Bug 418582

Summary: Kexi form design colour choices overidden in current Manjaro
Product: [Applications] KEXI Reporter: Ian Balchin <inksi>
Component: FormsAssignee: Kexi Bugs <kexi-bugs>
Status: REPORTED ---    
Severity: major CC: adam, inksi, staniek
Priority: NOR    
Version: unspecified   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Manjaro   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments: This shows a query that is illegible due to contrasting colour banding

Description Ian Balchin 2020-03-07 14:14:46 UTC
Created attachment 126653 [details]
This shows a query that is illegible due to contrasting colour banding

SUMMARY
When Kexi is run under current Manjaro the design of the forms, particularly referring to colour, is not adhered to.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Newly install Manjaro from downloaded iso
2. Newly install kexi from within Manjaro using Pamac with all dependencies
3. Connect to database
4. Open a form
5. Open a table as well
6. Open a query as well
7. Compare colour schemes to Kexi running on other platforms from same server

OBSERVED RESULT
The form colour scheme reflects something very different from my own design (a more conventional style with off-white background, white fields with black text). 

Queries (and Tables) which present tabular data are illegible with dark/light bands with dark text. Thus data on alternate lines is thus not legible.

I particularly note that one form does not even show the same scheme as other forms.

Looking in Design Mode, the hex numbers for the colours of fields, foreground &background, &c. reflect what is on the screen, not what the stored designs from the server should contain.

EXPECTED RESULT
Visual effect should be in keeping with Kexi running on other machines which reflect the colour design choices made long ago.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/Manjaro 18.1.5 Xfce build (as shown at download)

OR, now,

Linux/Manjaro 18.1.5 Cinnamon build (as shown at download)
$ inxi gives
Kernel: 5.4.18-1-MANJARO x86_64

Kexi 3.2.0
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.66.0
Qt Version: 5.14.1

HARDWARE
HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook PC

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

1.  This same version of Kexi running on updated  but earlier Manjaro version 17 Xfce build
$ inxi gives
Kernel: 4.14.170-1-MANJARO x86_64

Change of Manjaro 'Schemes' does not improve matters, Qt5 settings do not seem to offer anything appropriate, and the Qt5 style sheets cause Kexi to crash

-end-

inksi (Ian)
Comment 1 Ian Balchin 2020-03-07 14:37:33 UTC
1. For 'Schemes' read 'Themes'.
Not sure how to edit submitted bug, perhaps that is not permitted?

2. I can actually change some things, but surely the whole point of designing your form with colours and fonts &c is that is what you will get. Themes and other ways of changing such things as borders, tab and button colours, should not override the designed form choices.
Comment 2 Jarosław Staniek 2020-03-08 21:43:27 UTC
Hi Ian. 
You got it close to the original assumption in KEXI: OS style shall not override WYSIWYG behavior of the app. 

Benefit of this default is that, if you open the same project on Windows or Mac you get similar sizes and colors as these originally designed. Especially sizes can be very different otherwise (if we follow the style) and can easily misplace the GUI elements, since we're not supporting Qt layouts at the moment (there was an honest attempt in KEXI 0.x).


That said, it does not mean KEXI won't offer a swich, which, if enabled, more or less follows the system style. The same goes for colors and icons.

Forthermore, KEXI's form designer is not Qt Designer which only designs layout and unless colors are set explicitly, system style will be used at run time.

Any developers or sponsors who, can support the "use OS look and feel" behavior. Until then it is secondary item on the feature plans.


PS1: I imagine, by the way, serious testing and adjusting of the behavior is needed for the increasingly common HiDPI, setups like 4K or 6K displays where our GUI elements need resizing. Some them do resize, I think, thanks to how they are implemented at Qt level but their positions do not adjust, since as said above, there are no layouts in use. 
So because we're still computing sizes and positions in physical pixels (in forms, not reports), I am not sure why there are even no bug reports for potential issues :) Myself, I do not have access to such resolutions; not only to PC monitors but also Macs are way too expensive.

PS2: Editing of bug description is not possible at the moment and it is annoying to me as well.