"Active window on hover" for Default

[LipinskiCAD]

XMBC Version: 2.18.8
Windows Version: Windows 10 Pro (1903 - 18362.535)
Mouse Information (brand/model): UtechSmart Venus MMO Gaming Mouse
Relevant Computer Information (CPU, RAM etc): Xeon E5, 16GB RAM
How long have you used XMBC?: 2 days
What language and keyboard layout do you use in Windows?: English

Am I doing something wrong, or can you not set "Active window on hover" as a Default setting?

Here is my situation:

I use "Active window on hover" on a regular basis. It's on all the time (turned on through other means). However, there is one application (OUTLOOK.EXE) where it gets wonky, especially with autofill dropdowns when composing a new message.

I was hoping that XMBC could disable or turn off "Active window on hover" when using specific applications.

However, it seems like I can only do the opposite. The "Active window on hover" option is greyed out for the Default settings, while it's usable in specific application settings.

And having it unchecked in a specific application setting (OUTLOOK.EXE, for instance) does not seem to work.

Any ideas?

Thanks, in advance.

[phil]

You are correct. Activate windows on hover is a profile specific thing. this was because basically it was/is unreliable and didn't work well with many programs. Actually I think you can turn it on by default but only by manually editing the setting XML file.

If you want to try it and see if it helps, find the settings file XMBCSettings.xml (hold CTRL and left click the XMBC icon in the system tray to open the settings folder in explorer).

Close (exit) XMBC fully

Edit the file and look for

Code: Select all

<ActivateOnMouseOver Enable="false" Delay="250" />

Change false to true

Reload XMBC and see what happens.

Let me know how you get on if you do try this!

[1009]

Hi Phil,

I wanted to do the same thing, so I decided to follow the suggestion and modified the entry in config this way:

<ActivateOnMouseOver Enable="true" Delay="1250" />

It works (I'm using the latest 2.19.1 version).
However a strange behavior arises: when I have for example two CMD windows open, and I hover from one to another, the first time, after 1,250 seconds, the hovered window is activated. If I wait more than 1,250 seconds, and repeat the process on the other window, it works as expected. But if I'm fast and hover the previous window again, it is activated within 250 ms I think. And the things goes on, until I wait for more than the configured delay. It's like there are two different timers.
Can you reproduce this odd behavior on your side?

[1009]

To be more precise, it happens also on different windows (i.e CMD and Regedit), not only with windows/classes of the same kind (i.e. two or more CMD prompts).

[phil]

Yes there is definitely a problem there - not just command windows (or two of the same window). As soon as the first one activates, if the mouse moves to another window, the activation happens far too quickly (like almost immediately). Possibly the timer is not being reset correctly on mouse move.

I'll add it to the list!

[phil]

Yes - found the bug - will be fixed in the next version. Actually could be a significant impact o other areas too (so will need some testing). All timers used by XMBC could be affected by this - they don't get killed properly and therefore can fire multiple instances of the timer! I have to say I think other timer timers handle that better that the activate on hover one which does not handle it (but a bit of a resource waste).
It will also be fixed in the first public beta of 2.20 but not sure when that will be (I'm still trying to fix a bug in 2.19.1 that needs to be fixed before beginning the next beta phase)

[1009]

Thank you for looking at this Phil.
What do you mean with "I have to say I think other timer timers handle that better that the activate on hover one which does not handle it"?
Is there another way to activate on hover a window?

[phil]

No... I mean that other timers - that do other things in XMBC (like for example the one that detects the active profile/window under the cursor as you move the mouse) are better written!

The activate on hover (which is not generally available without manually editing settings) has had no time spent on it and no testing (as its not generally an available option in the GUI) and therefore it is a bit naff. One of the reasons it isn't available in the GUI is that I didn't have much confidence in it working properly, and there are/were other ways to achieve this not using XMBC - I believe Windows 10 has it built in (but of course it won't be configurable like this one).

Anyway, it will be a bit better in the next version - and maybe I will make the option available in the GUI too - will have a think about that!