Does not switch to right desktop upon launcher click, when target application is side-window-snapped

[Kevin Ford]

Binary package hint: unity

Working in a default, 2x2 workspaces setup, workspaces are numbered:
1 2
3 4

Steps to reproduce:
1) Open a window (tried with nautilus and thunderbird) on a workspace, and snap it to the side of the screen on which the workspace can be found in the desktop wall (that would be left edge for windows on workspaces 1 and 3, right edge for 2 and 4)
2) Switch to the workspace horizontally neighbouring the current workspace (to the left or to the right) and open/focus a window there
3) Click the icon of the window snapped from the launcher

Expected result:
The workspace containing the app should be shown with the app you have selected

What happens instead:
The workspace is not switched, the window seems to be focused, as the triangle appears near its icon, and the shadow on one side of the workspace gets bigger.

in 12.04 the window also gets awkwardly displaced. Unfortunately, screen recording is nonfunctional for me in 12.04 right now.

A video of the bug in Oneric can be seen here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/791412/+attachment/2845451/+files/bug.ogv

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: unity 3.8.12-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
Architecture: i386
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,grid,obs,regex,commands,snap,animation,imgpng,vpswitch,annotate,unitymtgrabhandles,resize,workarounds,gnomecompat,expo,place,mousepoll,move,ezoom,animationaddon,session,staticswitcher,wall,ring,fade,scale,unityshell]
Date: Wed Jun 1 11:48:34 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Kevin Ford (kdford)]

I just noticed that my Lotus Notes client does NOT behave the way I describe Firefox and Eclipse IDE behaving. I do not know yet if the difference is because of the application that I am targeting, or if it has to do with something else obscure that I have not yet determined. I will keep testing and comment back if/when I find things.

[Kevin Ford (kdford)]

Ok, another related issue...

When I click a web link in my email client (which happens to be Lotus Notes), it launches that URL in my browser (which is on another workspace) but it does not "pan"/switch to the workspace with the browser. The emblems on the launcher are a bit different than the above scenario. My browser's launcher icon will wiggle, and then get the little blue triangle indicating that it is waiting for me, then ... nothing else, I just sit there in my Lotus Notes email client and if I click the link again, of course it just keeps opening more Firefox tabs.

[Robert Roth (evfool)]

Thank you for reporting bugs and helping to make Ubuntu better. The best would be to have one issue per launchpad bug, for easier tracking, to be able to see which one has been fixed, and which one has not been fixed. So let's keep this bug for the issue you have reported in the description, about not switching to the correct workspace in case of snapped windows on other workspaces.

Could you please report another bug about not panning to the workspace of the browser? Thanks.

Regarding the issue reported first, I have managed to reproduce and I am updating the description to contain the exact steps to reproduce.

---
Ubuntu Bug Squad volunteer triager
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

[Kevin Ford (kdford)]

Robert, I went in to alter my comment and was not able to... The place
where I referred to the "related" issue was in a comment, not in the
original description of the bug. I am new to reporting bugs so if you
could instruct me on how to make the change you recommend, I would
gladly do so.

