[REGRESSION] navigating to submenus has become painfully difficult. Clicking doesn't help; requires extreme precision

[teo1978]

Steps to reproduce:

case A:
I want to access an item of a submenu of a menu of an application. That is, menu Foo->bar->something

Case B:
by right-clicking on something, I want to access an item of a submenu of the context menu, for example in Nautilus: right-click on a file -> open with -> someApplication

So, I unfold the first level menu (of an application) or the context menu (by right-clicking), I move the mouse cursor onto the menu item so that the final submenu unfolds, and I CLICK on the submenu parent item (e.g. I click on "open with" from the context menu).

EXPECTED (and how it used to work):
By clicking on the item that unfolds the submenu (e.g. "open with"), as opposed to simply hovering over it, the submenu should remain open, even if you accidentally move the cursor out of the submenu's parent item before you reach the area in the desired submenu.

OBSERVED (since recently):
Clicking as you navigate through the hierarchy doesn't change the behavior. Whether you click or not, in order to reach the final submenu and the desired item within it, you have to carefully move the cursor in an almost perfectly horizontal direction to the right, without going the slightest bit out the area of the submenu's parent item. Otherwise, the submenu will disappear before you reach it.

For example, if the final item in the submenu you want to reach is the third, it is very likely that, after hovering (and clicking) on the menu item that opens the final submenu, you will move in diagonal downwards-rightwards, and in this trajectory you'll exit the area of the menu item that unfolded the submenu, making the submenu disappear before you reach it.

Usually, this happened only if you only moved the mouse through the menu items and submenus without clicking. But when you clicked on an item that would unfold a submenu, that submenu would remain more "sticky", allowing for more freedom of movement, and remaining open even if moving out of it (until you clicked somewhere else, and perhaps also when you moved far enough from it).

So, if you were super-precise and/or slow enough in your movements, you could reach the desired item in the sub-sub-menu by simply moving the mouse without clicking, but if you wanted to reach it quickly and carelessly, you could just click on each item of the hierarchy you were traversing.
Which is what I used to do, because I like to navigate through menus quicky and without having to train myself to move my hand with surgical precision.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: unity 7.2.3+14.04.20140826-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-44.73-generic 3.13.11-ckt12
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-44-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.6
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue Feb 10 21:32:41 2015
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-10-11 (487 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-05-24 (262 days ago)

[Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)]

hallo
Actually I cannot reproduce this issue on Wily, can you please verify on your flavour and update the report.
Set as incomplete.
Best regards

[teo1978 (teo8976)]

I am on 15.04 now and I still observe the issue.

[Andrea Azzarone (azzar1)]

A fix for bug #552920 is on the way. It should improve the situation for top level submenus. Please also note that unity has not control over submenus. Closing for unity. Thanks.

[teo1978 (teo8976)]

#552920 looks like a different (though related) issue. That was filed in 2010 and there's no mention of clicks changing the behavior, or of any recent regression.

Whatever the "tolerance" for diagonal movement is and was, a click on a submenu item used to make its sub-submenu "sticky" (or more "sticky" than without a click). That broke at some point with some update in 14.04 (not a major release upgrade) around the time I reported the bug (probably a bit earlier). That is, clicking stopped making any difference.

It's good that #552920 has been finally fixed (especially considering the solution had already been invented in the mid eighties as pointed out in a comment), but the click-makes-the-submenu-really-sticky behavior that got lost a few months ago should be reintroduced too.

I at least used to observe the desired behavior (and now observe its lack since I reported this bug) in right-click menus in Nautilus and the Desktop, that I can tell with absolute certainty. Is that GTK, Gnome, Nautilus or Unity? (or what?)

[Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)]

your issue is fixed in wily as shown in the attached screenshot
once choosed the voice ( highlighting and moving orizzontally ) the submenu still open (pointer out of it)

[teo1978 (teo8976)]

Cool.

Now, Wily isn't released yet, and 15.04 won't reach its end of life until january, so the fix should be backported to 15.04

[teo1978 (teo8976)]

(and previous non-dead LTS versions)

[teo1978 (teo8976)]

By the way, you talk about "moving horizontally". Does the submenu remain open also if clicking on the item and moving diagonally or vertically?? If not, then it is not fixed at all.