Bug 460415 - Digital Clock 5.26: font too tiny to read
Summary: Digital Clock 5.26: font too tiny to read
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Digital Clock widget (show other bugs)
Version: 5.26.0
Platform: Arch Linux Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords: regression
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2022-10-14 10:01 UTC by rb
Modified: 2022-10-20 15:50 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In: 5.26.2
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
attachment-920-0.html (3.81 KB, text/html)
2022-10-15 20:51 UTC, rb
Details
clock.png (49.67 KB, image/png)
2022-10-15 20:51 UTC, rb
Details
appearance.png (69.65 KB, image/png)
2022-10-15 20:51 UTC, rb
Details
attachment-2033-0.html (2.75 KB, text/html)
2022-10-15 21:00 UTC, rb
Details
fullscrnclock.png (995.57 KB, image/png)
2022-10-15 21:00 UTC, rb
Details
attachment-20198-0.html (2.87 KB, text/html)
2022-10-16 23:26 UTC, rb
Details
fixed.png (47.80 KB, image/png)
2022-10-16 23:26 UTC, rb
Details
attachment-401-0.html (3.18 KB, text/html)
2022-10-17 01:11 UTC, rb
Details

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Description rb 2022-10-14 10:01:35 UTC
SUMMARY
***
NOTE: If you are reporting a crash, please try to attach a backtrace with debug symbols.
See https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Debugging/How_to_create_useful_crash_reports
***
Panel is at top of screen as in Gnome.  DigitalClock plasmoid in center of panel. Date shows left of time, time to right of date, side by side.
After upgrade to 5.26, Digital Clock font is too small to read.  Downgraded to 5.25 and all is normal.  Repeated upgrade to make sure.  But on 5.26, if  I copy old digital clock directory from backup of 5.25 /usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.digitalclock/
then the clock font is normal after logout/log back in. I think issue is with the QML code itself in new version of the digitalclock plasmoid. 

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Upgrade to Plasma 5.26
2.  Digital Clock font is too small to see
3.  Log out/log in, same problem
4.  Copy contents in /usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.digitalclock/ directory from 5.25 to 5.26
5.  logout and login again
6.  digitalclock plasmoid font appears nomal sized/readable

OBSERVED RESULT
Font is too small to see in Digital Clock plasmoid in 5.26

EXPECTED RESULT
Font would appear same size/as readable as it did in 5.25

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Windows: 
macOS: 
Linux/KDE Plasma: 5.26
(available in About System)
KDE Plasma Version: 
KDE Frameworks Version: 
Qt Version: 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Sorry I cannot give plasma, framworks, qt version as I have downgraded all packages for now
Comment 1 rb 2022-10-14 10:09:50 UTC
Packages installed:
5.99.0-1 plasma-framework 
5.26.0-1 plasma 
5.15.6+kde+r180-1 qt5-base
Comment 2 Nate Graham 2022-10-14 19:40:22 UTC
I'm going to have to ask you to upgrade again so we can debug a bit. After you've done that, please attach screenshots of:
1. How it looks when it's not readable
2. The "Appearance" page of the settings window for the Digital Clock that's got too-small text

Also, what is your panel's thickness set to?
Comment 3 rb 2022-10-15 20:51:09 UTC
Created attachment 152862 [details]
attachment-920-0.html

Hi thanks for the reply.  Yesterday,I migrated my machine to debian 
stable from arch.   Too many changes too quick that I do not have time 
to always adjust for. BUT, I did copy all of my home directory from the 
arch  backups to a virtual machine with endeavour installed (same as 
arch with plasma 5.26).
The issue is the same:

1. The top panel is in my host machine, the bottom panel is in the VM.

Both panels are set to height 34.  The host machine running plasma 5.20, 
when panel height is increased or decreased, the font also increases or 
decreases accordingly (scales relative to the panel height size).

In the vm, running plasma 5.26, increasing or decreasing the panel 
height does not change the clock size.

while it may not look that small in this pic, I am about 10 feet from 
the screen most often and the font size is very small with no way to 
adjust even with panel height increase.

2.

