Bug 117040

Summary: JJ: Make startup notification for "Print to file" less bouncing + more pretty, less annoying + more informative to users
Product: [Unmaintained] kdeprint Reporter: Wilbert Berendsen <wbsoft>
Component: generalAssignee: KDEPrint Devel Mailinglist <kde-print-devel>
Status: RESOLVED UNMAINTAINED    
Severity: wishlist CC: bluedzins, jens-bugs.kde.org, jlayt, kde
Priority: NOR Keywords: junior-jobs
Version: 4.0   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: unspecified   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Wilbert Berendsen 2005-11-25 09:03:23 UTC
Version:           onbekend (using KDE 3.5 (RC1), Gentoo)
Compiler:          gcc version 3.3.5-20050130 (Gentoo Linux 3.3.5.20050130-r1, ssp-3.3.5.20050130-1, pie-8.7.7.1)
OS:                Linux (i686) release 2.6.14-gentoo

When I print from the KDE print dialog (e.g. from Konqueror) to a file, a bouncing KJobViewer cursor is displayed next to the mouse pounter, but KJobViewer never appears (because I printed to a file).

Expected behaviour would be that the startup notification is not displayed when printing to a file (as in KDE 3.4).
Comment 1 Michael Goffioul 2005-11-25 09:33:26 UTC
The fact that the KJobViewer does not appear is normal: it is always started iconized to not perturb the user with a popping window. Normally, there is a small delay between the start of the kjobviewer process and the appearance of the icon, such that if the print process if quickly finished, the icon does not appear at all.

Now the fact that the job viewer is also started for pseudo-printers (print to file, print to PDF...) has been intentionnally added to show to the user a visual sign that something is happening, in case of lengthy underlying process. The typical use case is a conversion to PDF of a large file (or with large images). Users complained there was no visual feedback on the print process. Note that even when using pseudo-printers, the job viewer makes sense because it allows the user to kill the underlying process associated with that printer (as you would kill a regular print process).

Maybe some adaptation is required (making the systray delay longer to avoid showing the icon for fast processes), but I would definitely not remove the start of kjobviewer when printing to pseudo-printers.

Michael.
Comment 2 Wilbert Berendsen 2005-11-26 17:16:01 UTC
I really think it is a bug. Because due to the startup notification I think that some application (window) has to appear, which does not, and it leads to the impresssion that, when the startup notification finally disappears, the task was not accomplished but silently discarded (esp. when printing to a file or email attachment).

An improvement would be that the startup notification is cancelled as soon as the print-to-file task has completed.
Comment 3 Ferdinand Gassauer 2005-12-16 16:41:07 UTC
IMHO the behaviour has changed in 3.5

earlier kjobviewer has been started in the systray without the bouncing icon and disappeared immediately after completion of the printjob (which is almost immediately for printing on our cups based server)

now in 3.5 kjobviewer "opens" a task in kicker where it should not be. The kjobviewer window nevercomes up, because it closes immediately after completion of the print job before it is displayed.

hope that helps
Comment 4 Ferdinand Gassauer 2005-12-16 16:48:02 UTC
BTW, I managed somehow ( I tried ksystraycmd kjobviewer) to place the icon in the system tray, now the bouncing kjobviewer icon is gone.
Comment 5 Ferdinand Gassauer 2005-12-16 16:54:08 UTC
ksystraycmd --hidden kjobviewer does the job, IMHO it should be started by default, but that's propably a task for the packagers.
Comment 6 Ferdinand Gassauer 2005-12-16 17:00:31 UTC
unfortunately my observations and hints were wrong,
Even with the kjobviewer sitting in the systray, the bouncing icon comes up.

only if the window itself is open, then no bouncing icon comes up.
Comment 7 Kurt Pfeifle 2007-01-09 14:52:33 UTC
I changed the $subject to better reflect what we need.

 (a) the reporter thinks the bouncing cursor is annoying (especially since
     after it finished no application window appears which most users are
     trained to expect from other bouncing cursors)

 (b) as Michael convincingly explained, we *need* a notification to users
     that something is happening. So maybe one of the more "modern" methods
     of notifying the user could be used (like, a little note sliding out of
     the systray, similar to what Amarok and a few other applications do).

Also changed it to a wishlist item for KDE4.
Comment 8 Kurt Pfeifle 2007-01-09 15:10:10 UTC
Old $summary was: 

"superfluous KJobViewer startup notification when printing to file"
Comment 9 Kurt Pfeifle 2007-01-13 22:48:17 UTC
*** Bug 84299 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 10 Kurt Pfeifle 2007-01-14 21:15:46 UTC
*** Bug 111233 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 11 Maciej Pilichowski 2007-01-15 11:58:33 UTC
#7.b

I didn't anything like in amarok, but there is a popup transparent "window" each time new song is played.
So maybe by default kjobviewer should inform user in such manner about _every_ job when it is done.
It would be also valuable for lengthy printing on normal printers.
Comment 12 Maciej Pilichowski 2007-01-16 08:36:37 UTC
This is a duplicate of http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=83257
Could somebody please close this report as a dup? Thanks.
Comment 13 Kurt Pfeifle 2007-01-16 21:37:02 UTC
Look what I commented 3 days ago at bug 83257   :-)
Comment 14 Maciej Pilichowski 2008-04-13 17:37:02 UTC
I am not sure if this is the same case, but it is similar:
a) open kjobviewer manually
b) print something
c) you get lengthy bouncing cursor but nothing new will appear
Comment 15 John Layt 2011-05-27 18:11:09 UTC
KDEPrint is obsolete, unmaintained and will never be revived.  Closing all open bugs.