Bug 312684

Summary: pager widget does not show window outline nor open windows if only one virtual desktop used
Product: [Unmaintained] plasma4 Reporter: dmatt <xdarkmatter>
Component: widget-pagerAssignee: Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs>
Status: RESOLVED FIXED    
Severity: normal CC: laidig, markg85, paolo.jovon, post, scp.stjohn, spaz16
Priority: NOR Keywords: regression
Version: 4.10.1   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Ubuntu   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In: 4.10.2
Sentry Crash Report:

Description dmatt 2013-01-05 14:17:11 UTC
When only one virtual desktop is used, pager widget does not show desktop and windows, there is only empty space on panel. Tooltip and right click still work correctly.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. set number of virtual desktops to 1
2. windows and desktop outline is not shown in widget
3. adding additional virtual desktop restores correct widget display (with two or more virtual desktops), removing all but one leads always to this bug 
Actual Results:  
empty space on panel - virtual desktop and its windows are not indicated on widget-pager, when only one virtual desktop is used

Expected Results:  
virtual desktop and its windows are whown on widget pager

updated Kubuntu 12.10 + project Neon + repository ppa:makson96/fglrx for allowing fglrx-legacy for my ATI RV620 [Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series]
Comment 1 dmatt 2013-01-05 16:35:11 UTC
After further investigation - if last action on widget was to "Remove Last Virtual Desktop" and there is only one Virtual Desktop remaining, than tooltip is showing "Desktop 2" with the list of programs, which had windows on that removed desktop. Actual windows are handled correctly and moved to Desktop 1.

It seems that widget is trying to show nonexistent Desktop 2 instead of existing Desktop 1 and as a result nothing is shown. 
 
Problem manifests only when going from 2 -> 1 virtual desktop, if there is more, deleting works correctly.
Comment 2 Mark 2013-02-09 18:42:08 UTC
Confirmed. This is a regression since the pager component is rewritten in QML.
I'm having this same issue on 4.10.0 final with a clean install.
Comment 3 Ralf Jung 2013-03-10 18:20:35 UTC
*** Bug 316071 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 4 Ralf Jung 2013-03-10 18:22:34 UTC
I am having the same issue in KDE 4.10.1. I compiled KDE from sources.

> It seems that widget is trying to show nonexistent Desktop 2 instead of existing Desktop 1
> and as a result nothing is shown. 
My impression is that the pager wants to hide itself since there is nothing to do if there's just one desktop, but it fails to do so and still occupies space.
Comment 5 Mark 2013-03-10 18:30:35 UTC
The issue is still there. I can (and want to) fix it, but there seems to be some heat in this matter on how it should be fixed. 

The reason it's not showing is because the pager is just not being drawn if you only have one virtual desktop. 

My workaround:
(as root) edit /usr/share/apps/plasma/packages/org.kde.pager/contents/ui/main.qml
remove the line:
visible: repeater.count > 1

And it works again (you might need to logout and back in again for the pager to reload. Or you remove the pager and re-add it.
Comment 6 Ralf Jung 2013-03-10 18:35:11 UTC
Could you point me to the discussion that happened (at least I assume there was a discussion, if you say there is "heat in this matter").

I am kind of surprised that the pager was accepted as-is, but now there does not seem to be agreement any more on how it should behave. Clearly there was some intended behaviour when it got merged? Or nobody cared about the case of one desktop (which explains why this bug went unnoticed), but then why does anyone care now?
Of course, as an outsider this is easily said ;-)
Comment 7 Mark 2013-03-10 18:39:31 UTC
(In reply to comment #6)
> Could you point me to the discussion that happened (at least I assume there
> was a discussion, if you say there is "heat in this matter").
> 
> I am kind of surprised that the pager was accepted as-is, but now there does
> not seem to be agreement any more on how it should behave. Clearly there was
> some intended behaviour when it got merged? Or nobody cared about the case
> of one desktop (which explains why this bug went unnoticed), but then why
> does anyone care now?
> Of course, as an outsider this is easily said ;-)

I can certainly point you at that discussion as i started it when i found this new behavior in KDE 4.10. There wasn't a lot of discussion before the merge, it just happened.

The discussion is here: http://mail.kde.org/pipermail/plasma-devel/2013-February/023991.html i sadly started that with the wrong title. It should have been "pager" instead of the (wrong typed) "placces" :)

And yes, i'm also surprised that it got merged in.
Comment 8 Ralf Jung 2013-03-10 19:22:33 UTC
So if I understood the discussion properly, we are essentially waiting for someone to implement the following changes:

- Add a boolean option (hidden or not) to the pager to control whether the pager is shown for 1 VD or not (where "not shown" means "taking up no space whatsoever")
- Set this option to "hide" for the default pager, while setting it to "show" for pagers added manually

I cannot easily reply to that thread, so I am doing that here and hope that it reaches the relevant parties...
What's the reason the pager is not simply removed from the default setup? Then the the special case for 1 VD could be removed. In the discussion it was mentioned that someone increasing the number of VDs would then also have to add the pager manually, however (as has been said there) VDs are a power-user feature, and these power-users should certainly be able to quickly add a widget to the panel. It's not like one sets up a new KDE desktop every day, this is a one-time configuration "effort".
This solution would not only be much easier to implement, it would also not have the issue of introducing invisible items into the panel. (For example, how does that pager behave when editing widgets? Can it even be removed without editing config files?)
Comment 9 Mark 2013-03-10 19:29:25 UTC
Your last comment is _exactly_ what i want to do.
I just started a new thread on the mailing list to jump to some conclusions here. You can find it here: http://mail.kde.org/pipermail/plasma-devel/2013-March/024279.html
Comment 10 dmatt 2013-03-11 11:37:47 UTC
I also post my opinion here (I am not in devel mailing list):

I would prefer removing pager from default setup and keep pager consistent - showing any number of VD including one. 

If I put pager into panel I know what I'am doing. 
I do not want PC trying to outsmart/confuse me with hiding widget when it sees fit.

My use case is that I add/remove VD when I need them and I like short way with right click on pager and select Add or Remove. Usually I have one or two activated. I do not want to go looking for the setting into KCM and do not use it that often to have keyboard shortcuts associated.

Hiding widget breaks the widget mental concept for me. The only other widget hiding are in system tray and there is visual clue for both indication and quick access.
Comment 11 Ralf Jung 2013-03-12 10:44:56 UTC
This is fixed by http://quickgit.kde.org/?p=kde-workspace.git&a=commit&h=b6faef2fac5e0e715fdc1018c6a0eb7d859bff73 - thanks a lot :)
Comment 12 Jekyll Wu 2013-03-16 16:13:21 UTC
*** Bug 316847 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 13 SP 2013-05-26 19:55:17 UTC
This bug should remain open.  It has not been resolved for me in any of the recent upgrades and has persisted for at least the past few months.  

OS Version Linux 3.9.4-200.fc18.x86_64
Current KDE SC Version 4.10.3
Renderer AMD Radeon HD 7500 Series
Using Akmod Catalyst drivers.
Open GL Compositing implemented.
Oxygen-transparent theme

The area where the pager should be appears blank until it is right-clicked and a pager added or removed.  The pager is then visible for the rest of that session but does not reappear after logout/login or reboot.

I believe this is related to the video driver.  The problem exists on two identical machines - but not on my other machines which are 32bit and have different video drivers.
Comment 14 SP 2013-05-26 20:02:45 UTC
Additional to the report above:  I use four VDs - so this is not related to having only one VD.