Focus Lost due to Alt+Tab switching

[Matthew Doucette]

This is another test post from Firefox with McAfee SiteAdvisor installed, and nothing else, and it does not lose focus on me!

[JasonD]

I have already determined that the McAfee SiteAdvisor plugin does not cause the issue. I have no other toolbars I can uninstall. The only remaining extensions are Shockwave Flash, the Java console, etc. -- things that I am sure everyone else has.

I can only conclude CodeGuru is the cause of the problem. But, it doesn't occur on every machine, as others have stated (do you guys have ad-blocking software installed?).

It would be great to find out how many other people are or are not experiencing this issue...

[JasonD]

I have just disabled all IE 6.0 add-ons, and now the focus is kept as it should! I will have to play with this a bit and determine which one is causing it.

[Yves M]

It also happens on my IE 6.

By the way is there any explanation why for me, IE takes 30 seconds to load a page at CG while Firefox takes around 1 second?

[JasonD]

Ok, I have solved it. The Sun Java Console is causing the issue. Here is the current state of my IE 6.0:

(I see that uninstalling Alexa doesn't remove the AlxTb BHO Class add-on. Why can't software uninstall when you ask for it to uninstall? No wonder it is classified as adware.)




Can the people who do not witness the focus losing issue please confirm that they do not have this add-on installed?

And, why is the Sun Java Console causing the focus to be lost in CodeGuru via Alt+Tab, but in no other forum?

[JPnyc]

This isn't an attribute of the page, but rather of the OS. When the browser window loses focus, all bets are off. The browser is the application that should be remembering focus, not the web page.

[JasonD]

The browser is the application that should be remembering focus, not the web page.

Yes, I agree. And it does. For webpages with simple input forms (the FORM tag), the focus is remembered. For all other forums, the focus is remembered. For CodeGuru with Sun Java Console disabled, the focus is remembered. So, the browser is working. It does remember the focus. The webpages need not do this work for it.

But... this functionality is broken with CodeGuru, and only CodeGuru -- not the others, when the Sun Java Console add-on is enabled.

[JPnyc]

And which element has focus when you return to the browser that has CG loaded?

[JasonD]

And which element has focus when you return to the browser that has CG loaded?

I have analyzed this:

When I leave, and come back, the focus is still maintained. But, the cursor has become invisible, and does not accept inserting of characters. If you move the cursor with the arrow keys, or the control keys like Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down, the cursor still moves. You can test this because the Delete key still works. But, you can simply not type. Also, pressing Tab changes focus to the 'No icon' selection under 'Post Icons', which is what would normally happen if you pressed Tab during creation of a post.

[JasonD]

Ok, so I've answered all the concerns. Has this been reported to those who can resolve it? Or is it still not concluded?

[JasonD]

Ok, I have solved it. The Sun Java Console is causing the issue.

Now, surprisingly, while the Sun Java Console is still disabled, this loss of focus issue has returned (for IE 6.0). I'll have to toy some more and find out why. Again, I see no problems in any other forum.

Any progress on this issue?

[JasonD]

Ok, the new culprit is Shockwave Flash Object. When disabled, the focus is maintained properly after Alt+Tab switching.

Hmm, but once I re-enabled it, the issue did not return. It still works as it should. There must be a conflict somewhere...

Very strange. I have disabled just Shockwave again, and the problem disappeared. But why didn't it return when I re-enabled it?

(Also, this add-on doesn't always appear in the list. Perhaps it waits until a site asks to use it. Yup, it does. It won't appear until a CodeGuru ad demands to use it.)

I just re-enabled it a second time, and the issue did not return, again. Wait... after one more browser restart, with no changes made, the issue does return.

So, CodeGuru does have an issue with Shockwave (and Sun Java Console) that no other forum has.