Child Windows [of Synaptic/update manager] should remain in the same desktop as the parent window

[Vish]

At present, the behavior of synaptic manager/update manager is huge disruption to workflow>

To recreate:
 Select to update/install software in desktop 1 , now while the downloads and installation occurs Switch to a different desktop > On completion of the process the child windows pop-up in the user's present desktop[just to inform completion or error] and grabs focus , instead of remaining in the desktop 1

The problem with this is:
1: The child window very much disturbs the user's work by grabbing attention from the user's work[comes to the foreground]
2: The child window doesnt show up in the window list
3: If the users switches to his work , and later tries to return to the synaptic/update manager in the desktop 1 , the child window is not there! And therefore the synaptic/update manager cannot be closed without closing the child window [which is complicated by the child window not being displayed in the window list] so he has to search where the child window is beneath all his work windows and has o check all the desktops!

To have an acceptable behavior :
1: Child window ALWAYS remains in the same desktop as the parent window[since the parent window is displayed in the window list].
2: Should not grab attention from the user's work. [Instead ,optionally , a simple Notify-osd Bubble saying "Installation Done/ Updates finished/Error" can be displayed.]

[Mirco Müller (macslow)]

mac_v, this has to be filed against synaptic only. notify-osd is not responsible (or in control) regarding what application sends notification-requests to it. This is purely within the scope of the application in question and not the notification-daemon "notify-osd".

[Vish (vish)]

after discussion with mvo on irc.

[Vish (vish)]

Assigning after discussing on irc

[David Siegel (djsiegel-deactivatedaccount)]

Is this a paper cut? Aren't the affected projects being replaced by App Center in Karmic?

[Vish (vish)]

David Siegel , no , synaptic by karmic+1 , and update manager probably by karmic+2

[Jason Smith (jassmith)]

This is a window manager issue, not an issue with synaptic itself. If you notice, metacity does not do this.

[Vish (vish)]

Jason Smith , you maybe right , i tried this after setting window manager to metacity and there were no such problems.

[Vish (vish)]

Since this seems more of a compiz bug , Assigning to Travis after discussing with him.

[Jerzy Jalocha N (jjalocha)]

I can confirm that in Xubuntu, update-manager has alway grabbed focus for all child/popup/status windows, which is annoying. As a user, I expect this this to run in the background, in a less intrusive way.

I don't think this is a compiz problem, because I never installed that package, and I can confirm that compiz is NOT installed in my current systems.

Thank you very much for making this a paper cut!

[Jure Merhar (jmerhar)]

I believe this is a wider (compiz?) problem. Windows often keep popping to the active desktop.

For instance, if I start Aptana on one desktop, it displays the splash screen, as it takes a while for it to load. If I then switch to another desktop, Aptana opens there, and not on the desktop where it was launched. This happens with every application with a splash screen.

It is quite frustrating, since you have to wait for the application to load completely, before switching to another desktop. If I launch an application on one particular desktop, I obviously want it there, and not wherever I go next.

[Jonathan Blackhall (johnny-one-eye)]

As pointed out in a bug 35876 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/metacity/+bug/35876), this bug appears to be two-fold. 1. Synaptic/Update Manager shouldn't be trying to steal focus and 2. compiz should not be allowing it to do so. However, I think #1 seems like a more appropriate fix.

Loye Young proposed a fix in that bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/metacity/+bug/35876/comments/46
https://bugs.launchpad.net/metacity/+bug/35876/comments/55

Has anyone attempted a patch based on the suggestions provided?

[thorstenmz (th-guenther)]

I'm using compiz 0.8.4 on Ubuntu 10.04 and I have the same problems. Update Manager steals focus, as does every other application after starting up while I'm working in another window.

I strongly second that "Personally I don't see any good reason to steal focus, ever. It is quite simply rude and annoying." (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-manager/+bug/373974)

As pointed out in https://bugs.launchpad.net/metacity/+bug/67476 this is security risk.

[Jeremy Newton (alexjnewt)]

I would like to note Gtk3 seems to fix this, as the child window is attached to the parent.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Joseph Martinot-Lagarde (contrebasse)]

I noticed this behavior with Synaptic and Eclipse. Modal windows should open on their parent's viewport.

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

Thanks a lot for reporting this. Can you please confirm if it's still a problem in 12.04?

[Chris Wilson (notgary-deactivatedaccount)]

Removing assignee since several years have passed since the original assingment.

[Jani Uusitalo (uusijani)]

Still very much an issue in 12.04.

[Dario Ruellan (druellan)]

Reading the discussion, there are many nice ideas here that perhaps should belong to separate papercuts:

1: Modal windows should open on their parent's viewport.
2: Modal windows should not steal focus if parents were not focused.
3: Unfocused modal windows should fire an alert on the launcher.
4: All windows of the same app should try to share the same desktop - https://bugs.launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts/+bug/391479/comments/10