LibreOffice Unity integration - opening an .odt file from dash or nautilus should yield correct icon and allow switching between the subsequently opened LO windows

[Cavia Porcellus]

IMPACT:

See description.

SRU TESTCASE:

0. make sure libreoffice writer is not pinned to the launcher
1. open libreoffice writer
2. save a .odt file
3. close libreoffice
4. open the .odt file directly from the location it was saved to.

What should happen:
a new icon for libreoffice writer should appear, not the generic libreoffice icon.

REGRESSION POTENTIAL:

Low, has already been well tested, but test again everything in this bug report.

-----ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION-----

LibreOffice applications are not coming up on the launcher properly as of a few weeks ago (can't remember exactly when).

If Calc or Draw is locked to launcher, all is normal.
Opening a specific application via the dash works as normal too.

However, problems arise if you open a document directly (from the dash or double clicking in Nautilus) when there is no icon pinned to the launcher:

Case #1
A white generic "Liberoffice" icon appears - not the proper application icon (eg a green one for Calc, a yellow one for Draw). If more documents are opened, no more wee triangles appear and the icon becomes useless: it cannot be clicked to switch to any open instance. There is no way to switch to it if the window is minimized, as now LibreOffice no longer appears in the alt-tab switcher.

Close LibreOffice.
Open a file directly again.

Case #2
Now the proper icon appears - but with an empty hole in between launcher and icon. If more documents are opened the white triangles appear and alt-tab still works, but the hole remains. Sometimes the hole is two icons wide.

Close LibreOffice.
Repeat.

Case #1 now reapers, and it will go back and forth ad infinitum.

Note that I don't get this problem with Writer or Impress, which is pretty weird. [EDIT: a number of people are also seeing the bug with Writer and Impress]

I've tried this with LibreOffice 3.5.3.2 and the PPA version (currently 3.5.5.3). I've also tested using lo-menubar and not, but it makes no difference. I've also tested it on two separate computers using Precise and purged all of LibreOffice and reinstalled... all to no avail.

Thanks.

EDIT:

This bug had been previously reported (and fixed) in Bug #842566.
Please do not mark this report as a duplicate of the afore-mentioned as it has been asked to create a new report when this issue reappeared (see this comment: https://bugs.launchpad.net/bamf/+bug/842566/comments/142)

WORKAROUND:

Missing windows can be found by using the super + W (for QWERTY keyboards; super + Z for AZERTY keyboards) to use the "spread" function.
This is also possible by using something like Ubuntu Tweak and setting a "hotcorner" wich triggers the spread function.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: unity 5.12-0ubuntu1.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-26.41-generic-pae 3.2.19
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-26-generic-pae i686
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu11
Architecture: i386
CheckboxSubmission: 02d945a9613042f2308305da996afd9c
CheckboxSystem: bb422ca46d02494cdbc459927a98bc2f
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CompositorRunning: compiz
Date: Wed Jul 18 22:47:35 2012
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: precise
DistroVariant: ubuntu
GraphicsCard:
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InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release i386 (20120423)
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ProcEnviron:
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SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 04/16/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 7IET33WW (1.14 )
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dmi.product.name: 8744C9U
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T60p
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.7.8-0ubuntu1.2
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.32-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 8.0.2-0ubuntu3.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 8.0.2-0ubuntu3.1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.11.4-0ubuntu10.6
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.0-0ubuntu1.2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.99~git20111219.aacbd629-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.17.0-1ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20111201+b5534a1-1build2

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

Unity 5.1.14 , Ubuntu 12.04 x64 - the bug is still there... :(

[Dan Jared (danjaredg)]

This happen with libreoffice write too, Ubuntu 12.04 and Unity 5.12-0ubuntu1.1, check the file attachment

[Cavia Porcellus (caviaporcellus)]

I've run across a bunch of problems with LibreOffice integration with the launcher. Sometimes, for instance, a locked icon of an application won't register when the program is opened, so another (yet identical) icon will appear. What I reported was the only bug which I could reproduce consistently. I actually did get the bug with Writer, as Dan Jared shows above, but it only happened once.

[theghost (theghost)]

I also have this issue everytime using writer. Either the white lo icon appears and I have problems to refocus lo when I open another applications on the same workspace or the Writer icon appears (+ an empty launcher entry with no icon) where I can select Writer when other applications are running.

All in all I have to say LibreOffice integration in Unity is really really broken. I cannot understand why this bug is still there, because LibreOffice is one of Ubuntu's main applications and no one recognized this issues. It's easily reproducable, see bug opener or just open a saved *.odt file for example, use some other applications (normal workflow).

[Amr Ibrahim (amribrahim1987)]

Libreoffice Writer is broken broken too.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

A very non technical observation from me is that due to some race condition the white icon that appears momentarily in the attached video gets stuck there as newly created window icon... (I can't reproduce the issue here with Ubuntu 12.10)

[Matthieu FAURE (mfaure)]

(thanks stephane-guillou for bringing us here from #842566)

After more than a month trying to reproduce this bug, I just found a "steps to reproduce" with Writer !
(at least on my computer)

1. Open (let say) Firefox and Nautilus
2. Open LibreOffice Writer with a document
3. Verify you can ALT-TAB from one app to the other
4. In Writer, type some text and insert a footnote
5. ALT-TAB at least once: you can no more access Writer

It seems some given Writer actions trigger something weird with Unity...

[franciscoIR (francisco-ibanez-rioseco)]

Hi

I have libreOffice 1:3.5.4-0ubuntu1, when i open libreoffice from the dash i have no problems, but when i open from the launcher from an locked icon the problem apears.
So
1.- Open Writer
2.- Lock Icon
3.- Close Writer
4.- Open Writer from panel
5.- Writer don't appear in ALT-TAB swicher
6.- Close writer

I have attached a video with the steps to reproduce the bug

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

I need to check this better, but have you installed the package libreoffice-filter-binfilter? It used to cause some troubles some time ago....

[pwaring (launchpad-pwaring)]

I'm experiencing the same problem with LibreOffice/Unity and I don't have libreoffice-filter-binfilter installed.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

In my case, after removing libreoffice-filter-binfilter package the situation is better -- Calc and Draw window are shown on Alt-Tab swicher.
But I still have case #1 and #2 from the original bug report.

[Matthieu FAURE (mfaure)]

I have LibreOffice 3.5.5~rc3-0ubuntu1~ppa1 and I remove the binfilters (libobasis3.4-binfilter libobasis3.4-en-us-binfilter libobasis3.4-fr-binfilter libreoffice3.4-ure).

That didn't change anything for me. When I add a footnote and switch with ALT-TAB, I can no longer access LibreOffice. But the new point is that the LibreOffice icon is actually present when i do ALT-TAB, but it is ineffective.

[franciscoIR (francisco-ibanez-rioseco)]

I dont have the packge libreoffice-filter-binfilter installed
what can i do to help?

[Cavia Porcellus (caviaporcellus)]

I don't understand how with the same versions of the software people have different problems. So odd. For instance, I cannot reproduce Matthieu's footnote bug (thank god, since I use footnotes all the time!), nor Franciso's. I'm not using binfilters, if it matters.

[Greg Lynch (gregalynch)]

I have this issue as well, and I had assumed it was linked to lo-menubar. This has caused other launcher problems for me in the past, but I re-installed it because the benefits outweight the costs for me. Do others who are experiencing the bug have lo-menubar installed, too?

[pwaring (launchpad-pwaring)]

I don't have lo-menubar installed and am experiencing the same problem.

[Dac Chartrand (conner-bw)]

I installed "lo-menubar" thinking the problem would go away.
It did not.
Both with and without lo-menubar, the problem persists on 12.04

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

Unity 6.2, Ubuntu 12.10 x64
The problem is still there.

[Peter Harvey (pdqharvey)]

Ubuntu 12.04, x64

Problem still here. At the moment I am only experiencing it with Calc.

Symptoms: generic white icon in Unity launcher, with 'empty' arrow-head, rather than 'full' (white) one; no icon at all in application switcher. Clicking icon in launcher does nothing if only Calc documents are open, but returns to a Writer document if there is one open.