Changing themes or styles in appearance in Plasma system settings has no 
effect, I will follow up with separate email with full screen pic to 
show how start the difference is in 5.26 and 5.25 and earlier.  (As a 
reminder: i mentioned in the bug report, copying the 
org.kde.plasma.digital clock folder into the system from 5.25 to 5.26 
installation made it behave as before/expected)

Thank you for your time and let me know if I can provide any more info 
that may be of help to you.

Rob

On 10/14/22 3:40 PM, Nate Graham wrote:
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=460415
>
> Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  changed:
>
>             What    |Removed                     |Added
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>             Keywords|                            |regression
>              Version|unspecified                 |5.26.0
>            Component|general                     |Digital Clock
>             Assignee|unassigned-bugs@kde.org      |plasma-bugs@kde.org
>                   CC|                            |nate@kde.org
>              Product|kde                         |plasmashell
>     Target Milestone|---                         |1.0
>           Resolution|---                         |WAITINGFORINFO
>               Status|REPORTED                    |NEEDSINFO
>
> --- Comment #2 from Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  ---
> I'm going to have to ask you to upgrade again so we can debug a bit. After
> you've done that, please attach screenshots of:
> 1. How it looks when it's not readable
> 2. The "Appearance" page of the settings window for the Digital Clock that's
> got too-small text
>
> Also, what is your panel's thickness set to?
>
Comment 4 rb 2022-10-15 20:51:09 UTC
Created attachment 152863 [details]
clock.png
Comment 5 rb 2022-10-15 20:51:09 UTC
Created attachment 152864 [details]
appearance.png
Comment 6 rb 2022-10-15 21:00:17 UTC
Created attachment 152865 [details]
attachment-2033-0.html

Hi nate, here is a pic of the full screen with host panel on top (pre 
plasma 5.26) and guest panel in scaled mode full screen underneath with 
5.26.  Again, both panels are 34 height.  I have a projector with a 92" 
screen about 10-12 feet away.  With 5.26 I cannot see date/time.  It was 
not a problem before as you can see below. Again, clock font does not 
scale at all in 5.26 when changing panel  height + or -.

Thanks again and sorry for HUGE pic, but wanted you to get the full 
picture.

Rob

BTW I know it looks like Gnome (gasp) but that is how I like it set up.  
They are indeed both KDE Plasma 5.


On 10/14/22 3:40 PM, Nate Graham wrote:
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=460415
>
> Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  changed:
>
>             What    |Removed                     |Added
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>             Keywords|                            |regression
>              Version|unspecified                 |5.26.0
>            Component|general                     |Digital Clock
>             Assignee|unassigned-bugs@kde.org      |plasma-bugs@kde.org
>                   CC|                            |nate@kde.org
>              Product|kde                         |plasmashell
>     Target Milestone|---                         |1.0
>           Resolution|---                         |WAITINGFORINFO
>               Status|REPORTED                    |NEEDSINFO
>
> --- Comment #2 from Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  ---
> I'm going to have to ask you to upgrade again so we can debug a bit. After
> you've done that, please attach screenshots of:
> 1. How it looks when it's not readable
> 2. The "Appearance" page of the settings window for the Digital Clock that's
> got too-small text
>
> Also, what is your panel's thickness set to?
>
Comment 7 rb 2022-10-15 21:00:17 UTC
Created attachment 152866 [details]
fullscrnclock.png
Comment 8 rb 2022-10-16 23:26:13 UTC
Created attachment 152917 [details]
attachment-20198-0.html

Hi nate,

Just FYI the solution was simple. (with Arch back on the machine with 
the 5.26 upgrade),  I simply removed the digital clock in the panel and 
replaced it and then reconfigured the custom date format.  The font now 
scales when the panel height is deceased/increased.  The panel 
configuration files in my home directory must have caused the issue but 
in all fairness, this has never happened any Plasma ugrades with 
versions 5.18 thru 5.25. It seems like breakage to me even though the 
solution was simple. The user does not expect that the previous digital 
clock in the panel should be broken after an upgrade and logging back in 
again.  No other elements on the desktop configuration was not affected.

Thanks again, Rob.


