# How to keep the cursor focus on the REPL?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321>\
**Category:** Visualization\
**Tags:** windows, gtk\
**Created:** [January 26, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321 "2024-01-26T22:23:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rafael.guerra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rafael.guerra/32/216610_2.png) [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321/1 "2024-01-26T22:23:11Z")

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I need help with Gtk.jl for the following basic problem.

I am trying to get input from the REPL in a closed loop program and update a Gtk window that keeps track of all items generated during program execution.

See the MWE example below. Each input string and integer items are added to a Gtk window list, which is redrawn each time to reflect the new data. The problem is that displaying the Gtk window steals the cursor focus from the REPL.

How can this be solved?  
Thanks in advance.

> **Gtk.jl MWE code**
>
> ```julia
> using Gtk
> 
> @kwdef mutable struct Item
> name::String = ""
> size::Int = 0
> end
> 
> function gtk_list(data::Vector{Item})
> global win
> visible(win, false)
> 
> ts = GtkTreeStore(String, String, String)
> tv = GtkTreeView(GtkTreeModel(ts))
> sw = GtkScrolledWindow(tv)
> rTxt = GtkCellRendererText()
> 
> c0 = GtkTreeViewColumn("#", rTxt, Dict([("text", 0)]))
> c1 = GtkTreeViewColumn("Name", rTxt, Dict([("text", 1)]))
> c2 = GtkTreeViewColumn("Size", rTxt, Dict([("text", 2)]))
> 
> cols = [c0, c1, c2]
> push!(tv, cols...)
> 
> iter1 = push!(ts, ("", "MY ITEMS", "",))
> for (n,d) in pairs(data)
> push!(ts, (string(n), d.name, string(d.size)), iter1)
> end
> 
> win = GtkWindow(sw, "MyData")
> Gtk.showall(win)
> Gtk.G_.position(win, 200, 200)
> set_gtk_property!(win, :width_request, 700)
> visible(win, true)
>     
> return nothing
> end
> 
> function input_data!(data::Vector{Item})
> s = "n"
> while s ∉ ("y", "Y")
> println("New item name:")
> name = readline()
> println("New item size (Int):")
> sz = tryparse(Int, readline())
> isnothing(sz) && (sz = -999)
> push!(data, Item(name, sz))
> gtk_list(data)
> println("[ENTER]:continue, (Y):stop")
> s = readline()
> end
> return nothing
> end
> 
> function start_code()
> @eval win = GtkWindow("MyData", visible=false)
> data = Item[]
> input_data!(data)
> destroy(win)                    
> return nothing
> end
> 
> # Copy and paste the above code into the Julia REPL (not the VSCode REPL)
> # ... and then call the function:
> start_code()
> 
> ```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jeff\_Emanuel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jeff_emanuel/32/15440_2.png) [@Jeff\_Emanuel](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jeff_Emanuel)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321/2 "2024-01-26T23:16:10Z")

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Here are some clues from the C Gtk3 documentation and source code. Maybe you can do something with ccall to set the flag on your window.

[https://lazka.github.io/pgi-docs/Gtk-3.0/classes/Window.html#Gtk.Window.get\_focus\_on\_map](https://lazka.github.io/pgi-docs/Gtk-3.0/classes/Window.html#Gtk.Window.get_focus_on_map)

> **[gtk/gtkwindow.c · 3.24.39 · GNOME / gtk · GitLab](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/blob/3.24.39/gtk/gtkwindow.c#L3909-3914)**
>
> GTK is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces.

Even better, call this: [gtk/gtkwindow.c · 3.24.39 · GNOME / gtk · GitLab](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/blob/3.24.39/gtk/gtkwindow.c#L3876)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rafael.guerra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rafael.guerra/32/216610_2.png) [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 9:12am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321/3 "2024-01-27T09:12:48Z")

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Thanks Jeff.

I am afraid I am totally out of my depth with `ccall()`.

