[SRU] Center windows option has no effect
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
obconf-qt (Ubuntu) |
Fix Released
|
Medium
|
ԜаӀtеr Ⅼарсһуnѕkі | ||
Jammy |
Fix Committed
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
[ Impact ]
* The configuration manager for Openbox, obconf-qt, has an option to center new windows. In versions previous to 1.6.2, the checkbox had no effect and would appear unchecked when reopening the application. There's no error, but a silent failure.
* To make matters more confusing, the default settings for Lubuntu, where Openbox is the default window manager, include setting the related setting to on. In other words, the default behavior is to center the windows, but when you look at the configuration manager, it does not appear to be the case.
* In addition, the function is maybe not what one would intuitively expect. It does not center every window, but prefers to place windows in the center if free space is available. So the first window will be centered, but if a second one is placed, it will open in the periphery. This will continue until the full space is occupied and then windows will open again in the center and the cycle repeats.
* These three factors make for a really confusing experience for the end user.
* The delta is very small, merely adding in an on toggled event.
[ Test Plan ]
* To reproduce the bug:
1. Use a Lubuntu Jammy ISO
2. Inspect the default configuration file /etc/xdg/
3. Note that a local configuration file ~/.config/
4. Open obconf-qt (see Preferences → LXQt Settings → Openbox Settings)
5. Click on the Windows tab on the left
6. Note that "Center new windows when placed" is unchecked
7. Check the check box and hit close
8. Note that the default configuration file is unchanged but a new local configuration file is created where <center> is set to "yes"
9. Open the Windows tab in obconf-qt again and note that the check box is still unchecked
10. Check and uncheck the box (which should set center to "no")
11. Note that the <center> tag is still set to "yes" in the local configuration
* To test the fix
1. Use a Lubuntu Jammy ISO
2. Install the new version of obconf-qt
3. Remembering that centering is the default in the configuration file and the buggy version shows that it is not checked, open obconf-qt and note that now the option *is* checked
4. Uncheck the box
5. Inspect the local configuration file and note that <center> is now set to "no"
[ Where problems could occur ]
* Honestly, I think the only problem that could occur is that, based on the string description of the setting, users may expect all new windows to open in the center. That certainly is what it is described, but it's not the case. In fact, even the comment in the configuration file, while being slightly more descriptive, is still not exactly correct ("whether to place windows in the center of the free area found or the top left corner").
[ Other Info ]
* One additional part to the upload is an update to the watch file. In an ideal world, the SRU wouldn't have included this, but it was necessary to use uscan to download the source. It will have no negative effect.
no longer affects: | openbox (Ubuntu) |
Changed in obconf-qt (Ubuntu): | |
status: | Incomplete → In Progress |
summary: |
- Option has no effect and reset itself + Center windows option has no effect |
Changed in obconf-qt (Ubuntu): | |
milestone: | none → jammy-updates |
assignee: | nobody → ԜаӀtеr Ⅼарсһуnѕkі (wxl) |
importance: | Undecided → Medium |
tags: |
added: jammy removed: groovy |
description: | updated |
summary: |
- Center windows option has no effect + [SRU] Center windows option has no effect |
Something is really weird here, even outside of what problem there MAY be with obconf-qt.
The setting for this in the Openbox config is `<placement> <center> yes</center> </placement> ` which is a default part of the Lubuntu configuration (and technically Debian and upstream Openbox, too).
The option is relatively new as previous centering solutions were buggy, as evidenced by this bug: /bugzilla. icculus. org/show_ bug.cgi? id=5946
https:/
However, as you can see there, it was resolved with a new commit: /github. com/danakj/ openbox/ commit/ f866c034bf6e954 791442ff029d5ae 51ab0bd616
https:/
Despite all that, I can't get it to work no way, no how.
That said, I'm going to add Openbox and investigate a bit further.