1 **Window Manager Application Guide**
3 <div align="right">Revision: 0.5</div>
4 <div align="right">TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION</div>
5 <div align="right">20th/Mar/2018</div>
8 <div id="Table\ of\ content"></div>
12 - [Introduction](#Introduction)
13 - [Intended audience](#Intended\ audience)
14 - [Scope of this Document](#Scope\ of\ this\ Document)
15 - [Known Issues](#Known\ Issues)
16 - [External libraries](#External\ libraries)
17 - [Client Library](#Client\ Library)
18 - [Concepts](#Concepts)
20 - [Surfaces](#Surfaces)
21 - [Configuration](#Configuration)
22 - [Configuration Items](#Configuration\ Items)
23 - [Building and Running](#Building\ and\ Running)
24 - [Dependencies](#Dependencies)
25 - [Build Configuration](#Build\ Configuration)
26 - [Implementation Notes](#Implementation\ Notes)
27 - [Structure](#Structure)
28 - [Sequence](#Sequence)
29 - [Binding API](#Binding\ API)
30 - [LibWindowmanager](#LibWindowmanager)
38 <div id="Introduction"></div>
43 This window manager implements simple layout switching of applications on
44 multiple layers and with different layer layouts.
46 <div id="Intended\ audience"></div>
51 This document is intended for developers and system integrators who
52 need to know, how the window manager works and how it is to be used.
54 <div id="Scope\ of\ this\ Document"></div>
56 Scope of this Document
57 ----------------------
59 This document covers the window manager that was implemented for TMC and
60 delivered to the Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) project. It includes its
61 implementation details, concepts of operation, configuration and usage.
65 - document of the underlying architecture, see
66 [HMI-Framework](https://wiki.automotivelinux.org/hmiframework).
68 - document of the AGL application framework and its technologies,
70 Framework](https://wiki.automotivelinux.org/agl-distro/app-framework).
72 It is highly recommended to have a good understanding of these documents
73 and projects before using the window manager.
75 <div id="Known\ Issues"></div>
80 Currently there is a one known issues:
82 - Only single-surface Qt applications are support through the
83 libwindowmanager library. This is a limitation of how Qt creates surface
84 IDs for the ivi-application interface.
86 <div id="External\ libraries"></div>
91 This project includes a copy of version 2.1.1 the excellent [C++11 JSON
92 library by Niels Lohmann](https://github.com/nlohmann/json).
94 <div id="Client\ Library"></div>
99 A client library implementation that internally uses the *libafbwsc*, is
100 provided in the `libwindowmanager`.
102 <div id="Concepts"></div>
107 The window manager implements a couple of concepts in order to allow
108 efficient implementation.
110 <div id="Layers"></div>
115 Layers are entities that are stacked on top of each other. Each layer
116 has an ID which is used for the ivi-controller interface, but this ID
117 also implicitly specifies its stacking order, from lowest to highest.
119 Layers are always full-screen. We do not use layer dimensions as a way
120 to setup the scene, rather - each layer has a layout attached to it,
121 which specifies an area that is used by surfaces to draw on.
123 Additionally, layers will generally leave surfaces on below layers
124 activated, and only disable surfaces on layers the are above the
125 currently used layer.
127 It is possible to deactivate these surfaces on lower layers explicitly
128 using the `DeactivateSurface` API call.
130 <div id="Surfaces"></div>
135 Surfaces are *placed* on layers according to their name. The surface
136 will then be resized to dimensions, according to the layer's layout
140 <div id="Configuration"></div>
145 The window manager is configured with the *layers.json* configuration
146 file, by default it is searched in `${AFM_APP_INSTALL_DIR}/etc/layers.json`.
147 Note, that the window manager will use default configuration unless this configuration is found.
149 A sample configuration is provided with the window manager
150 implementation, this sample is installed to ${AFM_APP_INSTALL_DIR}/etc/layers.json.
153 Currently, window manager doesn't block the application displaying because "Fallback" is set by default. If the "Fallback" is not set in layers.json, window manager blocks the application displaying. In such a situation, you have to add your role(application name) at "role" in layers.json.
