Support X11 urgency hint on Linux
Today it is possible to set urgency hint using the "Custom command" option:
notify-send '%title' '%text' -i '%image'; wmctrl -r 'Thunderbird' -b add,demands_attention
However I'd like to use the GNotifier engine instead of the Custom one, especially because I'm using notify-send anyway.
What I'd like to see is a new option to optionally set the urgency hint in addition to showing the notification.
Thanks!
Currently, GNotifier tries to set the focus on TB window only when user clicks "Open" action on the notification.
In 8e82b90 I've added new option: "Set focus on Thunderbird window on new notification". When enabled, on Windows it will bring TB window to the foreground but on Linux it should trigger "X11 urgency hint".
Please try the latest dev XPI and let me know if it works for you.
Thanks! The behavior is the following on Arch Linux + i3wm:
- When I'm currently on a different workspace (virtual desktop) from Thunderbird, the urgency hint is triggered (correct!)
- When I'm on the same workspace as Thunderbird (e.g. working in a text editor), the urgency hint is not triggered, instead the focus is being stolen by Thunderbird (which I think is not very cool).
For me personally 8e82b90 is enough and I'm fine with closing this ticket, I'll be using this functionality because I usually keep Thunderbird on a dedicated workspace. However I'm not sure if the same applies for other people who also want urgency hint 🙂 Up to you.
You right, it will steal focus. I'm using focus() method that is built into TB API. Probably this method do more than only setting urgency hint...
My (hopefully temporal) workaround is as follows:
- In c270272 I've added option to execute custom command together with GNotifier engine. You have to set engine to "GNotifier + Custom command"
- Now, you can execute "wmctrl -r 'Thunderbird' -b add,demands_attention" and still use GNotifier implementation
Check the latest dev XPI.
This works correctly in all cases, thanks! 👍
I think this is actually not a bad workaround at all, I can see how useful it can be. And if choosing between this approach and "Set focus on Thunderbird window on new notification", I would definitely prefer this one, I find the automatically stealing focus a bit too much intrusive. Will you keep that checkbox at all, or will you remove it?
You right. I've renamed option to "Set urgency hint on new notification" (4f98f83). When enabled, wmctrl -r 'Thunderbird' -b add,demands_attention command will execute on every new notification.
This is the best! Just tested, it works perfectly with GNotifier engine 👍