Restarting Unity (unity --replace) rectifies the situation for a while (when application-specific icons - i.e. green for Calc - appear in launcher and app-switcher).

Have tried to reproduce the issue in Writer using the 'footnote' method above, but for the moment Writer behaves correctly. Have not tested other LO applications.

[Greg Lynch (gregalynch)]

I am currently experiencing this with calc and similar problems with writer. In one session today (a) opening a new instance of writer failed to associate the window with any icon in the launcher. Later (b) a new window was associated with the generic white LO icon. Later (3) a different window generated a second writer icon on the launcher (besides the one that is pinned) and the window was associated with it.

A restart typically solves the problem -- for a while. Generally by the end of the day it will have returned, though.

[Karl Kropf (ksk-clara)]

I've also have this problem and filed a separate bug report, Bug #1027000. As with most of the other comments above, the symptoms are variable and difficult to describe exhaustively. I mainly use Writer and Calc and it affects both of these.

[Ari (ari-lp)]

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, LO 3.6.0.4. Same behaviour.

[Exeleration-G (exeleration-g)]

Writer is affected too. Please update the title accordingly.

[John Pye (jdpipe)]

Some observations:
1. when I unlock it from launcher, my Writer icon doesn't disappear -- how can I force it to be removed?
2. when I right-click this 'zombie' launcher, I see 'new document' then a blank space, then 'lock to launcher' (how can an icon stay there when it's been unlocked is isn't currently running??)
3. when I click this launcher, I get a new panel icon, separate form the launcher icon. The little triangles appear next to the new icon, nothing on the original one.

Come on, Canonical! Unity is your flagship product...

[sulliwane (sulliwane)]

Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS & LibreOffice 3.6.0.2 (Build ID: 360m1(Build:102)) is affected too. A clic on the unity launcher/icon doesn't show up libreoffice. And i get the white icon, instead of green/blue icon when calc/writer are opened.

[Dac Chartrand (conner-bw)]

Here's a screencast (OGV) of the bug in action.
4 different bugs in the unity launcher with the same action (double clicking a file).
Hope this helps.

[menner (menner)]

In my case, the title of the Unity starter icon of LO Calc changed from "LibreOffice Calc" (original value) to "MyDocument.doc - LibreOffice Writer" ! Really, Writer, not Calk, but it is still green and starts Calc (with additional empty icon and additional green icon). That wrong icon title might be the reason why the Uniti icon matching for LO Calc doesn't work any more, and I get additional white or green icons for calc documents (both xls and ods opened via Nautilus).

[Ratchanan Srirattanamet (peat-new)]

It affect me too in Impress but no problem in Writer. Strange. Not tested in other LO application.

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

Unity 6.4, Ubuntu 12.10 x64 . The main problems are still there.

[Subhadip Ghosh (subhadip-sky)]

Ubuntu 12.04 still uses Unity 5.x. Won't there be any fix for 12.04 LTS? This problem was originally reported for 12.04.

[Sergio Benjamim (sergio-br2)]

it happens also in Ubuntu 12.04.1

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS
Release: 12.04
Codename: precise

dpkg -l | grep "unity"
unity 5.14.0-0ubuntu1

dpkg -l | grep libreoffice-base-core
libreoffice-base-core 1:3.5.4-0ubuntu1.1

annoying bug...

[Lei Wang (raywang)]

As a workaround, one can use "Super + W" combination to switch to libreoffice windows...

[Damien Lecan (dlecan)]

This is a regression on a major Ubuntu version, with Long Terme Support.

This bug is opened for more than 2 months, affecting many users and confirmed by many users.
LibreOffice is almost unusuable !

Many users around me, convinced to use Ubuntu, are thinking about switching back to Windows because ... it works (on that point).

Please, it's high time to fix this regression.

[franciscoIR (francisco-ibanez-rioseco)]

I agree with comment #39, my current work it is not related with programing in any way but my former work was in IT (APM and bugs squad related), so i have certain knowledge that permits me to find a workaround, but it is just me. People working in not programing works don't have a clue about bugs and workarounds, and this is the people that are your main target client.

This bug appear in 11.10 and it's back in 12.04 (LTS), i dont think it is a extreme dificult bug and i don't know what it taking so long to fix it properly.

Please make this bug a priority

[miguelavg (chevere)]

i thought #39 was too rough, but then i realized i installed a windows 7 VM just for documentation...

[Mario S. (sm666)]

thanx #41 you made my day, and - YES - I definately agree. I am using linux now since nearly a decade (8 years with Ubuntu) and I have to say: THIS IS MORE THAN ANNOYING. It is just NOT WORKING. And that made the initial point for linux - at least for me ... it simply worked.

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

I support the whole office with ubuntu 12.04 on board. If this bug is not fixed at 12.10 and 12.04, perhaps we can consider buying Windows instead of paid support from Canonical.

This bug is realy a big problem, and it is fixing too long. The most stable Ubuntu IMHO was 10.04-10.10 ...

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

*Will not be fixed at 12.10 and 12.04

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

All, Is this issue only happening in Ubuntu 12.04? or are you facing the same in Ubuntu 12.10 as well. Plus is everyone in this bug report really sure they all are facing the very same problem? Could a few of you describe what exactly you are seeing.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

Marco is working on this bug.

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

It is actual for 12.04 and 12.10 .

[franciscoIR (francisco-ibanez-rioseco)]

I don't run development version, so for me it's 12.04,
I have recorded another video and it's the same thing as the video that i post here on 2012-08-07, i attached the new video

The only way to recover fom the bug is to log out and in.

Saludos

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

Ubuntu 12.04 x64, Unity 5.16.0

The problem is still there.

[Dac Chartrand (conner-bw)]

Sorry all, but `Super + W` is not a workaround for many people.

See Bug #729979

Good times.

[Benjamin Bach (benjaoming)]

I am seeing results by removing the splash screen:

In file /etc/libreoffice/sofficerc :

Logo=0

Switching it back on once again removed the icon from panel.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

I'd also say that Super+W is not very helpful because of bug #1050666

[vanadium (ftack)]

A pity indeed that such a visible bug affecting the use of a productivity suite with the default Ubuntu desktop of a LTS edition appears very difficult to resolve. This essentially breaks Unity.

I like Unity because of its efficient use of screen real estate. Unity-2D does not have the issue, so using it is my workaround for the time being.

[Franck (alci)]

I just upgraded to Quantal beta, and the bug is still here. Opening the same odp (impress) document from my desktop about ten time, I get diverse results :
- impress icon, just works as expected (once)
- libreoffre icon (blank), clicking on the icon won't get the window on top (most of the time)
- one question mark icon (with no title) and one impress icon. Clicking on the impress icon restaures the window.

[Franck (alci)]

As the result is not the same over time, maybe there is some kind of race condition ? So if that matters, notice I'm running an a recent hardware, with quick (SATA II) SSD.

[Franck (alci)]

I also noticed that if libreoffice is not maximized, it seems to work just fine. So if I open my odp file, unmaximze, close, reopen (unmaximized), I get the right impress launcher icon, and the window comes to front when I click on the launcher icon.
But if the application is maximized, it will fail (with generic libreoffice icon, or question mark icon + impress icon) most of the time...

[Franck (alci)]

As mentionned by Bejamin Bach, removing the slash screen also helps.

 So:

- maximized + splash : fails most of the time
- maximized without splash : works (I still did not see it fail)
- unmaximized with or without splash : works (I still did not see it fail)

[Giovanni Mellini (merlos)]

I removed the splash screen as said by Benjamin and now lo works fine.
I continue with testing.

Tks Giovanni

[Simone Lussardi (simone-lussardi)]

I did as instructed and remove the splash, I am running 3.6 from website, so is slightly different command:
sudo gedit /etc/libreoffice3.6/program/sofficerc

After a while, the icon DISAPPEARED from the bar itself... I still need to do a logoff tough, it is possible that I had so many windows opened that I didn't close all of them before trying. Will try better and report back.

