I'm building a pretty rudimentary app where every 60 minutes it reminds me to "stand up from your de...

# compose-desktop

[Colton Idle]

I'm building a pretty rudimentary app where every 60 minutes it reminds me to "stand up from your desk!"

So far I just have a

scope.launch {
    while (isActive) {
        delay(60.minutes)
        isOpenFullScreen = true
    }
}

this doesn't work though, unless I switch over to my app in the macOS task switcher. then it will show my window. Am I missing something basic here?

[Alex Styl]

which part 'doesn't work'?

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

We don’t recompose completely obscured windows.

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

Maybe we should.

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

Can you post a short reproducer?

[Colton Idle]

@Alex Styl sorry for not being clear. but basically I would think that my code above would show my window. but it does not. i need to switch back to my application, and then the window will show.

@Alexander Maryanovsky yeah i can do that. ive been out of the compose desktop game for a while now. where would i post that. i think github issues was shutdown right?

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

You can post here if it’s small enough, or open a ticket on YouTrack.

[Colton Idle]

Okay. I will post here. One sec!

[Colton Idle]

It is indeed pretty tiny

[Colton Idle]

fun main() = application {
    var isOpenFullScreen by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }


    if (isOpenFullScreen){
        Window(
            onCloseRequest = {
                isOpenFullScreen = false
            },
            title = "REMINDER"
        ) {
            Column {
                // content
                Text(text = "Stand up from your desk!")
            }
        }
    }

    val scope = rememberCoroutineScope()
    scope.launch {
        while (isActive) {
            delay(10.seconds)
            isOpenFullScreen = true
        }
    }
}

[Colton Idle]

So basically... the above "works" only if my currently focussed app is the app. If I'm focussed in google chrome... and 10 seconds goes by then it will not show the window.

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

Thanks, I’ll look into it.

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

It looks like it should work.

[Colton Idle]

Thanks! Much appreciated. it kinda puts a dent into my project here so I hope there is some workaround lol

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

As a workaround, you can probably show the window compose-wise, and then hide/show it via Swing (window.isVisible).

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

Ok, the issue doesn’t seem to reproduce for me. The window is shown after 10 seconds regardless of which app is active.

What version of Compose are you using? Can you try the latest (v1.8.0+dev2053)?
Are you sure the window isn’t shown but is just behind other windows?

Also, you’re doing it slightly wrong. Don’t launch anything in the composition; use LaunchedEffect.

[Colton Idle]

I used whatever version came with kmp.jetbrains.com as of ~48 hours ago 😅

Let me check!

[Colton Idle]

I guess 1.7.0. Let me try the version you recommended

[Colton Idle]

Plugin [id: 'org.jetbrains.compose', version: '1.8.0+dev2053', apply: false] was not found in any of the following sources:

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

You need to add the JetBrains repository to use dev versions

[Colton Idle]

Are you sure the window isn’t shown but is just behind other windows?

Ah. I think that's what's happening.

[Colton Idle]

I want it to be shown in the foreground on top of other apps. I guess I can look to see if swing apps can bring themselves to foreground?

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

You need to call this: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/9/docs/api/java/awt/Desktop.html#requestForeground-boolean-

[Colton Idle]

cool. will give that a try. downloading compose 1.8.0 dev dependency now...

[Colton Idle]

Cool. I had to add another delay unfortunately. but it seems to work!

LaunchedEffect(Unit){
    while (isActive) {
        delay(10.seconds)
        isOpenFullScreen = true
        delay(500)
        Desktop.getDesktop().requestForeground(true)
    }
}

[Colton Idle]

looks like the additional delay is only needed the first time around. hm. anyway. this was super helpful. thank you @Alexander Maryanovsky!

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

You probably don’t need the delay. You just need to put that call inside the Window

[Colton Idle]

oh good point!

[Colton Idle]

Thank you!

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

No problem

[Colton Idle]

i swear everyone on this slack needs a tip jar link lmao.

[Colton Idle]

FWIW. moving it inside of the window did not help.

if (isOpenFullScreen){
    Window(
        onCloseRequest = { isOpenFullScreen = false} ,
        state = rememberWindowState(size = DpSize(width, height)),
        undecorated = false,
        title = "REMINDER"
    ) {
        LaunchedEffect(Unit){
        Desktop.getDesktop().requestForeground(true)
        }
        Column {
            // content
            Text(text = "Stand up from your desk!")
        }
    }
}

this did not work. if I added the delay in there, then it indeed worked. this is fine for my app, but definitely let me know if you think im doing something "wrong". cheers

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

Maybe you need to wait for the window to be fully displayed (by registering a listener on it). But if the delay works, it sounds like an OK hack for such a small thing.

[Colton Idle]

cool. this seemed to work when inside of the Window

LaunchedEffect(Unit) {
                window.addWindowListener(object : WindowAdapter() {
                    override fun windowOpened(e: WindowEvent?) {
                        println("Window is fully displayed!")
                        Desktop.getDesktop().requestForeground(true)
                    }
                })
            }

[Alexander Maryanovsky]

Use DisposableEffect and unregister the listener properly too.