[PATCH 1/2] Introduce keyboard grabbing protocol for Xwayland

Peter Hutterer peter.hutterer at who-t.net
Sun Apr 2 00:57:09 UTC 2017


woohoo, grabs. My favourite topic! ;)

Mostly ok, a few complaints regarding the documentation but the protocol is
fine from my POV.

On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 05:27:22PM +0100, Olivier Fourdan wrote:
> This patch introduces a new protocol for grabbing the keyboard from
> Xwayland.
> 
> This is needed for X11 applications that map an override redirect window
> (ths not focused by the window manager) and issue an active grab on the

/me buys a 'u'

> keyboard to capture all keyboard events.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Olivier Fourdan <ofourdan at redhat.com>
> ---
>  Makefile.am                                        |   2 +
>  configure.ac                                       |   2 +-
>  unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/README             |   4 +
>  .../xwayland-keyboard-grab-unstable-v1.xml         | 101 +++++++++++++++++++++
>  4 files changed, 108 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>  create mode 100644 unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/README
>  create mode 100644 unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/xwayland-keyboard-grab-unstable-v1.xml
> 
> diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
> index e693afa..d100c13 100644
> --- a/Makefile.am
> +++ b/Makefile.am
> @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ unstable_protocols =								\
>  	unstable/tablet/tablet-unstable-v2.xml			                \
>  	unstable/xdg-foreign/xdg-foreign-unstable-v1.xml			\
>  	unstable/idle-inhibit/idle-inhibit-unstable-v1.xml			\
> +	unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/xwayland-keyboard-grab-unstable-v1.xml	\
> +	unstable/keyboard-shortcuts-inhibit/keyboard-shortcuts-inhibit-unstable-v1.xml \
>  	$(NULL)
>  
>  stable_protocols =								\
> diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
> index fbb0ec2..e98bceb 100644
> --- a/configure.ac
> +++ b/configure.ac
> @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
>  AC_PREREQ([2.64])
>  
>  m4_define([wayland_protocols_major_version], [1])
> -m4_define([wayland_protocols_minor_version], [7])
> +m4_define([wayland_protocols_minor_version], [8])
>  m4_define([wayland_protocols_version],
>            [wayland_protocols_major_version.wayland_protocols_minor_version])
>  
> diff --git a/unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/README b/unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/README
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..dbe45a5
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/README
> @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
> +Xwayland keyboard grabbing protocol
> +
> +Maintainers:
> +Olivier Fourdan <ofourdan at redhat.com>
> diff --git a/unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/xwayland-keyboard-grab-unstable-v1.xml b/unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/xwayland-keyboard-grab-unstable-v1.xml
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..31dc365
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/unstable/xwayland-keyboard-grab/xwayland-keyboard-grab-unstable-v1.xml
> @@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
> +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
> +<protocol name="xwayland_keyboard_grab_unstable_v1">
> +
> +  <copyright>
> +	Copyright © 2017 Red Hat Inc.
> +
> +	Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
> +	copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
> +	to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
> +	the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
> +	and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
> +	Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
> +
> +	The above copyright notice and this permission notice (including the next
> +	paragraph) shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the
> +	Software.
> +
> +	THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
> +	IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
> +	FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
> +	THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
> +	LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
> +	FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
> +	DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
> +  </copyright>
> +
> +  <description summary="Protocol for grabbing the keyboard from Xwayland">
> +	This protocol specifies a way for Xwayland to request all keyboard
> +	events to be forwarded to a surface even when the surface does not
> +	have keyboard focus.
> +
> +	Unlike the X11 protocol, Wayland doesn't have the notion of
> +	active grab on the keyboard.
> +
> +	When an	X11 client acquires an active grab on the keyboard, all
> +	key events are reported only to the grabbing X11 client.
> +	When running in Xwayland, X11 applications may acquire an active
> +	grab but that cannot be translated to the Wayland compositor who
> +	may set the input focus to some other surface, thus breaking the
> +	X11 client assumption that all key events are reported.
> +
> +	When an X11 client requests a keyboard grab, the Wayland compositor
> +	may either inform or ask the user for the right to forward all key
> +	events to the given client surface.

this is confusing :) paragraph 3 talks aobut what's not working and
paragraph 4 about what this protocol should fix. How about something like:

        This protocol is application-specific to meet the needs of the X11
        protocol through Xwayland. It provides a way for XWayland to request
        all keyboard events to be forwarded to a surface even when the
        surface does not have keyboard focus.

