[Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0 of 2] sdl usability improvements

[Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0 of 2] sdl usability improvements

[Stefano Stabellini]

Hi all,
this is a two patch set to improve sdl interface usability.

The first patch adds a -nograb command line option to prevent sdl from
grabbing mouse and keyboards on focus.
The second patch hides the mouse pointer when the sdl window is not in
focus.

Try using these patches together, passing as arguments -nograb and
-usbdevice tablet, then see how easier is to use the interface!

Cheers,

Stefano Stabellini

Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0 of 2] sdl usability improvements

[Anthony Liguori]

Stefano Stabellini wrote:
> Hi all,
> this is a two patch set to improve sdl interface usability.
>
> The first patch adds a -nograb command line option to prevent sdl from
> grabbing mouse and keyboards on focus.
> The second patch hides the mouse pointer when the sdl window is not in
> focus.
>
> Try using these patches together, passing as arguments -nograb and
> -usbdevice tablet, then see how easier is to use the interface!
>   

Click-to-grab gets disabled when using -usbdevice tablet.  The only way 
to enable grab when using -usbdevice tablet is to hit ctrl-alt 
explicitly.  I am certainly open to discussing removing ctrl-alt grab by 
default when in absolute mode.  ctrl-alt is mildly convenient in 
absolute mode in order to send things like alt-tab.  You can also do 
that from the monitor though.

The later mouse hiding patch makes more sense in absolute mode.  
However, the current patch doesn't limit itself to absolute mode.  I 
would consider that a requirement for merging.

Regards,

Anthony Liguori

> Cheers,
>
> Stefano Stabellini
>
>
>   

Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0 of 2] sdl usability improvements

[Gerd Hoffmann]

Anthony Liguori wrote:
>> Try using these patches together, passing as arguments -nograb and
>> -usbdevice tablet, then see how easier is to use the interface!
> 
> Click-to-grab gets disabled when using -usbdevice tablet.  The only way
> to enable grab when using -usbdevice tablet is to hit ctrl-alt
> explicitly.  I am certainly open to discussing removing ctrl-alt grab by
> default when in absolute mode.

We have *kbd* and *mouse* grab here.  Grabbing the mouse in absolute
mode is pointless.  For the keyboard it still makes sense though, so you
can send keystrokes to the guest which are normally catched by the hosts
window manager.

cheers,
  Gerd

Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0 of 2] sdl usability improvements

[Anthony Liguori]

Gerd Hoffmann wrote:
> Anthony Liguori wrote:
>   
>>> Try using these patches together, passing as arguments -nograb and
>>> -usbdevice tablet, then see how easier is to use the interface!
>>>       
>> Click-to-grab gets disabled when using -usbdevice tablet.  The only way
>> to enable grab when using -usbdevice tablet is to hit ctrl-alt
>> explicitly.  I am certainly open to discussing removing ctrl-alt grab by
>> default when in absolute mode.
>>     
>
> We have *kbd* and *mouse* grab here.  Grabbing the mouse in absolute
> mode is pointless.  For the keyboard it still makes sense though, so you
> can send keystrokes to the guest which are normally catched by the hosts
> window manager.
>   

Right, one possible behavior is to grab keyboard on mouse over and 
release on mouse out.  However, this breaks alt-tab and IMHO tends to be 
pretty annoying.

Regards,

Anthony Liguori

> cheers,
>   Gerd
>
>
>
>
>   

Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0 of 2] sdl usability improvements

[Stefano Stabellini]

Anthony Liguori wrote:

> Click-to-grab gets disabled when using -usbdevice tablet.


Argh, I wasn't aware of this.
Better this way, no need for a new (ugly) command line option.

 

> I don't fully grok how this makes things better.  This seems like a
> nasty little hack too.  When you leave the window, the mouse disappears
> into one side of the screen, and when you come back, you have to move to
> where ever you were previously.
> 
> I understand how this could be useful with -no-grab, but this would
> defeat the sort of behavior that I commonly rely on when using grab
> (ungrab with a mouse in a convenient place, then come back and click on
> a button).
> 
> What's the user experience you are aiming for here?

The pointer-hide patch is useful if you have more than an open qemu window
and you are moving your mouse between them: you don't want to see more than
a pointer on screen.


> The later mouse hiding patch makes more sense in absolute mode. 
> However, the current patch doesn't limit itself to absolute mode.  I
> would consider that a requirement for merging.
> 

The changes you suggested make good sense, I'll repost only the second patch
with this change.