Just add that is really annoying to have this bug on the default suite, as someone pointed out. Make Unity look like an amateur product when indeed is a pro-racing tool !

[miguelavg (chevere)]

Hello guys. I'm fairly new to Unity (I switched from 10.10 when it stopped being supported), and i don't know what is a splash screen... can someone light me up ?

Cheers

[Franck (alci)]

Hu miguel,

splash screen is not specific to Unity. It is the name of the small logo window the appears for some application while it is loading (eg. for eclipse, libreoffice, once was the case with gnome, etc...).

Franck

[andrea de cesarei (andrea-dece)]

Hi everybody,
I removed the splash screen but I am still having issues (both with maximized and unmaximized windows)
Cheers

[Benjamin Bach (benjaoming)]

Would it be safe to assume that this bug is a duplicate of #995916 ? The other bug has a fix committed in proposed packages for Precise, so with a little patience it will be fixed soon.

I'll try the proposed package and close this as a duplicate if it works.

[Benjamin Bach (benjaoming)]

Nope, still persists. When opening a document directly from Nautilus, without splash screen (Logo=0), I get one of these scenarios randomly

1) Correct icon (empty document icon flashes but is replaced).
2) Correct icon + an empty space with no icon. Both disappears when the document is closed.
3) Wrong icon (empty document) but present in alt+tab switcher and window management works correct.

With Logo=1, I get 1-3, but also:

4) No icon and not present in alt+tab switcher.

*) Tested with LibreOffice Calc, and Unity 5.16.0-0ubuntu1 from precise-proposed.

[Dan Jared (danjaredg)]

There is a problem with libreoffice-base too. To reproduce this error:

1.- Open Libreoffice-Base in design mode.
2.- Open anywhere document with another libreoffice product.
3.- Close the last document opened.
4.- The Libreoffice-base icon desapear.

And libreoffice-base doesn't show the correct icon.

[Greg Lynch (gregalynch)]

A new variation on what I take it is the same problem:

1) Open two writer documents - the two little triangles on the left side of the icon appear as they should
2) Close one of them - both triangles on the left side disappear, but the one on the right (the one that indicates that the application has focus) remains. Clicking the icon opens a new instance, rather than giving focus to the open document (Super+W can recover it)
3) Close the open document and open a new one - the new document does not associate with any icon at all on the launcher, but all long the 'focus' triangle remains next to the writer icon all along

As of a week or so ago things would work right for a while, and the bug in this post would only show up every couple of days. Since yesterday, though, the bug seems to be showing up pretty much every time I use libreoffice (which is everyday)

As everyone else is saying, please fix this ASAP. Ubuntu is the only OS on my only computer, and this is making it pretty hard to get my work done.

[anthropornis (anthropornis)]

I don't know if this is in any way related, but I just started using the patched version of Unity that restores the dodge windows functionality to the dock, and right now I have Gpodder open, it shows up on the dock, but not in the alt-tab switcher.

Moreover, I was having the LibreOffice dock/switcher problems also, even before installing the patched version of Unity.

Running Ubuntu 12.04 64bit here.

[Peter Harvey (pdqharvey)]

I can only echo the frustration expressed by others that this remains such a problem - a regression, at that. The worst of it is no longer being able to recommend Ubuntu - even though I love it - and Unity.

Splash screen: I have seen no improvement at all by setting the splashscreen to off, in case that is of use.

Another workaround, however, in case it helps anyone:
Much quicker than logging off and back on, restart Unity to get things working again (no saving work or closing applications needed). Run "unity --replace" either as a command (alt+f2, not in the terminal, or it has to stay open forever) or from a tiny script run from a keyboard shortcut. Since it has to be SO often (sigh), I find this a help:

- Create a file: "home/yourname/Scripts/Unity-replace" containing the code:

#!/bin/bash

unity --replace

- Mark it as executable (properties/permissions/allow executing...).
- Run it from a custom keyboard shortcut (system settings/keyboard/keyboard shortcuts) called Unity-replace (anything you like, in fact).
- The command is simply the path to the script (/home/yourname/Scripts/Unity-replace).

I allocated it a memorable key-combination and just hit Ctrl+Alt+U at the first sign of trouble...

(running 12.04, 64bit)

[Bruce Crowther (bwucie)]

Well done, Peter Harvey: unity --replace IS the charm as a workaround.

I had decided to stay with the LTS version this time around, but with this and other bugs I am thinking a giant leap back to 11.10 would be a better solution for me.

[Subhadip Ghosh (subhadip-sky)]

I reported this issue the time when it first appeared. One of the workaround is to lock the three LO icons to the launcher and I have been doing it for a long time. No issue if you do so. And yes this issue is really annoying.

[Minas (minas-mina1990)]

A simple is workaround is:
Do not open the file directly. Open the program (from the dash for example). Then click "file"->"open" and find what you want.
This does the trick because when an empty document is opened, the icon is always the one it should be.

[Kristian Kißling (kkissling)]

#71: will try this
I have a workaround, that works for me:
- bring hidden libreoffice window to front via [Super]+[W]
- press [Shift]+[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Right] to put it on the right desktop
- use only this desktop for writing, calc whatever
- now use [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Right] and [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Left] to move between desktops
This bug is pretty annoying anyway, so please fix it!

[andrea de cesarei (andrea-dece)]

just a question: the fact that the status of this bug is "confirmed" means that the bug is not verified by the bug supervisor (=triaged), and that the assigned person is not working on it (=in progress).

Is this correct?

[Dave Vree (hdave)]

Ubuntu 12.04 x64 - For me LibreWriter was the biggest culprit. My workaround is put pin the LO icons to the launcher.

[Kristian Kißling (kkissling)]

#71: Thanks a lot, your workaround seems to do the trick - at least until now.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

For Ubuntu 12.04 users. Please try this ppa (ppa:om26er/unity) there is a BAMF package building there right now and let us know if that fixes the issue for you people.

NOTE: there is a unity package there as well but thats totally unrelated to this bug.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package bamf - 0.3.2-0ubuntu1

---------------
bamf (0.3.2-0ubuntu1) quantal-proposed; urgency=low

  [ Łukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak ]
  * New upstream release.
    - bamfdaemon crashes in bamf_application_get_supported_mime_types
      (LP: #1058260)
    - Webapps close prematurely (LP: #1051042)
    - Broken UI and no window management (LP: #1053288)

  [ Timo Jyrinki ]
  * Cherry-pick LibreOffice fix (LP: #1026426)
 -- Lukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak <email address hidden> Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:05:32 +0200

[Dan Jared (danjaredg)]

The integration with libreoffice-base is ready too??? libreoffice-base never show correct icon, only use libreoffice blank icon

[Franck (alci)]

Great. Thanks for the good work.

[Amr Ibrahim (amribrahim1987)]

Omer, the BAMF package in ppa:om26er/unity is older than precise-updates. I couldn't install it.

[Matthieu FAURE (mfaure)]

Great ! The packages from your PPA solved the problem for me !

I ran my testcase: open firefox, open an existing writer document, add a footnote, and switch with ALT-TAB to firefox then switch back to writer. Everything is OK. Thank you very much Omer !

[Amr Ibrahim (amribrahim1987)]

My testcase would be:
1- Unlock all LO icons
2- Open all types of documents from Nautilus file manager, again and again (open, close, open, close...... and so on)
3- See the integration of the icons with the launcher
4- Switch with Alt+Tab and see what happens

[Matthieu FAURE (mfaure)]

Ouch, the problem appeared again (don't know exactly how).
I ran Amr Ibrahim's testcase (#82), that failed (couldn't swith to writer)

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

That ppa was not working since it had bad version numbering, I have corrected that now. The package may take a few hours to build in my ppa (slow launchpad). please try in a few hours.

Matthieu, I think you updated unity from my ppa which is totally unrelated to this bug.