155 <div id="Configuration\ Items"></div>
160 This section describes configuration items available through
161 `layers.json`. It will do this, by first providing an example, and then
162 going into its components.
167 "surface_role": "HomeScreen",
170 The `main_surface` object describes a surface that will internally be
171 treated as the main surface - usually this mean *HomeScreen*. The only
172 special handling this surface receives, is that it is not allowed to
173 deactivate it. Placement of this surface on an layer is done by the
174 other configuration described below.
176 - `surface_role` this configuration item specifies the name of the
177 main surface. Set this to e.g. `HomeScreen`.
181 This configuration item is a list of surface-name to layer mappings.
183 #### surface to layer mapping
187 "role": "^HomeScreen$",
188 "name": "HomeScreen",
190 "area": { "type": "full" },
191 "comment": "Single layer map for the HomeScreen"
194 "role": "MediaPlayer|Radio|Phone|Navigation|HVAC|Settings|Dashboard|POI|Mixer",
197 "area": { "type": "rect", "rect": { "x": 0, "y": 218, "width": -1, "height": -433 } },
198 "comment": "Range of IDs that will always be placed on layer 1001, negative rect values are interpreted as output_size.dimension - $value",
202 "name": "Navigation",
203 "main_match": "Navigation",
204 "sub_match": "HVAC|MediaPlayer",
210 "role": "^OnScreen.*",
213 "area": { "type": "rect", "rect": { "x": 0, "y": 760, "width": -1, "height": 400 } },
214 "comment": "Range of IDs that will always be placed on the popup layer, that gets a very high 'dummy' id of 9999"
218 Each mapping defines the following items to map corresponding surfaces
221 - `role` defines a regular expression that application drawing names
222 are matched against. If applications match this regular expression,
223 the surface will be visible on this layer.
225 - `name` is just a name definition for this layer, it has no
226 functional use apart from identifying a layer with a name.
228 - `layer_id` specifies which ID this layer will use.
230 - `area` is an object that defines the area assigned to surfaces.
232 - `split_layouts` is an optional item, that - if present - defines a
233 number of possible split-screen layouts for this layer.
237 Areas can be either `full` or `rect`, whereas `full` means a full-screen
238 layer, this is mostly useful for the main\_surface or HomeScreen layer.
239 `rect` declares a layer drawing area specified as a rectangle with start
240 coordinates `x` and `y` as well as its dimensions `width` and `height`.
242 The dimensions can be specified relative to the screen dimensions. For
243 this negative values for width and height must be used.
245 For example, a full-screen surface can have the following `rect`
253 A surface that leaves a 200pixel margin on the top and bottom can use
254 the following `rect` definition:
261 So the expression for the actual surface dimensions when using
262 screen-size-relative values will be:
264 actual_width = screen_width + 1 + width
265 actual_height = screen_height + 1 + height
267 Or in other words, to leave an `N` wide border around a surface, the
268 actual value in the dimension configuration needs to be `-N - 1`, and
269 appropriate offsets need to be set for `x` and `y`.
273 This configuration item allows the specification of split-screen layouts
274 on layers for certain surfaces.
276 A split screen layout always has a *main* surface and a *sub* surface.
277 In order to enter a split screen layout, first the *main* surface of the
278 layout must be activated, and then the *sub* surface. In order to
279 disable the split layout, one of the two participating surface must be
280 deactivated (or a surface on a layer below the current one must be
285 "name": "Navigation",
286 "main_match": "Navigation",
287 "sub_match": "HVAC|MediaPlayer",
291 A split layout object has the following attributes:
293 - `name` defines its name, it has no actual function other then a way
294 to identify this split layout.
296 - `main_match` is a regular expression that matches for the *main*
297 surface of this split layout.
299 - `sub_match` is a regular expression that matches for the *sub*
300 surface of this layout.