Thanks,

Kevin

On Thu, 2011-06-02 at 08:35 +0000, Robert Roth wrote:
> Thank you for reporting bugs and helping to make Ubuntu better. The best
> would be to have one issue per launchpad bug, for easier tracking, to be
> able to see which one has been fixed, and which one has not been fixed.
> So let's keep this bug for the issue you have reported in the
> description, about not switching to the correct workspace in case of
> snapped windows on other workspaces.
>
> Could you please report another bug about not panning to the workspace
> of the browser? Thanks.
>
> Regarding the issue reported first, I have managed to reproduce and I am
> updating the description to contain the exact steps to reproduce.
>
> ---
> Ubuntu Bug Squad volunteer triager
> http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad
>
> ** Description changed:
>
> Binary package hint: unity
>
> - I don't know if it is called desktop wall or Expo, but I am using the
> - default in Unity, so that when I click the blue launcher with four
> - quadrants, I am shown my multiple workspaces, in a 2x2 grid.
> + Working in a default, 2x2 workspaces setup, workspaces are numbered:
> + 1 2
> + 3 4
>
> - Given the above, if I have a program window in Workspace 2, and I am in
> - another Workspace, when I click the program's launcher, the behavior is
> - to "pan" over to the workspace that contains the program for which I
> - just clicked the launcher. This works well under most circumstances.
> + Steps to reproduce:
> + 1) Open a window (tried with nautilus and thunderbird) on a workspace, and snap it to the side of the screen on which the workspace can be found in the desktop wall (that would be left edge for windows on workspaces 1 and 3, right edge for 2 and 4)
> + 2) Switch to the workspace horizontally neighbouring the current workspace (to the left or to the right) and open/focus a window there
> + 3) Click the icon of the window snapped from the launcher
>
> - It fails when the program I am trying to get to has been "window
> - snapped" to the left or right side of the screen. (I think it is called
> - window snapping when you drag a window to the left or right edge of the
> - screen and it resizes to occupy half of the screen, on the left or
> - right, respective to which edge you snapped)....
> + Expected result:
> + The workspace containing the app should be shown with the app you have selected
>
> - To net it out...
> - If you have a left or right "snapped" window in a workspace other than your current workspace, and you click that program's launcher, expecting it to "pan" to the right workspace, it will not do this. The launcher's icon gets the triangle on the right (signifying that it is now the "current" application) but it does NOT switch workspaces.
> + What happens instead:
> + The workspace is not switched, the window seems to be focused, as the triangle appears near its icon, an...

[Robert Roth (evfool)]

Kevin, modifying comments is not possible, so please report another bug for the second issue (the one described in your comment) by running the 'ubuntu-bug unity' command on your computer.
---
Ubuntu Bug Squad volunteer triager
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

[Alistair Buxton (a-j-buxton)]

This bug affects any window which overlaps the bottom edge of the bottom row of workspaces. It can affect normal and full-maximized windows. Here is a video of the bug in effect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sza3foJjJDg

[Doug Morse (dm-dougmorse)]

I just confirmed that, if I unmaximize all my windows, and place them toward the center of their respective viewports, using Super-Numeric will again properly switch to the correct viewport as well as raise and focus the selected window.

I routinely change screen resolution from 1680x1050 to 1280x720 and back again (to clone to a 720p projector). Also, excepting Terminal, I generally keep my windows maximized. Changing resolution like tends to move all my windows back to viewport 1 (I use, probably like most folks, a 2 x 2 viewport grid). I've been using Alt-Space -> Move Windows to Another Workspace -> Workspace <#> to put the maximized windows back the various viewports where I like them. I've noticed, though, that if I then unmaximize these windows, they often then are just barely on the same viewport and occasionally even on a different viewport. I think this may be the heart of the problem, or at least part of it.

It seems like Unity is determining a window's viewport based on its unmaximized state and ignoring it's location in a maximized state. More generally, it strikes me as a design or implementation flaw to be able to have a window unmaximized on one viewport and then, if you maximize it, it ends up on a different viewport. I can understand how changing screen resolutions might be an unanticipated way of getting into this state, but I think that this is something that the Unity Panel should handle more intelligently.

I also use Compiz' Expo view a lot to reorganize windows, but I don't think that's the problem. Others have talked about snapping windows as being related to the problem.

It seems to me that a picture is emerging here: Unity is not doing a good job tracking the relation between window geometries and the viewport(s) upon which those geometries fall. Expo, snapping windows, changing screen resolutions: These all seem to lead Unity to get "confused" re: the mapping from window to viewport and vice versa.

Other bugs I've seen that seem a part of this "cluster" of issues: Bug #799552, Bug #802664, and Bug #807442.