[bolodya (bolodya)]

Omer, which package from this ppa shall we update to fix this bug?
- if the bug-fix is in any bamf package than it is not existing in this ppa now :( ,
- if the bug-fix is in any unity package than it is not working :(

Here is a way to 100% reproduce the burn of this bag on any still working 12.04 system, even on live-cd 12.04.1 LTS!!!
1. Boot from Ubuntu 12.04.1 CD/USB (or you can brake your system)
2. Start writer
3. Start calc
4. Close writer
5. Close calc
6. repeat steps 2...5
7. Start writer (or calc). you will get the second icon of writer (or calc) on the launcher

If you will remove writer and calc shurtcuts from launcher before step 2, you will get an app without icon in louncher not responding on alt+tab... There are lots of variants of progress of this bug, you can see some of them in posts before. It affect all LibreOffice applications, mostly used are braking first.

As a resume of my reserch: if LibreOffice is started by one LO application, and closed dy the other, then Unity is confused and cant more correctly identify LO windows.

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

bolodya: libbamf3-0 should fix this.

[Amr Ibrahim (amribrahim1987)]

YES, a fix may have arrived!

@Omer, your BAMF package did the trick (I updated unity as well). I went through every step I mentioned earlier in comment #82 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/bamf/+bug/1026426/comments/82) and everything went OK! I just updated from ppa:om26er/unity then logged off and on again. I don't experience this bug anymore. Thanks :D

[Dan Jared (danjaredg)]

will libreoffice-base be fixed?, not show correct icon, the rest of libreoffice works very well

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

Dan, I've noticed that as well... Fixing it is trivial, need to open a new bug for it (feel free to assign me)

[Dan Jared (danjaredg)]

Thanks Marco..., I created a new bug to libreoffice base in https://bugs.launchpad.net/bamf/+bug/1063862

[andrea de cesarei (andrea-dece)]

works wonderfully... thanks for the good work!

[Vasily (vasily-aa)]

Will there be a fix for 12.04 officially released?

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

>> Will there be a fix for 12.04 officially released?

Yes

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

2012/10/12 Vasily <email address hidden>:
> Will there be a fix for 12.04 officially released?

Yes, sure... the code is ready, the distro will do an SRU in few days.

[theghost (theghost)]

It's good that this will be fixed finally. Better late than never.
Thanks for the fix.

[Dave (dstien)]

great work, guys. thanks a lot!

[Marco Lackovic (marco-lackovic)]

On Ubuntu 12.04 I get this problem with Writer, Impress and Calc.
There is an additional case when no icon at all appears in the launcher.

As workaround I didn't open the files through Nautilus:
I opened the application first and then used the File > Open option.

I agree with comment #39.

As for comment #76, installing the ppa solved the problem, although I still can see the white icon appearing for a brief moment before the proper one.

To install that ppa run in a terminal the following command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:om26er/unity
Then run the following and then reboot:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

2012/10/19 Marco Lackovic <email address hidden>:
> As for comment #76, installing the ppa solved the problem, although I
> still can see the white icon appearing for a brief moment before the
> proper one.

That's meant to happen, since libreoffice always opens a standard
window and then applies the specific parameters to the editor in use.
So, thanks for testing.

[Stéphane Guillou (stephane-guillou)]

I have a similar problem in 12.10 up to date (3 .odt documents open, none showing in the launcher or the alt+tab switcher: however, a .ods spreadsheet is showing fine at the same time).
Does anyone experience this too? Or is there a separate bug?

[Sagar Raut (sagarthegreat1)]

confirmed affects me when opening an odt document on 12.04.1 x64 latest updated(29/10/12)

[melenzb (woodhouser)]

I'm afraid the problem persists even after using

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:om26er/unity
Then run the following and then reboot:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

The waf (Wife acceptancy factor) has dropped to such a low level that we almost lost a laptop in the process. I was only just able to save it when my wife was about to throw it out of the window when she couldn't bring up any of the calc windows she had open. Super W was an exceptable workaround for the time being.

She however demands a better OS, So I am considering Mint, or else W7....as a last resort.

I highly agree with #39 and derivatives. This is a very serious bug, and it feels as if nobody really cares. What does surprise me that I receive truckloads of updates every week, from which I hardly ever see any changes. The stuff that really matters however takes too long to fix.

[melenzb (woodhouser)]

A video here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/58lhdzd2fiizuu4/LO-unity-broken.ogv

Note: When using desktop recorder you can not show all open windows by clicking on the icon. I tried that a few times in the video, ie with the temrinal. Nevermind that.

Remarkable: When I finished recording, pressing the LO calc icon, brought up another instance of the desktop recorder.!?!?!

The video was made from a freshly made account. I also show in the video that I am using the om26er PPA

[melenzb (woodhouser)]

With respect to the previous video, please mind that everything goes bad towards the end of the video. In the beginning it seems fine.

[Peter Harvey (pdqharvey)]

This comes too late for me - I upgraded to Quantal recently, mostly in the hope of this bug being fixed. To my immense relief, it was, but in Quantal there is another extremely critical bug combined with other serious problems. (Fortunately, however, in Quantal there is a workaround: disable global menus in ALL applications, but that is a small price to pay for actually being able to Get Things Done.)

I know this is not the place for making complaints (particularly since I am no longer using Precise), but in response to #101 and #39, I agree, and find it inexcusable that such critical bugs have been allowed to persist for so long (and that in QQ, equally serious bugs should appear in a new release). However, there is a general point: Ubuntu makes lofty claims about its being user-friendly, better, slicker, faster and - wow - free. However, a lot of money is put into the project (and I am very grateful - don't get me wrong), but some of it, at least is clearly misdirected. If volunteer-programmers do not have the time or skill to fix these absolutely *critical* bugs (affecting EVERY user, remember - even Mark Shuttleworth, unless he uses a Mac...), then a tiny portion of that money should be invested to sort these things out - BEFORE a new release goes live, or within a few days of release at the latest.

I speak as a deeply-committed fan of Ubuntu, but I am embarassed by this state of affairs, simply cannot recommend it to others (I used to, daily), and spend too much of my time attempting to fix things I do not have the technical ability to solve.

Unless the attitude towards reliability in core applications changes, it will continue to be a case of: free, as in 'free to waste your time tinkering and writing bug reports'.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

On 2012-10-12 Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0) wrote:
>
> 2012/10/12 Vasily <email address hidden>:
> > Will there be a fix for 12.04 officially released?
>
> Yes, sure... the code is ready, the distro will do an SRU in few days.

This was written two weeks ago and it seems that the standard
distribution of Ubuntu 12.04 still does not contain the fix (with both
precise-updates and precise-proposed included in the software sources).
Which packages should be updated actually?

Off topic: Regarding the Super+W workaround (Super+W invokes the scale
plugin in Compiz) I can say I don't like the way it works. Please,
have a look at bug #1050666 and if you think that the scale plugin
should work differently mark that you are also affected.

[Trucoto (trucoto)]

12.10 here. At first the problem seemed to be gone, but eventually appeared again, when using several Writer documents at the same time. On the one hand, the menu disappeared; on the other, I had a new Writer icon at the bottom of the launcher (the original Writer icon was still there, but not marked as running). After closing all documents, all new documents apperead still with a the duplicate icon and with no menu. At one point the menu was restored, but the second icon still persisted. I had to reboot to fix it.

[Xavier Guillot (valeryan-24)]

For the GlobalMenu problem with LibreOffice on Ubuntu 12.10, see :
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/1072544

[Franck (alci)]

@Xavier: most relevant / active bug seems rather to be https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libreoffice/+bug/1064962

[Subhadip Ghosh (subhadip-sky)]

Precise is an LTS and used mostly by businesses. Libreoffice is the default Office suite for Ubuntu. This bug does need to be fixed quickly as it is affecting business productivity.

[Marcos V.F. (marcos-vinicius-br)]

I'm really disappointed with this problem. The first time he came was in Ubuntu 11.04, and I lost a text for university because I did not know how to "find" my LibreOffice document.

This happened again at 11.10 and I was hopeful that in 12:04 - an LTS release - this would be resolved. But it was not ... and now at 12.10 the bug also exists (and continues at 12.04).

I work at a small company that has 14 computers with Ubuntu 12.04 and with LibreOffice (need to use it daily), but will not have another way: let's change everything, we can not work with this bug.