302 In the above example only the surface with drawing name
303 `Navigation` will be used as the *main* surface, and the surfaces
304 with drawing name `HVAC` or `MediaPlayer` can be used as a *sub* surface for
307 The names must still match the layer's role match!
309 <div id="Building\ and\ Running"></div>
314 <div id="Dependencies"></div>
319 Build dependencies are as follows:
321 - afb-daemon >= 1.0
323 - libsystemd >= 222
325 - wayland-client >= 1.11
327 - wayland-ivi-extension >= 2.0.2 (until eel, wayland-ivi-extension >= 1.13)
331 <div id="Supported environment"></div>
333 Supported environment
336 | Item | Description |
337 |:------------|:----------------------------------|
338 | AGL version | Electric Eel |
339 | Hardware | Renesas R-Car Starter Kit Pro(M3) |
342 <div id="Build\ Configuration"></div>
348 If repo is already done, please start with git clone
353 $ repo init -u https://gerrit.automotivelinux.org/gerrit/AGL/AGL-repo
358 Then you can get the following recipe.
360 * `meta-agl-devel/meta-hmi-framework/recipes-graphics/agl-service-windowmanager-2017`
362 * `meta-agl-devel/meta-hmi-framework/recipes-graphics/libwindowmanager`
367 $ source meta-agl/scripts/aglsetup.sh -m m3ulcb agl-demo
368 $ bitbake agl-demo-platform
371 <div id="Implementation\ Notes"></div>
376 The window manager is implemented as a app-framework-binder binding.
377 That means, the build produces one shared object that exports a binding
380 <div id="Structure"></div>
385 The implementation is loosely split across the following source files:
387 - `main.cpp`: The program entry point as used by the afb-daemon. This
388 file defines the afbBindingV2 symbol that is used by the afb-daemon
389 in order to load a binding. It also defines the wayland fd event
390 dispatcher and some globals to be used (as context for the afb calls
393 - `app.cpp` / `app.hpp`: This is the main window manager
394 logic implementation.
396 - `config.cpp` / `config.hpp`: Very simple configuration
399 - `controller_hooks.hpp`: hook functions called by the wayland
400 controller to call into the window manager instance. Only a very limited number
401 of events are passed to the window manager, which allowed the usage of
402 such a simple interface.
404 - `json_helper.cpp` / `json_helper.hpp`: Smaller json related
407 - `layers.cpp` / `layers.hpp`: Actually hold all the data from
408 layers.json configuration, do some transformations and service the
409 window manager implementation.
411 - `layout.cpp` / `layout.hpp`: Very simple layout state for the
412 implementation of split layouts and tracking of the
415 - `policy.hpp`: PolicyManager implementation stub. Gets passed the
416 current and new layout on layout switch and can decide upon it being
419 - `result.hpp`: Simple result class around
420 `std::experimental::optional` that additionally can hold a
421 `char const *` to describe the error.
423 - `util.cpp` / `util.hpp`: general utility functions and structs - and
424 preprocessor definitions (e.g. `log*()` to AFB logging functions.
426 - `wayland_ivi_wm.cpp` / `wayland_ivi_wm.hpp`: A C++ object-oriented
427 libwayland-client wrapper. It is instanced in `main.cpp` and handles
428 all our wayland needs. These files are in master. In eel, the name
429 of these files are `wayland.cpp` / `wayland.hpp`
431 <div id="Sequence"></div>
436 To understand the sequence between application and window manager, refer to the [spec document](https://wiki.automotivelinux.org/windowmanager).
439 <div id="Binding\ API"></div>
444 Each function returns a reply containing at least a failed or successful
445 result of the call, additionally, when calls return something, it is
448 <div id="LibWindowmanager"></div>
453 This is the public interface of the class `LibWindowmanager`.
455 class LibWindowmanager
472 int init(int port, char const *token);
474 // Window manager API
475 int requestSurface(json_object *object);
476 int requestSurfaceXDG(json_object *object);
477 int activateSurface(json_object *object);
478 int deactivateSurface(json_object *object);
479 int endDraw(json_object *object);
480 int getDisplayInfo(json_object *object);
481 int getAreaInfo(json_object *in_obj, json_object *out_obj);
483 int getAreaInfo(const char *label, json_object *out_obj);
485 void set_event_handler(enum EventType et, handler_fun f);
489 <div id="Methods"></div>
494 ### init(int port, char const *token)
496 Initialize the Binding communication.
498 The `token` parameter is a string consisting of only alphanumeric characters.
499 If these conditions are not met, the LibWindowmanager instance will not initialize,
500 i.e. this call will return `-EINVAL`.
