"completion" and "advanced" tabs are empty

[Thibault D]

Distribution : Ubuntu Oneiric 11.10 (french)
Evince 3.2.1

1. Open a .pdf with evince
2. File > Print... (CTRL-P)
3. The "Completion" and "Advanced" tabs are empty : there is nothing in it ! (see screenshots)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: hplip 3.11.7-1ubuntu3.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-14.23-generic-pae 3.0.9
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-14-generic-pae i686
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: i386
CheckboxSubmission: 81cb0decfb0005ccfe5f69fb8adb5547
CheckboxSystem: b8f3ec504801f13fc208edb5c785b099
CupsErrorLog: W [05/Dec/2011:21:07:47 +0100] failed to AddProfile: org.freedesktop.ColorManager.Failed:profile object path '/org/freedesktop/ColorManager/profiles/Photosmart_C4400_series_RGB__' has already been added
Date: Mon Dec 5 22:56:08 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111012)
Lpstat: device for Photosmart-C4400-series: hp:/usb/Photosmart_C4400_series?serial=TH8BIH21WG05BN
Lsusb:
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
 Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
 Bus 001 Device 003: ID 13d3:5130 IMC Networks
MachineType: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. K52JU
Papersize: a4
PpdFiles: Photosmart-C4400-series: HP Photosmart c4400 Series, hpcups 3.11.7
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-14-generic-pae root=UUID=dbe21722-71cd-489e-8be1-f9cb13eca9e4 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: hplip
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 10/28/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: K52JU.203
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: K52JU
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrK52JU.203:bd10/28/2010:svnASUSTeKComputerInc.:pnK52JU:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:rnK52JU:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:ct10:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: K52JU
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

I observe this problem, too. For most of my printers I see empty tabs. Even for "Print to file", where there ar no PPD options" I have two empty tabs. Perhaps tabs do not get removed when switching between printers.

The problem is somewhere in the GTK print dialog. In other GUI applications, like system-config-printer, the printer options from the PPD files are presented correctly.

[Thibault D (thibdrev)]

I do not see those tabs ("completion" and "advanced") when I go on "System Properties > Printer > right-click > Properies" (system-config-printer.py). So maybe there are options to hide them.

On the other hand, in the "printer properties" window I get a lot of others tabs, complicated, which are not very useful for a "basic user".

I have searched in the "HPLIP" and "hplip in Ubuntu" bugs, but I see none saying "HPLIP interface is too geeky".
Shouldn't we focus on that for the next LTS, as printing is a basic function used by everyone ?

[Thibault D (thibdrev)]

The only bug I see which could be related is Bug #598902 "Confusing printer properties for some HP printers", but it is not exactly the same (here they face duplicated information), but the result is the same : too much information leads to confusion.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

The bug has been fixed in the current version, see http://git.gnome.org/browse/gtk+/commit/?id=f1995f80e7494f9319dc8e0895fefc92bb1d1a7a

"GtkPrintUnixDialog: Hide unused tabs

Don't show tabs which are empty."