Therefore, I agree with comment # 109, he's absolutely right.

I understand that each person is frustrated with this bug. We see new features every day, however, we can not even use a text editor without difficulties.

Sorry for my criticism, but I'm disappointed to have to change 14 machines at work with Ubuntu to put proprietary software, besides having to change the distro that I and my family uses.

[franciscoIR (francisco-ibanez-rioseco)]

i like unity, i like ubuntu and i have bought services to give my support to canonical (ubuntu one, ububuntu music, etc), but this is really frustrating. From 11.04 onwards there is no single release that libreoffice is without a bug in unity (bamf, no menu, etc). From the perspective of business not related with programing, this is inaceptable and the slowness that this (that i think is a simple one) bug is taken care of is really frustrating

[Peter Harvey (pdqharvey)]

@Francisco:
Exactly! How much revenue has Canonical lost through driving away users over the past year or more? How much would it have cost them to pay a programmer for a few days work to fix this?

@Marcos:
BTW, Quantal works reliably with LO - *as long as you disable global menus for all applications*; otherwise there are still major problems. However, if you can live with no global menus, it is very slick.

@Anybody:
Is there a place where we can vent this frustration usefully - where someone from Canonical will read it and perhaps take note? It might even be in their interests...

I hope this is not seen as negative criticism - I am a very loyal (and usually enthusiastic) user, but I can see that this continuing problem undermines the whole distribution.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

Canonical provides commercial support for business users. I wonder how they deal with this problem on Ubuntu 12.04 with Unity. Suppose you have an installation with 100+ users on Ubuntu 12.04 and they use LibreOffice a lot. How does Canonical support solve the broken LibO integration in Unity when confused users ask for help?

Personally, I install cinnamon from https://launchpad.net/~gwendal-lebihan-dev/+archive/cinnamon-stable and use it as the desktop user interface instead of Unity.

[Hendrik Schrieber (hennekn)]

Could you PLEASE STOP spamming this bug report! It's really annoying because everytime you post something that isn't related to this bug I'm (amongst others) getting an email.

If you are not satisfied with Ubuntu, go to some forum or email each other or just use another OS but quit spamming this bug report, which is for SOLVING this problem and not for complaining it doesn't work.

There is people who like Ubuntu and would like to receive news about this bug but don't want to receive 2-3 emails a day containing PERSONAL OPINIONS!

This is not about businesses or Canonical or anything, this is about this particular problem.

So, if you are interested in fixing this, read the comments above or the following page: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates

[theghost (theghost)]

It's just right to complain in this bug report. Maybe by this way this bug will get the attention of Canonical. Every comment raises the heat and when the heat is high enough, maybe someone will look at this. Also if you feel spammed, just unsubscribe from this bug. As it seems, there will be no fix sooner or later, as this bug exists since 11.04, so you will not miss out important accouncements, if you unsubscribe.

So that beeing said, I only can agree, it's embarrasing that this is not fixed in an LTS release and it's not fixed properly since 11.04.

As much as I like Unity. People who use LO on a daily base should switch to another desktop environment like gnome2, kde, xfce etc.

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

TheGhost, did you try 12.10? It is fixed in 12.10 (but there is another problem with globalmenu that has easy workarounds)

[Marcos V.F. (marcos-vinicius-br)]

***HOW REPRODUCE THIS BUG***

System: Ubuntu 12.04, fresh install, with all updates.

1. Open a existing writer document in .odt format;

You see the LO icon in the launcher, but not writer icon;

2. Close your document, and open it again.

You see the writer icon, but a blank icon too.

3. Close all. Repeat process 1. And all over again...
----
Occasionally, after closing the Writer icon, you will see that it will appear in the launcher open, even with no document is open. I can not reproduce this, can anyone?
----
off: People are posting things here that are almost 2 years ago with this problem. The fix for this bug always break: there is no real fix. So I understand why the criticism.
I've lost several documents because this bug (cost me money), so developers need to get a sense of the seriousness of this problem.

[Trucoto (trucoto)]

@Dmitriy: as I said, I have an up-to-date 12.10 and I still have a related problem (no empty icon, but a duplicate icon) when opening Writer files from Nautilus.

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

Trucoto, it is strange, I don't have it. Did you activate proposed repository?

[Trucoto (trucoto)]

I'll double check again tonight and I'll let you know.

[Trucoto (trucoto)]

I have ppa:om26er/unity on my repository but I think nothing was updated. The current versions on my Ubuntu 12.10 are libbamf3-0 0.3.2, Unity 6.8.0. Is that OK?

[Amr Ibrahim (amribrahim1987)]

On 02/11/12 05:31, Trucoto wrote:
> I have ppa:om26er/unity on my repository but I think nothing was
> updated. The current versions on my Ubuntu 12.10 are libbamf3-0 0.3.2,
> Unity 6.8.0. Is that OK?
>
That PPA is for Ubuntu 12.04 only. It will not update anything in 12.10.

[Trucoto (trucoto)]

Just to clarify: this bug is not supposed to exist in 12.10, or the testing fix only works for 12.04 by now and will be eventually ported to 12.10?

[theghost (theghost)]

This bug is fixed in 12.10 but not in 12.04. But every fix brings a regression in terms of Unity, the global menu is broken in LibreOffice under 12.10, but that's another bug.

[Sergio Benjamim (sergio-br2)]

ppa:om26er/unity don't work with me, this problem is very annoying.

[Trucoto (trucoto)]

Then I go back to my first comment: I am seeing this bug on 12.10. Not as often as in 12.04, the icon is not invisible, but I have again the issue of an active Writer instance in the launcher that is not the regular icon, hence I see two Writer icons, the one I have "kept" in the launch bar, and a new one that represents the active instance. It is far less frequent than in 12.04, but it is there. If I manage to find a way to reproduce it, I will put it here.

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

@Trucoto, I confirm that there is such bug.

To reproduce:

1. Open Nautilus.
2. Go to the folder with several Writer files.
3. Open and close this files in random order for over 10 times.
4. You will see 2 icons on the launchbar. One with no icon, and one that is correct.

The bug is quite random.

[melenzb (woodhouser)]

Wehn googling for this issue, it appears to be quite old already.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/84108/libreoffice-problem-integrating-with-unity

This must be a hard one to fix..

I just made a payment when downloading quantal, so that should be a nice stimulus.

[vanadium (ftack)]

I just switched back to Unity 3D after using Unity 2D for months because of this bug. Indeed, it is not visible immediately, but unfortunately using Dmitriy's approach, I see it is still there.

[bowser (bwbernard-wong1)]

I use om26er's ppa and it solves the problem completely. Tried Dimitry's steps but cannot reproduce the bug. Ubuntu 12.04 and LibreOffice 3.6 from ppa. I think it is fixed in 12.10, though I have no idea whether the fix affects the global menu because I have uninstalled it.

[Simplehuman (simplehuman)]

My steps are for 12.10 only

[vanadium (ftack)]

Still I can trigger the bug using your steps on 12.04, fully updated. I can trigger the bug opening/closing odt or MS Word doc documents. Up to now, I could not trigger the bug opening/closing odp (Impress) documents. I will do some more testing.

[bowser (bwbernard-wong1)]

Does it make a difference if you activate the tray icon?

[Timo Jyrinki (timo-jyrinki)]

There's a fix for 12.04 in the upload queue (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/precise/+queue?queue_state=1&queue_text=), so it should be landing in precise-proposed shortly. It addresses this bug by fixing the most annoying LO/bamf behavior in 12.04, while further fixes to other aspects of LO problems will be landing in the next update - the fixes are in the bamf 0.2 branch nowadays.

Anything concerning 12.10 should have a new bug opened about, since this particular bug is Fix Released over there.

[vanadium (ftack)]

Good to hear that a solution is very near now.

I am working with 12.04, so I will indeed test the bug fix in proposed as it is released.

