Raising and Lowering Windows

Over time, Sawfish has accumulated several subtle variations of functions for raising and lowering windows. One set of functions operates on single windows.

lower-window window	Function
lower-single-window window	Command

Lower window to the bottom of its stacking depth.

raise-window window	Function
raise-single-window window	Command

Raise window to the top of its stacking depth.

raise-lower-window window	Function
raise-lower-single-window window	Command

If window is the highest in its stacking level, lower it to the bottom of this level, otherwise raise it to the top of its level.

Notice how the function name and command name for each pair differs slightly. Another set of functions supports operating on multiple windows simultaneously. Again, the function name and command name for each pair is different.

lower-window* window	Function
lower-window window	Command

Lower window and possibly associated windows to the bottom of their stacking depths.

raise-window* window	Function
raise-window window	Command

Raise window and possibly associated windows to the top of their stacking depth.

raise-lower-window* window	Function
raise-lower-window window	Command

If window is the highest in its stacking level, lower it and possibly associated windows to the bottom of their level, otherwise raise them to the top of their level.

user-raise-type

Variable

Indicates which windows the lower-window*, raise-window* and raise-lower-window* functions affect. This variable can be none Only the specific argument window is affected. transients The specific argument window and all of its transients are affected. This is the default. group The specific argument window and all windows in its group are affected.

maybe-raise-window w

Function

If window w supports the _SAWFISH_WM_RAISE_WINDOW protocol, ask it whether it wants to raise itself or not. Otherwise, raise the window unconditionally.

maybe-lower-window w

Function

If window w supports the _SAWFISH_WM_LOWER_WINDOW protocol, ask it whether it wants to lower itself or not. Otherwise, lower the window unconditionally.

Sawfish has more general operations that raising a window to the top or lowering it to the bottom. It can place a window relative to one or more other managed windows.

raise-windows w order	Function
lower-windows w order	Function
raise-lower-windows w order	Function

Raise (or lower) all windows in order, such that items earlier in the list are higher (or lower) than later items. The window w is special, always being the highest or lowest window, even if appears in the middle of order. For raise-lower-windows, if w would be raised or lowered, then all the other windows are also raised or lowered.

There are also functions (and associated commands) to change a window's depth.

lower-window-depth window	Function
lower-window-depth window	Command

Decrement the stacking depth of window.

raise-window-depth window	Function
raise-window-depth window	Command

Increment the stacking depth of window.

Sawfish provides special support for "click-to-focus" mode, where you may or may not want to raise the window or pass the click to the underlying application.

raise-and-pass-through-click w

Function

Raise the window that received the current event with maybe-raise-window. Then replay any pointer events that invoked the command.

raise-and-pass-through-click-if-focused w

Function

Raise the window that received the current event (if it's focused) with maybe-raise-window. Then replay any pointer events that invoked the command.

raise-or-pass-through-click w

Function

If the window that received the current event is not on top, raise it with maybe-raise-window. Otherwise replay any pointer events that invoked the command, sending them to the window.

When the above commands are called interactively, Sawfish will try to invoke them on the window that received the current event. Failing that, Sawfish will invoke them on the currently focused window.