time delay before window changes?

rayandrews · 2025-07-19 13:54:30

If you move the mouse pointer outside a window it collapses -- or that's how I have it -- and that's fine, except that sometimes, like when grabbing the edge of a window to resize it, I'll move a millimeter too far and the window collapses before I move the mouse back to the 'grab' location. Can I have a slight delay, say 1/4 of a second, to adjust the pointer before the window collapses? I think there is, but I basically have everything perfect, except for that, so I don't want to start experimenting at random cuz I'll break more than I fix. Another example where a delay is good is, when a popup window opens, often it's outside the window of the application that created it, so you hafta move the pointer across enemy territory to get to the popup, and if you aren't quick enough the 'calling' window collapses, along with the popup, before you can get to the popup -- not very smart -- so again, a delay is wanted.

BTW, a related nice thing would be if the 'grab edge' zone was a bit wider, if such a thing is possible.

Last edited by rayandrews (2025-07-19 16:55:06)

ToZ · 2025-07-19 17:47:11

rayandrews wrote:

If you move the mouse pointer outside a window it collapses -- or that's how I have it -

How did you set this up?

BTW, a related nice thing would be if the 'grab edge' zone was a bit wider, if such a thing is possible.

https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfwm4/-/issues/176.
One option would be to force CSD windows which will give you a slightly larger buffer around the borders.

rayandrews · 2025-07-20 13:44:30

ToZ wrote:

rayandrews wrote:
If you move the mouse pointer outside a window it collapses -- or that's how I have it -
How did you set this up?
Isn't all that stuff in 'Window Manager' or 'Window Manager Tweaks'? All fragmented in different tabs and scattered all over. And you make some change and then the whole stack of clicks collapses and ... click .... click ... click ... click .... to get back to where you were. Or you change something, realize it was a mistake, and forget which tab held the change. If I could take a snapshot of my configuration to restore in case of disaster I'd be braver. Mind, this is a universal reality of computers these days so not to whine about xfce in particular. Anyway the 'logic' is correct -- when the mouse leaves some window I'm expecting the window beneath it to gain focus, I just wish there was a little bit of delay. Again, I could experiment but it's such a PITA when it's not exactly clear what all the various sliders and options do. So I'm just being lazy and asking you ;-)
BTW, a related nice thing would be if the 'grab edge' zone was a bit wider, if such a thing is possible.
https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfwm4/-/issues/176.
One option would be to force CSD windows which will give you a slightly larger buffer around the borders.

Long thread. So what is 'CSD windows' and how do I try this? Of course I could just reduce my mouse sensitivity but I have three monitors and it's 5 feet from one edge to the other, so too much sensitivity and I'm stroking the mouse.

ToZ · 2025-07-20 15:26:12

What do you mean then, by "it collapses"?

CSD windows are the controversial gnome method where window decorations are managed by the application itself. You can test this by setting the GTK_CSD environment variable to 1 before opening the window:

thunar -q
GTK_CSD=1 thunar

rayandrews · 2025-07-20 18:32:07

ToZ wrote:

What do you mean then, by "it collapses"?
Yeah, sorry, I know there's official jargon for these window events -- I just mean that when the mouse pointer moves off a window, if there's another window underneath, it then sits on top -- the previous window is on the bottom. Actually now that I think about it 'collapse' isn't the right word at all. I'm completely happy with it, but for the zero forgiveness for an overshoot on the border.
CSD windows are the controversial gnome method where window decorations are managed by the application itself. You can test this by setting the GTK_CSD environment variable to 1 before opening the window:
thunar -q
GTK_CSD=1 thunar

Doesn't seem to do anything that I can detect.

ToZ · 2025-07-20 20:13:29

Did the grab edge get bigger?

SSD Windows (small grab edge)

CSD Windows (larger grab edge)

Note: the images show the extent of the grab edge along the left side of the border.

Added later 2 h 29 min 41 s:

Pretty much what's wanted. But it didn't work here. I executed that command and then started another xfce terminal and it''s borders were unchanged.

Some programs, like thunar and xfce4-terminal, run in "server" mode (meaning a stub continues to work that new instances inherit properties from) and you need to kill all instances before testing. The problem with testing xfce4-terminal is that you have to kill it first making it difficult to test from (because its just been killed), so install something like xterm and do the testing from there:

pkill xfce4-terminal
GTK_CSD=1 xfce4-terminal

If you want to test it system-wide, put it in the environment file of your distro. For bash in Arch, that would be in /etc/profile.d:

export GTK_CSD=1

This location will vary among distros and shells.

rayandrews · 2025-07-23 14:20:51

What a weenie ... it wasn't that hard: Window Manager > Focus > 'Delay before window receives focus' INCREASE. 'Delay before raising focused window' DECREASE. That way I see instantly that I've wandered out of the window, but still have a bit of time to get back. It's good enough to grab even the narrow boarder. Sorry for being such a woos.

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#1 2025-07-19 13:54:30

time delay before window changes?

#2 2025-07-19 17:47:11

Re: time delay before window changes?

#3 2025-07-20 13:44:30

Re: time delay before window changes?

#4 2025-07-20 15:26:12

Re: time delay before window changes?

#5 2025-07-20 18:32:07

Re: time delay before window changes?

#6 2025-07-20 20:13:29

Re: time delay before window changes?

#7 2025-07-23 14:20:51

Re: time delay before window changes?

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