With the tray icon activated (i.e. "Enable systray quicklauncher" checked under Options - LibreOffice - memory) I was not able to trigger the issue when opening and closing documents. However, a very easy way to trigger the bug, with or without "Enable systray quicklauncher" checked, is for me
- open two libreoffice documents by launching them from nautilus
- In libreoffice, Use File - Exit (that presumably also closes the LO quicklauncher)
- lauch a libreoffice document from nautilus: it is not anymore associated with the Unity launcher.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Hello Aibara, or anyone else affected,

Accepted bamf into precise-proposed. The package will build now and be available at http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bamf/0.2.118-0ubuntu0.3 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please change the bug tag from verification-needed to verification-done. If it does not, change the tag to verification-failed. In either case, details of your testing will help us make a better decision.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance!

[Marcos V.F. (marcos-vinicius-br)]

Hello Colin Watson,

Its works great here (proposed enabled, of course).

Thanks for this. Now I can recommend Ubuntu to my friends.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

Unfortunately, I still have this bug on Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit with LibO 3.5.4.2 and bamfdaemon 0.2.118-0ubuntu0.3.

I'm not able to provide the exact steps for reproducing the bug as the behaviour is not consistent. Usually, after opening and closing multiple documents with Writer and Calc (by double clicking document icons, one or more at a time) I get an invisible Writer of Calc icon (empty space) on the launcher.

I'm attaching some screenshots that illustrate the issue.

[Edgar Cherkasov (edgar2705)]

I have same bug with empty space

[Timo Jyrinki (timo-jyrinki)]

Hi. The bug fix is supposed to fix the most common problem, described in the test case, and also in my testing it does fix it. You do need to restart bamfdaemon (/reboot computer).

There are other related bugs including bug #1063862 and bug #886778, which have now fixes committed for the bamf upstream branch concerning12.04. Testing for those and a couple more will begin as soon as we get this single cherry-pick bug fix in.

[Timo Jyrinki (timo-jyrinki)]

(plus bug #772986 fix coming to Unity about missing launcher icons)

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

Timo Jyrinki wrote:
> The bug fix is supposed to fix the most common problem, described in
> the test case, and also in my testing it does fix it. You do need to
> restart bamfdaemon (/reboot computer).

According to the bug title, "LibreOffice Unity integration (launcher
and switcher) is broken", it should include all the recent issues with
the LibreOffice integration in Unity launcher and switcher. If it
supposed to fix only the issue of the generic LibreOffice icon in the
launcher, then the bug title should be changed.

BTW, I did restart the system before my testing.

[Timo Jyrinki (timo-jyrinki)]

rpr nospam: I agree. It's easier to manage bugs when they're not overly broad, when the bug in question is not in fact a single bug but a combination of several bugs.

New bugs should be filed for separate issues, while first checking from both bamf and unity bug reports if something's filed already. To re-iterate, at least these bugs may apply to LibreOffice integration:

bug #1063862 - fixed in the next bamf SRU after this one
bug #886778 - needs both the next bamf and unity SRU, but both fixes are committed and scheduled for releasing
bug #772986 - fixed in the next unity SRU
bug #925421 - bamf part already fixed, Unity part would possibly need a backport? or maybe the bamf fix is enough
bug #899120 - a packaging bug, would need someone to fix it
bug #762193 - status? maybe should not be "Triaged". see the multiple bugs linked, some marked fixed, could be duplicates
bug #1018995 - no work done, in case the bug still exists with all the other fixes

All the fixes that have already been done are available in Ubuntu 12.10 at the moment. The tentative schedule is to upload the next Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Unity SRU (5.18.0) later this week, after it will need to propagate from queue to -proposed for verifying and finally -updates. The next bamf SRU (0.2.124) would be done eg. next week if this cherry-pick bug fixes reaches -updates by then. I hope this answers a bit on what's going on for 12.04 at the moment.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Scott Kitterman (kitterman)]

The verification of this Stable Release Update has completed successfully and the package has now been released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regresssions.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package bamf - 0.2.118-0ubuntu0.3

---------------
bamf (0.2.118-0ubuntu0.3) precise-proposed; urgency=low

  * lib/libbamf/bamf-factory.c:
    - LibreOffice Unity integration (launcher and switcher) is broken.
      (LP: #1026426)
 -- Omer Akram <email address hidden> Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:20:49 +0500

[photonic (photonic)]

Hi,

I just installed the patch from recommended updates, which had a link to this bug report. I tried with a new document both before and after applying the patch, the new behavior is now as expected, it shows the proper logo. It now does however something funny: when double-clicking the document on the desktop, the launcher shows the empty document logo for a split-second, followed by the correct logo of writer. When closing libreoffice, the reverse happens and the empty document shows for a short moment before disappearing from the launcher. Is this expected? I do not see this behavior with any other program.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

@photonic (#147)
I'd say this behavior is expected (I see it also on Ubuntu 12.04 with bamf 0.2.118-0ubuntu0.3).
Probably, it's because all LibreOffice applications actually use one executable:
/usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice.bin

Try to invoke the following commands (one at a time) from the command line and watch the icon that appears on the Launcher:

/usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice.bin &
/usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice.bin --writer &
/usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice.bin --calc &
/usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice.bin --impress &
/usr/lib/libreoffice/program/soffice.bin /usr/lib/libreoffice/CREDITS.odt &

The first command (soffice.bin without arguments) gives white (generic) LibO icon while the other commands give the icon corresponding to the LibO application opened.

[Greg Lynch (gregalynch)]

@trucoto

I've had that problem for a while, and it seems to be getting worse the past few days. I filed a bug report for it (#1013725) a while ago, but it doesn't seem to have gotten much attention. Maybe its a duplicate of another report I haven't seen.

[Sebastian Ilea (s3b4)]

Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit.

Bug still present.

[rg (rob-themayfire)]

Ubuntu 12.10 and LibreOffice 1:3.6.2.
Bug still present.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

@rg
That's why I moved from Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit to Linux Mint with Cinnamon.

Although the Unity is a good idea, its implementation is broken. After years of development it still has annoying bugs, like this one. It seems to me that Ubuntu is tested with having only average home users in mind (who run only a media player, Firefox and Thunderbird). But there are users who create text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, diagrams, and have 10+ documents open at the same time. They want an efficient, customizable and bug-free desktop environment.

[theghost (theghost)]

@rpr-nospam

I have the same impression. Regarding that LibreOffice is/was broken in Ubuntu at every release since at least 12.04, it seems that no takes this bugs serios. 12.04 the global menu / launcher was broken, 12.10 libreoffice creating diagrams, 13.04 libreoffice menu is broken. Problem is, the bugs were there long before each release but there are not getting fixed or fixed with large delay.

Normally every company would say we cannot release a broken product or at least we fix this at 1st day on release but that never happened. I use Ubuntu since 8.04 but quality is not getting better, even if in 13.04 Unity was more stable (after 2 years).

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

Bug again here since my last updates, currently using LibreOffice 4.1.0.4 on Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit.
bamf reported to be installed is 0.2.126.

Tried with or without logo=0 - different results looking like a race condition - basically what others already reported.

And although setting logo=0 I get an oosplash process started alongside soffice.bin. Don't get the sense of that.

Interestingly, when I start libreoffice plain (from the dash) I get a slightly different icon as if I start it by double-clicking a .odt file. The grouping works when I double click a .doc or .docx file. So somehow problem must be related to mime-types opened.

Similar behaviour with calc and impress (didn't test base because I don't really use it).

I am sooo frustrated - during the last months several problems with libreoffice, other very old bugs still not solved although hoped a lot for 4.1.0.4. I (still) hate Windows but such basic problems never made it into a release of a version or patch.

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

I found an older laptop that haven't updated for a while - also Ubuntu 12.04, but 32-bit. Found same bamf version there (0.2.126) but no problem with Libreoffice (being still in version 3-something). Tried to copy the relevant .desktop-files from the working version without success.

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

For hours I tried to clean up all configuration files that should be involved with this problem. All without success

Attached you find my
/usr/lib/mime/packages/libreoffice-writer

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

And the /usr/share/applications/libreoffice-writer.desktop
I don't have any libreoffice-desktop-files any more in my ~/.local/... to avoid accidential priority ranking.

