Unable to change window focus with Gnumeric filter selection displayed

[Stan Schymanski]

Upstream URL:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnumeric/issues/175

1) lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 11.10
Release: 11.10

2) apt-cache policy gnumeric
gnumeric:
  Installed: 1.10.17-1ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1.10.17-1ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 1.10.17-1ubuntu1 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/universe amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

3) What is expected to happen in Gnumeric via the Terminal:

cd ~/Desktop && wget https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnumeric/+bug/922510/+attachment/2700015/+files/rubbish.gnumeric && gnumeric --no-splash rubbish.gnumeric

Click the downward pointing arrow in cell A1 so all the filter values are displayed and one may still click into another program with the mouse, or change window focus via Ctrl+Alt.

4) What happens instead is the clicking into another program does not bring that window to the front as an active window, nor does the window change focus clicking Ctrl+Alt.

WORKAROUND: Choose a filter selection, press Esc, or click within the Gnumeric window outside the filter selection.

WORKAROUND: Use LibreOffice Calc as this phenomenon does not occur in it.

---
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110427)
Package: gnumeric 1.10.17-1ubuntu1
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
 LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-15.26-generic 3.0.13
Tags: oneiric running-unity
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-15-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2012-01-21 (8 days ago)
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare

[Stan Schymanski (schymans)]

I am not sure if attributing this problem to gnumeric is helpful here.
Fixing Gnumeric to make a click outside of the drop-down list result in the same behaviour as pressing the Escape key would easily break reproducibility of this problem, but it would not fix the underlying problem with the OS. Allowing a program to block your entire desktop (and keyboard and on/off button) in this way calls for more and more problems. Usually these problems are not easily reproduced (see https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=40141), so I really hope that the reproducible behaviour described here can help getting to the core of the problem rather than treating one symptom.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Stan Schymanski, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 922510
When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.
As well, could you please attach to this report a gnumeric file that when you performed the actions in the Bug Description, reproduces this problem?

[Stan Schymanski (schymans)]

apport information

[Stan Schymanski (schymans)]

Thanks for the instructions. I did as you said.
By the way, I tried to use 'ubuntu-bug' originally, but it wouldn't let me submit a bug without specifying the package. As I said, I do not think that this bug should be "fixed" in the Gnumeric package, but I don't know in which package the underlying bug really sits. Therefore I preferred to submit a bug report without specifying a package.

Cheers
Stan

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Stan Schymanski, it is not known from a Gnumeric developers point of view if this is a bug in the software (ex. regression), or an enhancement request to change the functionality, so I'll leave the Importance untoggled. As well, I put LibreOffice Calc as a workaround so the developers have an example program and code base that does what you want it to do.

However, the issue you are reporting is an upstream one and it would be nice if somebody having it could send the bug to the developers of the software by following the instructions at https://bugzilla.gnome.org/page.cgi?id=bug-writing.html . If you have done so, please tell us the number of the upstream bug (or the link), so we can add a bugwatch that will inform us about its status. Thanks in advance.

[Vadim Rutkovsky (roignac)]

Sent upstream - https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=669004

[Stan Schymanski (schymans)]

Christopher M. Penalver, as I've been saying from the beginning, I couldn't care less whether this behaviour is changed in Gnumeric or not. In my opinion it is a bug in Ubuntu (the window manager?), as no program should be able to grab possession of the whole desktop and the keyboard including the On/off button like that. The work-around is trivial and using LibreOffice instead is not an option for me because of a much worse and likely related bug there:
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=40141.

In fact the bug in LibreOffice is likely so severe BECAUSE of the underlying bug in Ubuntu. Treating the behaviour I described here as a bug in Gnumeric totally defeats the purpose and I feel that I am wasting everybody's time including my own if this is where we are heading.