Slicing Through the Layers of the Desktop

Slicing

As you might guess, under the seemingly flat appearance of the Desktop lies a sophisticated layered system of windows that AutoFocus (formerly named AutoRaise) must take into account to efficiently perform its tasks.

Base Window                  # -2147483648
Minimum Window               # -2147483643
Desktop Window               # -2147483623
Desktop Icon Window          # -2147483603
Backstop Menu                # -20
Normal Window                # 0
Floating Window              # 3
Torn Off Menu Window         # 3
Modal Panel Window           # 8
Utility Window               # 19
Dock Window                  # 20
Main Menu Window             # 24
Status Window                # 25
Pop Up Menu Window           # 101
Help Window                  # 200
Dragging Window              # 500
Screen Saver Window          # 1000
Assistive Tech High Window   # 1500
Cursor Window                # 2147483630
Maximum Window               # 2147483631

Out of the twenty most common window layers, AutoFocus currently handles level 0 (i.e. Normal Window), carefully avoiding the others.

Layers_1539x1225

To answer the needs of some interesting feature requests, AutoFocus might start handling other layers in upcoming releases, so stay tuned.

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