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

I have also tried copying over the desktop files from the other workstation that is working (with older libreoffice-version). Did not help. I still get random effects (doubled icon, not any icon, second and third icon when opening a document, icon with question-mark).

What I still cannot get rid of: When starting libreoffice writer (as example, all the latest tests I did only with writer although the other modules seem to behave in the same way) the icon is slightly different from the variant I see when double-clicking a file.

I tried linking to the same icon in desktop file that I guess is used when double-clicking (scalable svg-icon), but without success (see mini-screenshot "Icon-Difference").

Can somebody explain to me how the "business logic" of BAMF is? So that I can get an idea what it takes for grouping?

In my current situation I don't get any grouping for LibreOffice (any more).

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

When opening several files in parallel by double-click I get the same icon but still not grouped so I really do not know what it still takes to get BAMF knowing that it has to group.

However, I think there is a bug in LibreOffice here too or another module different from BAMF because my other laptop with older LibreOffice but same BAMF works fine.

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

(12.04 64-bit bamf 0.2.126) - and still there after upgrading LibreOffice to version 4.1.1.2, Build ID: 410m0(Build:2) right now.

[Riyugi, Murakami (murakamiriyugi)]

Ubuntu 12.04.3
Libreoffice version 4.1.1.2

This bug is still bugging me. Specifically,

Alt + tab does not work for some opened
libreoffice documents.

Libreoffice icon in unity does not
reflect the type of opened libreoffice file;
that is, instead of icon for presentation,
the general (white) libreoffice icon appears
in unity.

Clicking the icon in the unity panel does
not show up the opened file.

[rpr nospam (rpr-nospam)]

Murakami, is the LibreOffice installed from Ubuntu repository or from the deb file downloaded from https://www.libreoffice.org/download ?

Please, run the following in a terminal:

which soffice

If you get /usr/bin/soffice then you have LibreOffice from Ubuntu repository.

If you get a path starting with /opt then you have LibreOffice installed from https://www.libreoffice.org/download (which is also a common scenario as Linux users want to have the latest LibreOffice as soon as possible).

LibreOffice Unity integration should work correctly in both cases. I wonder if developers tested BAMF (and possible other components) with both LibreOffice installation scenarios.

[Adam Niedling (krychek)]

I have a Ubuntu 12.04 box that has Libreoffice 4.1 installed from the official PPA. I also have the proposed repo enabled.
I'm still experiencing problems with the launcher.
Sometimes two icons appear on the launcher instead of one and one of them does nothing when clicked.
The general white Libreoffice icon appears instead of the specific one that reflects the type of the opened document.

First I installed LO and then I enabled the proposed repo. Maybe it should have been in the other way around?

[theghost (theghost)]

@krycheck: The order has no influence, as in general always the highest version is preferred, in this case LO 4.1. Additionally, there is no newer version of BAMF in proposed right now, this means having proposed activated or not, has no influence here.

Most likely, Ubuntu has patched it's Libreoffice version in it's repos and this patch is not included upstream in 4.1.
But maybe, Ubuntu patched BAMF to only work with LibreOffice 3.5 from the repos. Who knows...

If you want proper working LO, either use another Desktop Environment or use the 3.5 version of Ubuntu's repos.
All in all, 3.5.7 is a good version as it is much more stable, than the latest versions of LibreOffice, but that's just my experience in productivity use.

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

Since this bug is not depending on packages on main is not highest priority, however please open a new bug related to lo-4.1 and bamf. This doesn't seem to affect saucy at all (that uses a more generic matching system for LO, no more special code).

[Marco Trevisan (Treviño) (3v1n0)]

Ok, so I've just checked what's happening on precise, and it seems that new LO desktop files include the StartupWMClass key.
This is ok and Bamf can use it for matching, the problem is that the LO windows are slow on updating their window class and this leads to a matching error in precise (this won't happen in saucy instead).

A woarkaround for people affected by this is just removing that key from files by running:
  sudo sed '/StartupWMClass=.*/d' -i /usr/share/applications/libreoffice-*.desktop

A code fix will be released as well. Move to bug #1238122 to track this.

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

@Marco: Let me give you one sentence: You are my hero, thanks!
@Mathias: Thanks for your explanation as I guess this helped Marco
finding the solution.

On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 6:10 PM, Marco Trevisan (Treviño)
<[e-mail]> wrote:
> Ok, so I've just checked what's happening on precise, and it seems that new LO desktop files include the StartupWMClass key.
> This is ok and Bamf can use it for matching, the problem is that the LO windows are slow on updating their window class and this leads to a matching error in precise (this won't happen in saucy instead).
>
> A woarkaround for people affected by this is just removing that key from files by running:
> sudo sed '/StartupWMClass=.*/d' -i /usr/share/applications/libreoffice-*.desktop
>
> A code fix will be released as well. Move to bug #1238122 to track this.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1026426
>
> Title:
> LibreOffice Unity integration - opening an .odt file from dash or
> nautilus should yield correct icon and allow switching between the
> subsequently opened LO windows
>
> Status in BAMF Application Matching Framework:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.2 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.3 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” package in Ubuntu:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Precise:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Quantal:
> Fix Released
>
> Bug description:
> IMPACT:
>
> See description.
>
> SRU TESTCASE:
>
> 0. make sure libreoffice writer is not pinned to the launcher
> 1. open libreoffice writer
> 2. save a .odt file
> 3. close libreoffice
> 4. open the .odt file directly from the location it was saved to.
>
> What should happen:
> a new icon for libreoffice writer should appear, not the generic libreoffice icon.
>
> REGRESSION POTENTIAL:
>
> Low, has already been well tested, but test again everything in this
> bug report.
>
> -----ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION-----
>
> LibreOffice applications are not coming up on the launcher properly as
> of a few weeks ago (can't remember exactly when).
>
> If Calc or Draw is locked to launcher, all is normal.
> Opening a specific application via the dash works as normal too.
>
> However, problems arise if you open a document directly (from the dash
> or double clicking in Nautilus) when there is no icon pinned to the
> launcher:
>
> Case #1
> A white generic "Liberoffice" icon appears - not the proper application icon (eg a green one for Calc, a yellow one for Draw). If more documents are opened, no more wee triangles appear and the icon becomes useless: it cannot be clicked to switch to any open instance. There is no way to switch to it if the window is minimized, as now LibreOffice no longer appears in the alt-tab switcher.
>
> Close LibreOffice.
> Open a file directly again.
>
> Case #2
> Now the proper icon appears - but with an empty hole in between launcher and icon. If more documents are opened the white triangles appear and alt-tab still works, but the hole remains. Sometimes the hole is two icons wide.
>
> Close LibreOf...

[adrianl. (gyo)]

I experienced the same problem on ubuntu 12.04 64bit and LO 4.1.1.2.

The suggested solution in #166 worked like a charm. Thanks.

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

FYI: I still need to run the fix after each LibreOffice-Update in Ubuntu
12.04 with LibreOffice ppa enabled.

