[KDE/Mac] making applications "launch in the foreground"

[Ian Wadham]

Hi guys,

On 06/07/2014, at 6:28 AM, Marko Käning wrote:
> On 05 Jul 2014, at 22:10 , René J.V. Bertin <rjvbertin at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Of course, same for me. Though I'd add that the situation here is more complex: the kwallet dialog was there first, and then other windows come to cover it. 
> 
> Well, that’s where I am not sure! I often had the impression that the dialog should have been visible.
> I usually have 6 virtual screens and kwallet should come up at the one where KDE starts with (being virtual desktop #1), but it fails to make itself visible enough for me. :/

@Marko: I have already replied re KWallet earlier today.

Returning to our main topic, I am finding at the moment that all
"regular" KDE apps come to the foreground if you start them in
the proper Apple OS X way: from an icon in the dock, by double
click on an item in the /Applications/ folder, by using "open" on
a command-line or by single-click in an Applications shortcut
icon down near the Trash can.

Some KDE things are built as apps, for one reason or another,
but they are not really apps (I call them "irregular": they are not
built with a main window and menus, but they do have a .plist).

Examples are kded4 (which is a daemon), kdeinit4 and kwallet
(which is a kind of server, I think).  I have not yet identified which
apps are truly irregular, nor the reasons for that in each case.

The only other "hidden window" behaviour I have noticed, apart
from Dr Konqi (started by fork()), is in
Palapeli->Preferences…->General Settings->Puzzle Table->
Background: which is a Combo Box listing various background
.jpg's, plus the option "Single color".  If you click on "Single color",
it enables the button on the right.  That button is supposed to
bring up a standard KDE "Select Color" dialog, but the dialog is
always hidden behind the main dialog, so it appears not to be
working.  It works fine and comes out on top in other KDE
Preference dialogs, so why not here?  I think it must be due
to some quirk of Palapeli, KDE library or Qt library settings
programming, but have found no smoking gun so far.

If you know of any other "hidden window" cases, please let
me know.

Cheers, Ian W.