502 The `port` parameter is the port the afb daemon is listening on, an
503 invalid port will lead to a failure of the call and return `-EINVAL`.
505 ### requestSurface(json_object *object)
507 **args: `{ 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }`**
508 This method requests a surface with the label given from the *Window Manager*.
509 It will return `surface id` a client application can use, and
510 `-errno` on failure. Additionally, on the standard error, messages are
511 logged to help debugging the issue.
513 ### requestSurfaceXDG(json_object *object)
515 **args: `{ 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name', 'kKeyIviId': 'ivi id' }`**
516 This method is mainly intended for *xdglauncher* that controls xdg application such as chromium.
517 It will return `surface id` xdglauncher uses, and
518 `-errno` on failure. Additionally, on the standard error, messages are
519 logged to help debugging the issue.
521 ### activateSurface(json_object *object)
523 **args: `{ 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name', 'kKeyDrawingArea': 'layout' }`**
524 This method is mainly intended for *manager* applications that control
525 other applications (think an application manager or the *HomeScreen*).
526 It instructs the window manager to activate the surface with the given
529 This method only is effective after the actual window or surface was
530 created by the application.
532 ### deactivateSurface(json_object *object)
534 **args: `{ 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }`**
535 This method is mainly intended for *manager* applications that control other applications.
536 In adition, this is for applications that overrides other applications such like popup message.
537 In this case, popup surface requests to be hidden. It instructs the window manager to deactivate the surface associated with the given label. Note, that deactivating a surface also means to implicitly activate another (the last active or if not available *main surface* or *HomeScreen*.)
539 This method only is effective after the actual window or surface was
540 created by the application.
542 ### endDraw(json_object *object)
544 **args: `{ 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }`**
545 This function is called from a client application when it is done
546 drawing its surface content.
548 It is not crucial to make this call at every time a drawing is finished
549 - it is mainly intended to allow the window manager to synchronize
550 drawing in case of layout switch. The exact semantics are explained in
551 the next [Events](#_events) Section.
553 ### getDisplayInfo(json_object *object)
556 This function gets the display information as follows:
562 It outputs the display information for json_object in the argument as follows:
563 `{"width_pixel": int value of width[pixel], "height_pixel": int value of height[pixel],
564 "width_mm": int value of width[mm], "height_mm": int value of height[mm]}`
566 It should be called after calling init().
567 It should not be called in the event handler because it occurs hang-up.
570 It uses wl_output::geometry() for getting physical width[mm] and height[mm] of the display,
571 but the value is different with measured value.
573 - value from wl_output::geometry(): width:320 height:520
574 - measured value : width:193 height:343
576 ### getAreaInfo(json_object *in_obj, json_object *out_obj)
578 **args1: `{ 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }`**
580 This function gets the information of area drawn by the application as follows:
586 It outputs the area information for json_object in the 2nd argument as follows:
587 `{"x": int value of x-coordinate, "y": int value of y-coordinate,
588 "width": int value of width, "height": int value of height}`
590 It should be called after calling activateSurface().
591 It should not be called in the event handler because it occurs hang-up.
594 The same information can given by SyncDraw event.
596 ### getAreaInfo(const char *label, json_object *out_obj)
598 **args1: String of application name**
600 This function is same with `getAreaInfo(json_object *in_obj, json_object *out_obj)`,
601 but only has difference of 1st argument.
603 ### set\_event\_handler(enum EventType et, handler_fun f)
605 This method needs to be used to register event handlers for the WM
606 events described in the EventType enum. Only one hendler for each
607 EventType is possible, i.e. if it is called multiple times with the same
608 EventType the previous handler will be replaced.
610 The `func` handler functions will receive the label of the surface this
611 event is targeted at.
613 See Section [Events](#_events) for more detailed information about event
614 delivery to client applications.
616 <div id="Errors"></div>
621 Methods returning an `int` signal successful operation when returning
622 `0`. In case of an error, an error value is returned as a negative errno
623 value. E.g. `-EINVAL` to signal that some input value was invalid.
625 Additionally, logging of error messages is done on the standard error
626 file descriptor to help debugging the issue.