On 10/14/22 3:40 PM, Nate Graham wrote:
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=460415
>
> Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  changed:
>
>             What    |Removed                     |Added
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>             Keywords|                            |regression
>              Version|unspecified                 |5.26.0
>            Component|general                     |Digital Clock
>             Assignee|unassigned-bugs@kde.org      |plasma-bugs@kde.org
>                   CC|                            |nate@kde.org
>              Product|kde                         |plasmashell
>     Target Milestone|---                         |1.0
>           Resolution|---                         |WAITINGFORINFO
>               Status|REPORTED                    |NEEDSINFO
>
> --- Comment #2 from Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  ---
> I'm going to have to ask you to upgrade again so we can debug a bit. After
> you've done that, please attach screenshots of:
> 1. How it looks when it's not readable
> 2. The "Appearance" page of the settings window for the Digital Clock that's
> got too-small text
>
> Also, what is your panel's thickness set to?
>
Comment 9 rb 2022-10-16 23:26:14 UTC
Created attachment 152918 [details]
fixed.png
Comment 10 rb 2022-10-17 00:35:05 UTC
Hey nate,

On a final note:

I have found the exact cause of the issue.  The 
/home/$user/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc file 
contained this under Appearance [ ] section for the digital clock applet:

[Containments][2][Applets][21][Configuration][Appearance]
autoFontAndSize=false   ( <<<<Removed this line and logout fixes the 
issue with small fonts)
customDateFormat=MMM d
dateFormat=custom
fontFamily=
showDate=true
use24hFormat=0

Removing the first line (autoFontAndSize=false) fixes the issue. I did 
not at any time  edit this file explicitly.  It must have been added 
there by KDE when I set up the panel in a previous version of Plasma. 
Just FYI in case the issue affects any other users.

Thanks,

  Rob

On 10/14/22 3:40 PM, Nate Graham wrote:
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=460415
>
> Nate Graham <nate@kde.org> changed:
>
>             What    |Removed                     |Added
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>             Keywords|                            |regression
>              Version|unspecified                 |5.26.0
>            Component|general                     |Digital Clock
>             Assignee|unassigned-bugs@kde.org     |plasma-bugs@kde.org
>                   CC|                            |nate@kde.org
>              Product|kde                         |plasmashell
>     Target Milestone|---                         |1.0
>           Resolution|---                         |WAITINGFORINFO
>               Status|REPORTED                    |NEEDSINFO
>
> --- Comment #2 from Nate Graham <nate@kde.org> ---
> I'm going to have to ask you to upgrade again so we can debug a bit. After
> you've done that, please attach screenshots of:
> 1. How it looks when it's not readable
> 2. The "Appearance" page of the settings window for the Digital Clock that's
> got too-small text
>
> Also, what is your panel's thickness set to?
>
Comment 11 rb 2022-10-17 01:11:53 UTC
Created attachment 152919 [details]
attachment-401-0.html

Correction:

I see that autoFontAndSize was introduced into 5.26 digitalclock and set 
to true by default.  I previously in 5.25 had Sego ui custom font but no 
size was able to be selected if I recall correctly, just the font type.  
I guess because of that, autoFontAndSize was set to false by the system 
after upgrading to 5.26 in the appletsrc file .  The size can now be set 
in the settings of the clock with a particular font implicitly selected. 
The decision to change this to false as detailed below and have the font 
size selection option not be readily visible can lead the user with very 
small font with no idea they can now increase the font size.

"Plasma 5.26 introduced a new config entry autoFontAndSize which defaults

to true.
This means if the user customized font before (fontFamily, boldText,
italicText), in 5.26 these settings are ignored.

So we need to set autoFontAndSize=false if:
1. Any of these 3 old entries above is set.
2. No new entries introduced in 5.26 (autoFontAndSize, fontSize,
    fontWeight, fontStyleName) are set, so this is a config from 5.25.
And fontWeight should be set to 75 (Font.Bold) if boldText==true."

