly! well, except for if the signals need to be closed, I don’t know how to evaluate that yet

5

No, and vinagre has been zombie ware for a number of years now, which is a shame since it handles key input way better than krdc or remmina. I will submit a debian bug about this though.

Oh and for future reference: to trigger this bug, just connect to something and mouseover the vinagre window. If vinagre isn’t focused and a mouse moved over it, it demands attention.