628 <div id="Usage"></div>
633 ### Initialization of LibWindowmanager
635 Before usage of the LibWindowmanager, the method `init()` must be
636 called once, it will return `-errno` in case of an error and log
637 diagnostic messages to stderr.
639 ### Request a surface
641 When creating a surface with *Qt* - it is necessary to request a surface
642 from the WM, internally this will communicate with the window manager
643 binding. Only after `requestSurface()` was successful, a surface should
646 This is also true for *QML* applications, where only after the
647 `requestSurface()` should the load of the resource be done. The method
648 returns `surface id` a client application can use
649 after the surface was requested successfully.
651 #### Workings of requestSurface()
653 `LibWindowmanager::requestSurface()` calls the AFB binding verb
654 `requestsurface` of the `windowmanager` API. This API call will return a
655 numeric ID to be used when creating the surface. This ID is never
656 explicitly returned to the client application, instead, it is set in the
657 application environment in order for *Qt* to then use it when creating
660 With the current *Qt* implementation this means, that only one surface
661 will be available to client applications, as subsequent windows will
662 increment this numeric ID internally - which then will lead to IDs that
663 cannot be known by the window manager as there is no direct
664 communication from *Qt* to the WM.
666 <div id="Events"></div>
671 Events are a way for the *Window Manager* to propagate information to
672 client applications. It was vital for the project to implement a number
673 of events, that mirror functionality that is already present in the
676 All events have the surface label as argument - a way to enable future
677 multi-surface applications.
679 As already stated above, this is currently not possible with the way
680 *Qt* implements its surface ID setting.
682 ### Active and Inactive Events
684 These events signal an application that it was activated or deactivated
685 respectively. Usually this means it was switched visible - which means
686 the surface will now be on the screen and therefor continue to render.
688 - `Active(json_object *object)`
689 args: { 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }
690 Signal that the surface with the name
691 `kKeyDrawingName` is now active.
693 - `Inactive(json_object *object)`
694 args: { 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }
695 Signal that the surface with the
696 name `kKeyDrawingName` is now inactive. This usually means, the layout
697 got changed, and the surface is now considered inactive
700 ### Visible and Invisible
702 These events signal an application that it was switched to be visible or
703 invisible respectively. These events also are handled implicitly through
704 the wayland protocol by means of `wl_surface::enter` and
705 `wl_surface::leave` events to the client.
707 - `Visible(json_object *object)`
708 args: { 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }
709 Signal applications, that the
710 surface with name `kKeyDrawingName` is now visible.
712 - `Invisible(json_object *object)`
713 args: { 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }
714 Signal applications that the
715 surface with name `kKeyDrawingName` is now invisible.
717 ### SyncDraw and FlushDraw
719 These events instruct applications that they should redraw their surface
720 contents - again, this is handled implicitly by the wayland protocol.
722 `SyncDraw` is sent to the application when it has to redraw its surface.
724 `FlushDraw` is sent to the application when it should swap its buffers,
725 that is *signal* the compositor that its surface contains new content.
727 - `SyncDraw(json_object *object)`
728 args: { 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name', 'kKeyDrawingArea': 'layout',
729 'kKeyDrawingRect': { "x": int value of x-coordinate, "y": int value of y-coordinate,
730 "width": int value of width, "height": int value of height } }
731 Signal applications, that the
732 surface with name `kKeyDrawingArea` needs to redraw its content
733 in the layout with name `kKeyDrawingArea` - this
734 usually is sent when the surface geometry changed.
735 And the area position and size are included with name `kKeyDrawingRect`.
737 - `FlushDraw(json_object *object)`
738 args: { 'kKeyDrawingName': 'application name' }
739 Signal applications, that the
740 surface with name `kKeyDrawingArea` can now be swapped to its newly
741 drawn content as the window manager is ready to activate a new
742 layout (i.e. a new surface geometry).
744 <div id="Sample"></div>
749 In order to enable application to use the `WM` surface registration
750 function the above described steps need to be implemented.
752 As a minimal example the usage and initialization can look like the
755 Repo: `apps/agl-service-homescreen-2017`
756 Path: `sample/template/main.c`