Document properties subwindows doesn't hide when document properties is hidden

[Codain]

This bug could be linked with Bug #901400 but here it affects Fedora and Windows Seven.

When I close the document properties window and the Document bakcground color window (for exemple) is shown, the document properties window is well closing but not the background color window.

To help the one which will solve it (and understand what should appear), in document-properties.cpp line 1053 we have :

void DocumentProperties::on_response (int id)
{
    if (id == Gtk::RESPONSE_DELETE_EVENT || id == Gtk::RESPONSE_CLOSE)
    {
        _rcp_bg.closeWindow();
        _rcp_bord.closeWindow();
        _rcp_gui.closeWindow();
        _rcp_hgui.closeWindow();
    }

    if (id == Gtk::RESPONSE_CLOSE)
        hide();
}

If I understand well, that would mean that when we hide the document properties window (in fact, the windows is not closed but only hidden), subwindows should be hidden too.

It's not the case : when the document properties windows is hidden, childs (background color dialog, border color dialog...) are not hidden.

I've tested with windows XP and Fedora, wih the document properties window docked or not, by clicking the window decoration close button and the dock close button, and with all of the four dialogs listed in the code shown.

If I'm good enough at GTK, I will try to submit a patch, but maybe it's not a bug.

[su_v (suv-lp)]

> the document properties window is well closing but not the background color window.

From a users perspective: why should it close? It is not a modal dialog and works independently from the dialog that called it, without blocking other interactions.
Keeping the dialog visible allows me e.g. testing different background colors (or border colors, or grid colors) while continuing to work on the current drawing without having the document properties dialog also open (and thus overlapping partially the content or reducing the canvas size when docked).

Is this against the Gnome HIG?
Or does it conflict (confusing the desktop it is connected to) if multiple document windows are open (from within the same inkscape instance) and all have a floating 'Background color' dialog?

[su_v (suv-lp)]

> Or does it conflict (confusing the desktop it is connected to) if multiple
> document windows are open (from within the same inkscape instance)
> and all have a floating 'Background color' dialog?

Not the case - each document window has its own 'Background color' dialog, showing and modifying the background color of its parent document window (tested with r10762 on OS X).

[su_v (suv-lp)]

With the color selector dialog for the color of the grid lines of the default grid, opened from 'Inkscape Preferences > Grids', it really doesn't make much sense though to keep the dialog open when closing the preferences dialog (it has no visual effect on the current document because it only defines the settings of default grid that gets created when adding a new grid in the document properties).

[Codain (codain)]

I would think that when I've finished to change document properties, everything whould be closed. but your point of view is valid, it depends on user experiences. I have never thinked about keeping the background color window whithout the document property :o) . Maybe if I use the docked window it could make more sense (because when I've a window and a second window called from the first one to tune a parameter, I expect more a modal window than a non-modal window).

But in this case, I can't explain why there is this function at line 1053 which explicitly say that when the document property window is hidden, others must be hidden too?

In my humble opinion, your point of view is not wrong but is not the original desire :o) (which is not wrong too!!).

[su_v (suv-lp)]

> Maybe if I use the docked window it could make more sense (…)

Indeed, I usually have the document properties dialog docked (default is undocked) - and the preferences dialog undocked (default setting).

[su_v (suv-lp)]

A related example: the (depreciated) gradient editor dialog can be called from various places: one access point is from the 'Fill & Stroke' dialog, after having set the fill or stroke to a gradient, another one is from the controls bar of the gradient tool, a third one is double-clicking a gradient stop within the gradient tool context. Should that dialog also be closed together with the 'Fill & Stroke' dialog (if called from the 'Fill&Stroke' dialog), but kept open if called otherwise?

Me thinks this might be a more global issue in Inkscape's GUI, and not limited to the document properties dialog and the various instances of the color selector dialog it can call.