Remarks field not displayed in xlog QSO entry form in Ubuntu 12.04

[damon raphael]

The Remarks field is not displayed in the xlog QSO Entry form in Ubuntu 12.04 Data can be successfully entered by mouse clicking over the"Remarks" Field. Text can be then typed and, although not displayed in the QSO Entry form, can be successfully saved. The saved text is then visible in the Saved QSO List.

The same problem is noted using Unity, Gnome, Gnome Classic, Xfce and KDE desktops with Ubuntu 12.04 i-386 32 bit desktop version. My computer is a Lenovo T61p Thinkpad with an Intel processor with Nvidia graphics chip. xlog is v 2.0.5-2 I installed a previous version, I think 2.0.2 and found the same problem.

I just created a Linux Mint 13 DVD with Cinnamon Desktop, which is built on Ubuntu, and the Remarks entry field is properly displayed when xlog is run from the Live DVD.

I have read a report that this problem has existed since Ubuntu 11.10.

I looked through the xlog C source code. Though not a skilled C programmer, it appears to me that the problem is not in the xlog source but maybe in the GTK+ library function which is called to draw the display box.

Is there a workaround for this problem? Not being able to enter Remarks severely limits the use of this program for my needs.

Thank you.
Damon Raphael, W7MD

[damon raphael (w7md)]

This is the code that I noted in http://xlog.sourcearchive.com/documentation/2.0.5-2/gui__mainwindow_8c_source.html and which I think is the code that should create the Remarks text box using calls to the GTK function library.

remarksvbox = gtk_vbox_new (FALSE, 0);
      gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (qsofieldsvbox), remarksvbox, FALSE, FALSE, 0);
      rembox1 = gtk_hbox_new (FALSE, 0);
      gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (remarksvbox), rembox1, FALSE, FALSE, 0);
      remarkslabel = gtk_label_new_with_mnemonic (_("Remar_ks"));
      gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (rembox1), remarkslabel, TRUE, TRUE, 0);
      rembox2 = gtk_hbox_new (FALSE, 0);
      gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (remarksvbox), rembox2, FALSE, FALSE, 0);
      remscr = gtk_scrolled_window_new (NULL, NULL);
      gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (rembox2), remscr);
      gtk_scrolled_window_set_policy (GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW (remscr),
            GTK_POLICY_NEVER, GTK_POLICY_AUTOMATIC);
      gtk_scrolled_window_set_shadow_type
            (GTK_SCROLLED_WINDOW (remscr), GTK_SHADOW_ETCHED_IN);
      remtv = gtk_text_view_new ();
      gtk_label_set_mnemonic_widget (GTK_LABEL(remarkslabel), remtv);
      gtk_text_view_set_wrap_mode (GTK_TEXT_VIEW(remtv), GTK_WRAP_WORD);
      gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (remscr), remtv);

[damon raphael (w7md)]

To clarify: The Remarks field "text entry box" is not displayed in the QSO Entry Form. The text entry box is not drawn or is drawn in a manner which cannot be properly displayed. Text CAN be entered and saved by clicking on the Remarks label or just below it.

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Hi Damon,
  Can you attach a screenshot of the window as it appears for you?
Under KDE on 12.10alpha, xlog does show me a remarks field (if I scroll to the bottom).

This is xlog package 2.0.5-2

[damon raphael (w7md)]

I have the KDE version OpenSuSe 12.1 running on a Thinkpad T60 and the remarks field is properly displayed there.

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

OK, I've recreated this. It appears to be related to the ubuntu overlay scrollbars - the ones that just pop up some of the time when you hover over them. If in a terminal you do:

export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0
xlog

you should find it works OK.

(Tried in ubuntu-2d in a vm, I get the problem and it goes away if I do that; doesn't happen on my KDE install where I don't have the overlay stuff).

[Dave Gilbert (ubuntu-treblig)]

Added overlay-scrollbar since this seems to be an incompatibility with it.

[damon raphael (w7md)]

Thanks Dave Gilbert. Unsetting the LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR environmental variable does fix the problem with display of the xlog "Remarks Field".

[AndyWLUG (andystewart)]

I have a fix in my sandbox! It is a one line addition to src/gui_mainwindow.c. It will be released as version 2.0.7. I tried it with Unity and Ubuntu 12.10 and it works for me.

 remscr = gtk_scrolled_window_new (NULL, NULL);
+ gtk_widget_set_size_request (remscr, 100, 60);
 gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (rembox2), remscr);

If you hack your xlog 2.0.6 sources, please let me know if this fix works for you (or not).

Thanks,

Andy
xlog maintainer

[AndyWLUG (andystewart)]

I have a fix, which will be released for xlog 2.0.7. I tried the fix in Ubuntu 12.10 with Unity and it worked for me.

[AndyWLUG (andystewart)]

The fix has been released in xlog version 2.0.7.