Bug 374090 - Multiple Desktops change position for no apparent reason sometimes
Summary: Multiple Desktops change position for no apparent reason sometimes
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: effects-desktop-grid (show other bugs)
Version: 5.8.4
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2016-12-23 17:08 UTC by unsuspicious.fakename+kdebugs
Modified: 2021-12-06 04:39 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

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Description unsuspicious.fakename+kdebugs 2016-12-23 17:08:43 UTC
Reproduce:
- Cover at least 9 (better 12) Desktops in windows (optionally: hide task bar, tile / arrange windows so they cover 100% of all desktops which - in theory - should probably make it impossible to drag desktops accidentally )
- Work on something very complicated that requires interaction with many different windows for some hours
- Use desktop grid repeatedly to locate the desktop you need (when it isn't directly adjacent)
- Try not to drag ANYTHING ANYWHERE

Expected result: Work efficiently. 

Bug / actual result: Multiple Desktop-swaps / drags happen very fast - possibly during zoom-out animation or very shortly after; not quite visibly animated but obvious enough to recognize some sort of "transition" in the order (as opposed to an instantaneous change of sequence). Desktop grid turns into a sliding puzzle, where you have to minimize windows on at least one Desktop so you can grab it and then figure out the right order of slides/swaps to restore the arrangement you had set up. Slow descent into insanity over the course of several months. Subsequent exposure to sliding puzzles in other situations might lead to irrationally violent behavior. 

Tried to figure out what makes this happen for months and failed. For the most time, I had all desktops almost covered in neatly tiled windows when it happened, so there should have been no space left to grab + drag a desktop. I don't remember ever having accidentally dragged a window. Unless I missed something, there shouldn't be any Desktop-drag-space left on my Desktops. "Tested" all occurring elements I could think of for potential "desktop-draggability" (except for tool-tips) and found none.

( If I oversaw a way to turn off Desktop dragging altogether, someone please point me to it. I have never on purpose dragged a desktop, so in my case that would be a great workaround. )
Comment 1 Martin Flöser 2016-12-24 08:51:10 UTC
Sorry but I don't understand what the actual problem is.

Could you please do something like:
Steps to reproduce:
1. do something
2. do something else

Actual result:
what happens

Expected result:
what you expected to happen
Comment 2 unsuspicious.fakename+kdebugs 2016-12-24 10:57:36 UTC
Yes, Sorry, I tried that for a few days and got carried away. Let me try to get the messy things out of the way first: 

This is about the changing of the order of virtual desktops in the desktop grid. Similar in appearance to the Desktop grid feature that allows to "Swap all windows on one virtual Desktop with all windows on another virtual Desktop by drag and drop". How should I call that feature? 

The problem:
- Multiple desktops swap position for no apparent reason sometimes when I use the grid plugin.

The rest of that mess I wrote mostly describes:
- How I tried to reproduce it systematically and failed
- How I tried to make sure I'm not using the [drag&drop feature for whole Desktops] by accident.
- That I have no exact idea how this happens, mostly because it seems to happen only a few times per day when I work on something complicated and use the grid plugin hundreds of times over the course of many hours.



Steps to reproduce:
1: Use grid plugin a lot 
2: I don't know, it just happens sometimes. 

Actual result:
- Looks a bit like the desktops are being "shuffled" by means of the [desktop drag&drop feature] 
- (or like the shuffling of a sliding puzzle game)

Expected result:
- That should not happen.
Comment 3 unsuspicious.fakename+kdebugs 2016-12-25 17:24:07 UTC
Finally, after all this time trying, I found *something* slightly more tangible today:

Steps to reproduce:
- Set Desktop Grid Border width to 0
- On a 9x9 Desktop grid
- Panel hidden
- In Desktop grid view, drag Desktop 1 to desktop 3 to switch them. 
- Now fill the column (1, 4, 7) with 2 Konsoles each (edge-tiled) so together they fill the Desktops completely. 
- Again in Desktop grid view: Click and hold at the left edge of the screen right between Desktops 1 and 4. 
- Move 1-3 pixels up and down.

    +--------------+
    |  1 |  2 |  3 |
    |    |    |    |
+-> +--------------+
    |  4 |  5 |  6 |
    |    |    |    |
    +--------------+
    |  7 |  8 |  9 |
    |    |    |    |
    +--------------+

Actual result:
Desktops 1, 4 AND 7 are shuffled. 

Expected result:
Ideally nothing (or at least only 1 and 4 affected, NOT 7)



And steps to reproduce worse: 
- Add more desktops.
- Change the positions of desktops around randomly, to simulate prolonged working with this bug. 
- Fill all desktops with windows (some fullscreen, some tiled in various ways.
- In grid view, place the mouse pointer on the corners where 4 desktops meet or on the borders where 2 meet. Click, hold, drag. Play around with different ones. 

Actual result:
Desktops seem to jump around randomly, sometimes up to 5 at a time. Not just in the vicinity, but also all across the board, some of them nowhere near the mouse pointer. 

Expected result: Ideally, nothing happens (or at least not to so much at once)


After some more "experimenting", it looks to me like there are at least two problems:
1) There's something wrong with [Original_Desktop_Position] and [Current_Desktop_Position] getting mixed up somehow during the drag&drop-action, which causes weird jumps. Haven't been able to figure out exactly how - maybe the "drag-from" takes [Current_Desktop_Position] and the "drag_to" takes [Original_Desktop_Position] or something like that.
2) The areas where GUI actions are ambiguous are way too big for this Desktop-Drag&Drop feature when "Desktop Border" has a low value. With a lot of Desktops (12+?), increasing the value is not a viable solution since it shrinks the "Thumbnails" too much. Is there a way to deactivate that Desktop Drag&Drop feature for people who don't want to sacrifice "screen size" for for it?


I can't tell for sure if accidental clicks on those areas are the actual & sole reason why my Desktops seem to shuffle themselves, but this is the most solid theory I've been able to come up with so far.
Comment 4 Martin Flöser 2016-12-25 17:57:50 UTC
Thanks for the update, that helps a lot understanding the problem.
Comment 5 kde.org 2021-11-06 18:13:06 UTC
This issue report is quite old. Can you please confirm, that it still persists with KDE 5.23?
Comment 6 Bug Janitor Service 2021-11-21 04:39:38 UTC
Dear Bug Submitter,

This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least
15 days. Please provide the requested information as soon as
possible and set the bug status as REPORTED. Due to regular bug
tracker maintenance, if the bug is still in NEEDSINFO status with
no change in 30 days the bug will be closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
due to lack of needed information.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the
wiki located here:
https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging

If you have already provided the requested information, please
mark the bug as REPORTED so that the KDE team knows that the bug is
ready to be confirmed.

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Comment 7 Bug Janitor Service 2021-12-06 04:39:00 UTC
This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least
30 days. The bug is now closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
due to lack of needed information.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the
wiki located here:
https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!