Unclear input focus in game with multiple windows

[GoogleCodeExporter]

This isn't a bug so much as a usability issue. When a game uses multiple
subwindows which accept input at the same time it's unclear in Gargoyle
which one has focus. Clicking on subwindows changes focus correctly, this
is a bit awkward because there is no visual feedback that shows the change.

A game where this comes up is City of Secrets
(http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/glulx/CoS.zip) which splits
the window into three subwindows, all of which allow for user input. (For
example, type Help to open a help menu under the main game window).
Depending on which of the two windows on the right has focus, using the
cursor either controls the help menu cursor in the bottom window or selects
lines for the prompt in the top window. Since there is no visual indication
for which subwindow has focus, I often end up typing in the wrong window,
which is confusing.

Would you consider implementing a visual cue to show which of the
subwindows has focus? Maybe blink the cursor in the window with focus, or
hide the cursor or dim the entire prompt when the window loses focus,
depending on what can be implemented easily/reliably?

Original issue reported on code.google.com by znxfire...@gmail.com on 11 Jul 2009 at 7:52

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I was just testing City of Secrets the other day, and I noticed the same 
behavior.

There's also a bug where if you press tab at the title screen, before the 
windows
have been arranged, the focus changes and there's no apparent way to recover it.

Some visual cue is definitely needed, and the relevant code needs to be 
overhauled in
any case.  A few of the assumptions about how to treat input (keys, clicks) 
break
down when presented with multiple windows.

Original comment by bcressey@gmail.com on 12 Jul 2009 at 12:53

• Changed state: Accepted
• Added labels: Component-Glk, Implementation, OpSys-All, Priority-High
• Removed labels: Priority-Medium

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Fixed in r356, r357, r358.

The input cursor should now be correctly redrawn in a buffer window that 
receives the 
focus from a tab keypress, and it should be erased from a buffer that no longer 
has the 
focus.

These changes make City of Secrets far more playable, at least for me.

Original comment by bcressey@gmail.com on 3 Jun 2010 at 7:33

• Changed state: Fixed