I modified the MWE above with ` using GTK3_jll` and adding the line:

`ccall((:gtk_window_set_focus_on_map, libgtk3), Nothing, (Ptr{GObject}, Bool), win, false)`

But still could not get the text input focus back to the REPL.

> **Gtk.jl MWE edited with ccall() before \`visible\`**
>
> ```julia
> using Gtk, GTK3_jll
> 
> @kwdef mutable struct Item
> name::String = ""
> size::Int = 0
> end
> 
> function gtk_list(data::Vector{Item})
> global win
> visible(win, false)
> 
> ts = GtkTreeStore(String, String, String)
> tv = GtkTreeView(GtkTreeModel(ts))
> sw = GtkScrolledWindow(tv)
> rTxt = GtkCellRendererText()
> 
> c0 = GtkTreeViewColumn("#", rTxt, Dict([("text", 0)]))
> c1 = GtkTreeViewColumn("Name", rTxt, Dict([("text", 1)]))
> c2 = GtkTreeViewColumn("Size", rTxt, Dict([("text", 2)]))
> 
> cols = [c0, c1, c2]
> push!(tv, cols...)
> 
> iter1 = push!(ts, ("", "MY ITEMS", "",))
> for (n,d) in pairs(data)
> push!(ts, (string(n), d.name, string(d.size)), iter1)
> end
> 
> win = GtkWindow(sw, "MyData")
> Gtk.showall(win)
> Gtk.G_.position(win, 200, 200)
> set_gtk_property!(win, :width_request, 700)
> ccall((:gtk_window_set_focus_on_map, libgtk3), Nothing, (Ptr{GObject}, Bool), win, false)
> visible(win, true)
> println("\nFocus on map: $(ccall((:gtk_window_get_focus_on_map, libgtk3), Bool, (Ptr{GObject},), win))) \n")
> 
> return nothing
> end
> 
> function input_data!(data::Vector{Item})
> s = "n"
> while s ∉ ("y", "Y")
> println("New item name:")
> name = readline()
> println("New item size (Int):")
> sz = tryparse(Int, readline())
> isnothing(sz) && (sz = -999)
> push!(data, Item(name, sz))
> gtk_list(data)
> println("[ENTER]:continue, (Y):stop")
> s = readline()
> end
> return nothing
> end
> 
> function start_code()
> @eval win = GtkWindow("MyData", visible=false)
> input_data!(Item[])
> destroy(win)                     
> return nothing
> end
> 
> # Copy and paste the above code into the Julia REPL (not the VSCode REPL)
> # ... and then call the function:
> start_code()
> 
> ```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jeff\_Emanuel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jeff_emanuel/32/15440_2.png) [@Jeff\_Emanuel](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jeff_Emanuel)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321/4 "2024-01-27T18:35:44Z")

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You need to do `gtk_window_set_focus_on_map` before `visible`. Mapping in X Windows parlance is making the window visible, so you need to set the flag before the window is mapped. You can also try calling to `gtk_window_get_focus_on_map` to check whether you actually set the flag correctly.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rafael.guerra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rafael.guerra/32/216610_2.png) [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321/5 "2024-01-27T18:57:01Z")

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I have edited the code above according to your last recommendation. We can see that the focus on map was set to false. However, displaying the gtk window still steals the cursor focus…

Could this be a Windows OS “feature”?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jeff\_Emanuel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jeff_emanuel/32/15440_2.png) [@Jeff\_Emanuel](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jeff_Emanuel)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321/6 "2024-01-27T19:16:39Z")

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Probably. [Is it possible in Windows 10 to prevent an opening application from stealing focus? - Super User](https://superuser.com/questions/1113512/is-it-possible-in-windows-10-to-prevent-an-opening-application-from-stealing-foc)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rafael.guerra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rafael.guerra/32/216610_2.png) [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/how-to-keep-the-cursor-focus-on-the-repl/109321/7 "2024-01-27T20:09:46Z")

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OMG, Windows just keeps getting better… I’ve marked your post as the solution, until the Gates Corporation shows some charity to its users.