On Thu, Oct 31, 2013 at 3:27 PM, adrianl. <email address hidden>wrote:

> I experienced the same problem on ubuntu 12.04 64bit and LO 4.1.1.2.
>
> The suggested solution in #166 worked like a charm. Thanks.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1026426
>
> Title:
> LibreOffice Unity integration - opening an .odt file from dash or
> nautilus should yield correct icon and allow switching between the
> subsequently opened LO windows
>
> Status in BAMF Application Matching Framework:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.2 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.3 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” package in Ubuntu:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Precise:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Quantal:
> Fix Released
>
> Bug description:
> IMPACT:
>
> See description.
>
> SRU TESTCASE:
>
> 0. make sure libreoffice writer is not pinned to the launcher
> 1. open libreoffice writer
> 2. save a .odt file
> 3. close libreoffice
> 4. open the .odt file directly from the location it was saved to.
>
> What should happen:
> a new icon for libreoffice writer should appear, not the generic
> libreoffice icon.
>
> REGRESSION POTENTIAL:
>
> Low, has already been well tested, but test again everything in this
> bug report.
>
> -----ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION-----
>
> LibreOffice applications are not coming up on the launcher properly as
> of a few weeks ago (can't remember exactly when).
>
> If Calc or Draw is locked to launcher, all is normal.
> Opening a specific application via the dash works as normal too.
>
> However, problems arise if you open a document directly (from the dash
> or double clicking in Nautilus) when there is no icon pinned to the
> launcher:
>
> Case #1
> A white generic "Liberoffice" icon appears - not the proper application
> icon (eg a green one for Calc, a yellow one for Draw). If more documents
> are opened, no more wee triangles appear and the icon becomes useless: it
> cannot be clicked to switch to any open instance. There is no way to switch
> to it if the window is minimized, as now LibreOffice no longer appears in
> the alt-tab switcher.
>
> Close LibreOffice.
> Open a file directly again.
>
> Case #2
> Now the proper icon appears - but with an empty hole in between launcher
> and icon. If more documents are opened the white triangles appear and
> alt-tab still works, but the hole remains. Sometimes the hole is two icons
> wide.
>
> Close LibreOffice.
> Repeat.
>
> Case #1 now reapers, and it will go back and forth ad infinitum.
>
> Note that I don't get this problem with Writer or Impress, which is
> pretty weird. [EDIT: a number of people are also seeing the bug with
> Writer and Impress]
>
> I've tried this with LibreOffice 3.5.3.2 and the PPA version
> (currently 3.5.5.3). I've also tested using lo-menubar and not, but it
> makes no difference. I've also tested it on two separate computers
> using ...

[Goghard (goghard)]

I updated LO to 4.2 in Ubuntu 12.04, and it have the same problem, even with the workaround (#166).

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

You have to re-apply the patch after each update unfortunately.

--
Martin Wildam

http://martin.wildam.org/
Am 07.02.2014 16:15 schrieb "Goghard" <email address hidden>:

> I updated LO to 4.2 in Ubuntu 12.04, and it have the same problem, even
> with the workaround (#166).
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1026426
>
> Title:
> LibreOffice Unity integration - opening an .odt file from dash or
> nautilus should yield correct icon and allow switching between the
> subsequently opened LO windows
>
> Status in BAMF Application Matching Framework:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.2 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.3 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” package in Ubuntu:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Precise:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Quantal:
> Fix Released
>
> Bug description:
> IMPACT:
>
> See description.
>
> SRU TESTCASE:
>
> 0. make sure libreoffice writer is not pinned to the launcher
> 1. open libreoffice writer
> 2. save a .odt file
> 3. close libreoffice
> 4. open the .odt file directly from the location it was saved to.
>
> What should happen:
> a new icon for libreoffice writer should appear, not the generic
> libreoffice icon.
>
> REGRESSION POTENTIAL:
>
> Low, has already been well tested, but test again everything in this
> bug report.
>
> -----ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION-----
>
> LibreOffice applications are not coming up on the launcher properly as
> of a few weeks ago (can't remember exactly when).
>
> If Calc or Draw is locked to launcher, all is normal.
> Opening a specific application via the dash works as normal too.
>
> However, problems arise if you open a document directly (from the dash
> or double clicking in Nautilus) when there is no icon pinned to the
> launcher:
>
> Case #1
> A white generic "Liberoffice" icon appears - not the proper application
> icon (eg a green one for Calc, a yellow one for Draw). If more documents
> are opened, no more wee triangles appear and the icon becomes useless: it
> cannot be clicked to switch to any open instance. There is no way to switch
> to it if the window is minimized, as now LibreOffice no longer appears in
> the alt-tab switcher.
>
> Close LibreOffice.
> Open a file directly again.
>
> Case #2
> Now the proper icon appears - but with an empty hole in between launcher
> and icon. If more documents are opened the white triangles appear and
> alt-tab still works, but the hole remains. Sometimes the hole is two icons
> wide.
>
> Close LibreOffice.
> Repeat.
>
> Case #1 now reapers, and it will go back and forth ad infinitum.
>
> Note that I don't get this problem with Writer or Impress, which is
> pretty weird. [EDIT: a number of people are also seeing the bug with
> Writer and Impress]
>
> I've tried this with LibreOffice 3.5.3.2 and the PPA version
> (currently 3.5.5.3). I've also tested using lo-menubar and not, but it
> makes no difference. I've also tested it on two separate computers
> using Precise and purged all of LibreOffice and reins...

[Goghard (goghard)]

Thank you, Martin. Unfortunately I re-apply the patch and the problem persist using LO 4.2.
I tested LO 4.2 on three separate computers using Ubuntu 12.04 whith the same result.
I downgraded to LO 4.1, which works better with the patch.

[Martin Wildam (mwildam)]

I am using LO 4.2.2.1 and at last update I had problems with icons got
duplicated when more than one document were open.

I found out that under ~/.local/share/applications I had old
.desktop-links - and unity uses those in your home folder prior to
those in /usr/share/applications

Now I don't have problems with icons any more.

On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 7:56 PM, Goghard <email address hidden> wrote:
> Thank you, Martin. Unfortunately I re-apply the patch and the problem persist using LO 4.2.
> I tested LO 4.2 on three separate computers using Ubuntu 12.04 whith the same result.
> I downgraded to LO 4.1, which works better with the patch.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1026426
>
> Title:
> LibreOffice Unity integration - opening an .odt file from dash or
> nautilus should yield correct icon and allow switching between the
> subsequently opened LO windows
>
> Status in BAMF Application Matching Framework:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.2 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in BAMF 0.3 series:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” package in Ubuntu:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Precise:
> Fix Released
> Status in “bamf” source package in Quantal:
> Fix Released
>
> Bug description:
> IMPACT:
>
> See description.
>
> SRU TESTCASE:
>
> 0. make sure libreoffice writer is not pinned to the launcher
> 1. open libreoffice writer
> 2. save a .odt file
> 3. close libreoffice
> 4. open the .odt file directly from the location it was saved to.
>
> What should happen:
> a new icon for libreoffice writer should appear, not the generic libreoffice icon.
>
> REGRESSION POTENTIAL:
>
> Low, has already been well tested, but test again everything in this
> bug report.
>
> -----ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION-----
>
> LibreOffice applications are not coming up on the launcher properly as
> of a few weeks ago (can't remember exactly when).
>
> If Calc or Draw is locked to launcher, all is normal.
> Opening a specific application via the dash works as normal too.
>
> However, problems arise if you open a document directly (from the dash
> or double clicking in Nautilus) when there is no icon pinned to the
> launcher:
>
> Case #1
> A white generic "Liberoffice" icon appears - not the proper application icon (eg a green one for Calc, a yellow one for Draw). If more documents are opened, no more wee triangles appear and the icon becomes useless: it cannot be clicked to switch to any open instance. There is no way to switch to it if the window is minimized, as now LibreOffice no longer appears in the alt-tab switcher.
>
> Close LibreOffice.
> Open a file directly again.
>
> Case #2
> Now the proper icon appears - but with an empty hole in between launcher and icon. If more documents are opened the white triangles appear and alt-tab still works, but the hole remains. Sometimes the hole is two icons wide.
>
> Close LibreOffice.
> Repeat.
>
> Case #1 now reapers, and it will go back and forth ad infinitum.
>
> Note that I don't get this problem with Writer or Impress, which is
> pretty weir...

[sma (m-0622)]

I experienced the same as Martin Wildam. Two days ago I upgraded from Ubuntu 12.04 LTS to 14.04 LTS. Many month ago I edited the Quicklist of the LO Writer-Icon using Ubuntu Tweak. This action resulted in a file named libreoffice-writer.desktop in ~/.local/share/applications. After upgrading to Ubuntu 14.04 LTS this file was used again and I faced the problem with double icons of Writer in the Launcher. I deleted the file named libreoffice-writer.desktop in ~/.local/share/applications. Now I have always only one icon of Writer in the Launcher because Ubuntu now uses the original file in /usr/share/applications.

In short: The problem occurs maybe when the file named libreoffice-writer.desktop in ~/.local/share/applications was edited manually and therefor is not compatible anymore.