        In the X11 protocol, a client may request an "active grab" on the
        keyboard. On success, all key events are reported only to the
        grabbing X11 client. For details, see XGrabKeyboard(3). 

        The core Wayland protocol does not have a notion of an active
        keyboard grab. When running in Xwayland, X11 applications may
        acquire an active grab inside XWayland but that cannot be translated
        to the Wayland compositor who may set the input focus to some other
        surface. In doing so, it breaks the X11 client assumption that all
        key events are reported to the grabbing client.

	This protocol specifies a way for Xwayland to request all keyboard
        be directed to the given surface. The protocol does not guarantee
        that the compositor will honor this request and it does not
        prescribe user interfaces on how to handle the respond. For example,
        a compositor may inform the user that all key events are now
        forwarded to the given client surface, or it may ask the user for
        permission to do so.

        Warning! Things may go boom... etc. etc.

> +
> +	Warning! The protocol described in this file is experimental and
> +	backward incompatible changes may be made. Backward compatible
> +	changes may be added together with the corresponding interface
> +	version bump.
> +	Backward incompatible changes are done by bumping the version
> +	number in the protocol and interface names and resetting the
> +	interface version. Once the protocol is to be declared stable,
> +	the 'z' prefix and the version number in the protocol and
> +	interface names are removed and the interface version number is
> +	reset.
> +  </description>
> +
> +  <interface name="zwp_keyboard_grab_manager_v1" version="1">

you've missed a big chance here by not calling it keyboard_grabber :)

> +    <description summary="context object for keyboard grab_manager">
> +	A global interface used for grabbing the keyboard.
> +    </description>
> +
> +    <request name="destroy" type="destructor">
> +      <description summary="destroy the keyboard grab manager">
> +	Destroy the keyboard grab manager.
> +      </description>
> +    </request>
> +
> +    <request name="grab_keyboard">
> +      <description summary="grab the keyboard to a surface">
> +	The grab_keyboard request can be used by the client to ask for a
> +	grab of the keyboard, effectively reporting all key events to a
> +	surface.

'can be used' is superfluous:
        The grab_keyboard request asks for a grab of the keyboard,
        effectively reporting all key events to a surface.


> +
> +	The protocol provides no guarantee that the grab is ever satisfied,
> +	and does not require the compositor to send an error if the grab
> +	cannot ever be satisfied. It is thus possible to request a keyboard
> +	grab that will never be effective.

I think this requires more specifics here. This is an application-specific
protocol so we can be a bit more precise in what the behaviour is that we
expect. First: "satisfied" is ambiguous in a keyboard grab - does that mean
it never activate at all? that it's an effective grab but no key events
may be sent (e.g. hotkey filtering)? that the grab is effective but may be
interrupted or terminated by focus changes invisible to Xwayland? All these
need to be spelled out. So something like:

        The protocol 
        * does not guarantee that the grab itself is applied for a surface,
          the grab request may be silently ignored by the compositor,
        * does not guarantee that any events are sent to this client event
          if the grab is applied to a surface, 
        * does not guarantee that events sent to this client are exhaustive,
          a compositor may filter some events for its own consumption
        * does not guarantee that events sent to this client are continuous,
          a compositor may change and return focus while the grab is
          nominally active

hmm, and thinking about the last point: do we need to specify what the focus
behaviour is if a grab is active? I'm assuming 'no' because there is no
notification whatsoever whether it ever activates anyway, but...

Last question: how will you deal with XGrabKeyboard() requests on already
grabbed keyboards? I can send that request twice with different grab windows
and it'll change the grab over (iirc). Xwayland will destroy the current
grab and request a new one?

Cheers,
   Peter

> +      </description>
> +
> +      <arg name="id" type="new_id" interface="zwp_keyboard_grab_v1"/>
> +      <arg name="surface" type="object" interface="wl_surface"
> +	   summary="surface to report keyboard events to"/>
> +      <arg name="seat" type="object" interface="wl_seat"
> +	   summary="the seat for which the keyboard should be grabbed"/>
> +    </request>
> +  </interface>
> +
> +  <interface name="zwp_keyboard_grab_v1" version="1">
> +    <description summary="interface for grabbing the keyboard">
> +	A global interface used for grabbing the keyboard.
> +    </description>
> +
> +    <request name="destroy" type="destructor">
> +      <description summary="destroy the grabbed keyboard object">
> +	Destroy the grabbed keyboard object. If applicable, the compositor
> +	will ungrab the keyboard.
> +      </description>
> +    </request>
> +  </interface>
> +</protocol>
> -- 
> 2.9.3
> 

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