posted 20 years ago
i've had similar probs, but i'm using 1.4.x. some probs were related to bizarre behavior following a load of window events
i don't know why the focus is lost - there have been several focus mods to awt and swing, and focus defaults are also influenced by platform (esp pre 1.4)...
have you tried
requestFocus (1.3)
requestFocusInWindow (1.4)
on the component(s) in question? (you would need to invoke requestFocus/requestFocusInWindow after the component is visible.)
however, this may not give you the granularity you want in focus retention...
worst case, you can try writing an intelligent windowListener to save/restore focus on windowActivated etc
good luck!