[Doug Morse (dm-dougmorse)]

Quick followup: I just maximized all my windows and then minimized them to the launcher, as I usually do, and this caused the problem of Unity not switching to the correct viewport when using Alt-Numeric. If I unminimize a window, then the viewport switching again seems to work.

In a nutshell, then: Using Alt-Numeric on a minimized window WILL unminimize and focus that windows but WILL NOT switch to the correct viewport, at least for me. This behavior is consistent and repeatable. I believe this to be a specific use-case example of the more general issues discussed in my previous comment.

[Alistair Buxton (a-j-buxton)]

Agree about this being a specific example of a more generic problem. It can also happen with regular maximized windows.

[jhfhlkjlj (fdsuufijjejejejej-deactivatedaccount)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. We are sorry that we do not always have the capacity to look at all reported bugs in a timely manner. There have been many changes in Ubuntu since that time you reported the bug and your problem may have been fixed with some of the updates. Compiz, in particular, is in heavy development and this bug may have been fixed in the development version of Ubuntu (12.04) if not on your current version. If you are able, it would be of great help if you could confirm if the bug still exists by testing a livecd (available at ubuntu.com). When you test it and it is still an issue, kindly upload the updated logs by running apport-collect <bug #> and any other logs that are relevant for this particular issue. If you are unable to test the development version, please let us know if you are able to reproduce this issue on Ubuntu 11.10.

Thank you for your help and patience.

[Alistair Buxton (a-j-buxton)]

Confirming bug still present in unity 5.6.

[Achim (ach1m)]

So as the original author (Kevin Ford) doesn't seem to be interested any more,
I tried to update the bug with apport-collect.

But as it seems apport doesn't like me too update this bug.
The only thing that I can do is state that I am also affected by this problem.

So this are the software components that I am using.

unity:
  Installiert: 5.4.0-0ubuntu2
  Kandidat: 5.4.0-0ubuntu2
  Versionstabelle:
 *** 5.4.0-0ubuntu2 0
        500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
compiz:
  Installiert: 1:0.9.7.0~bzr2995-0ubuntu5
  Kandidat: 1:0.9.7.0~bzr2995-0ubuntu5
  Versionstabelle:
 *** 1:0.9.7.0~bzr2995-0ubuntu5 0
        500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Bug #770155 may also be related to this issue.

Regards
Achim

[jhfhlkjlj (fdsuufijjejejejej-deactivatedaccount)]

Ah, I can reproduce it now. I was not following directions correctly (was late at night...). This definitely still happens in 12.04: the window actually gets displaced badly there. I made a video in Oneiric because I can't get kazam or recordmydesktop to function properly. The video details all the problems besides window displacement.

[Miguel Ramiro (mike.longbow)]

I can confirm this bug in Ubuntu 11.10. I've been experiencing it for months and I'm truly dissapointed to see that it is still present in Precise. Any chance it could be fixed anytime? It is driving me crazy! And has been for a long time!

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

is that still an issue? what steps do you do exactly? the "if placed against the border it's moved" bug is different from the bug described there and will be fixed in a sru

[jhfhlkjlj (fdsuufijjejejejej-deactivatedaccount)]

Well, I'm not sure if that SRU will fix it or not. It still doesn't switch to the desktop, it just has new incorrect behavior.

And yes, still in precise final

[Robert Dyer (psybers)]

I can confirm this bug is still present on Precise, even with -proposed enabled.

unity:
  Installed: 5.12-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 5.12-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 5.12-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-proposed/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     5.10.0-0ubuntu6 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main i386 Packages

[Nicolas Riesco (nicolas-riesco)]

I can confirm this bug is still present on Ubuntu 12.10

[Nicolas Riesco (nicolas-riesco)]

I've just upgraded to today's alpha 13.04 and I can confirm this bug is not present.

Thanks!!!

[Pierre-François Giraud (pierre-francois-giraud-a)]

If it's fixed in 13.04, is there a chance the fix is backported to 12.04 ?