On 10/14/22 3:40 PM, Nate Graham wrote:
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=460415
>
> Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  changed:
>
>             What    |Removed                     |Added
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>             Keywords|                            |regression
>              Version|unspecified                 |5.26.0
>            Component|general                     |Digital Clock
>             Assignee|unassigned-bugs@kde.org      |plasma-bugs@kde.org
>                   CC|                            |nate@kde.org
>              Product|kde                         |plasmashell
>     Target Milestone|---                         |1.0
>           Resolution|---                         |WAITINGFORINFO
>               Status|REPORTED                    |NEEDSINFO
>
> --- Comment #2 from Nate Graham<nate@kde.org>  ---
> I'm going to have to ask you to upgrade again so we can debug a bit. After
> you've done that, please attach screenshots of:
> 1. How it looks when it's not readable
> 2. The "Appearance" page of the settings window for the Digital Clock that's
> got too-small text
>
> Also, what is your panel's thickness set to?
>
Comment 12 Nate Graham 2022-10-17 19:12:14 UTC
Sounds like something in our settings migration script went wrong, unfortunately.
Comment 13 rb 2022-10-17 19:28:10 UTC
The autoFontAndSize being set to false left the setting in configure 
digital clock in the plasmoid to manual.  Defaulting autoFontAndSize = 
true changes the setting to automatic, clearing both the custom font AND 
default size set in systemsettings>appearance>fonts.  That should have 
probably been the default, leaving users with the automatic default 
(scalable with panel height + or -) font setting and forcing them to 
reset the custom font , where they would then see the new font size 
options in the menu.  So if the user had italic fonts in 5.25, after the 
upgrade to 5.26 they would notice the font was no longer italic.  When 
resetting it in the options they would also notice the font size is now 
available.  Otherwise, they are just left with their old custom font 
selection and whatever small font size is selected in system settings, 
with no idea there is a new setting to set the font size available to 
them.  Changing font sizes in system settings  did not seem to have any 
immediate effect either and also I did not know which font would need to 
be changed to affect the clock font, i.e. fixed-width, small, toolbar 
etc.  Maybe the user would have to try them all and log out and log back 
in again for them to take effect?  No worries, it is fixed now!

On 10/17/22 3:12 PM, Nate Graham wrote:
> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=460415
>
> Nate Graham <nate@kde.org> changed:
>
>             What    |Removed                     |Added
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                   CC|                            |ad.liu.jin@gmail.com
>               Status|NEEDSINFO                   |REPORTED
>           Resolution|WAITINGFORINFO              |---
>
> --- Comment #12 from Nate Graham <nate@kde.org> ---
> Sounds like something in our settings migration script went wrong,
> unfortunately.
>
Comment 14 Jin Liu 2022-10-18 01:10:59 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #12)
> Sounds like something in our settings migration script went wrong,
> unfortunately.

I think it's not in the settings migration script, but because of the fontSize's default value 10 can be too small in some screens.

If we want to keep digital clock's look unchanged from 5.25 to 5.26, with custom font set in 5.25, then I think there're 3 options:

1. When migrated from 5.25, has fontSize set to a secret value (e.g. -1), so that the QML code will use custom font and auto size, exactly as in 5.25.
This is bad, because we can't configure this in 5.26. It'll be only available for widgets migrated from 5.25, but not for newly created widgets.

2. When migrated from 5.25, the migration script calculates a suitable fontSize according to the panel height in config file.
This is too difficult due to the complexity in digital clock's layout code.

3. When migrated from 5.25, has fontSize set to a secret value (e.g. -1). Then the QML code, when first run in 5.26, do layout in autosize mode, and write the calculated font size back to config file (can I write config in QML?).
The custom font still won't resize with the panel, but at least widgets migrated from 5.25 should look unchanged (until the user resizes the panel).
This is the most feasible. However, it has no effect for those users already upgraded to 5.26. And it adds more to the already complicated QML code. So I'm unsure if it shall be done...
Comment 15 Jin Liu 2022-10-18 01:24:31 UTC
(In reply to rb from comment #10)
> I have found the exact cause of the issue.  The 
> /home/$user/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc file 
> contained this under Appearance [ ] section for the digital clock applet:
> 
> [Containments][2][Applets][21][Configuration][Appearance]
> autoFontAndSize=false   ( <<<<Removed this line and logout fixes the 
> issue with small fonts)
> customDateFormat=MMM d
> dateFormat=custom
> fontFamily=
> showDate=true
> use24hFormat=0
> 
> Removing the first line (autoFontAndSize=false) fixes the issue. I did 
> not at any time  edit this file explicitly.  It must have been added 
> there by KDE when I set up the panel in a previous version of Plasma. 
> Just FYI in case the issue affects any other users.

Hi Rob,

You don't need to edit the config file or logout. You can set "Text Display" to "Automatic" in the Config - Appearance, and it has the same effect as removing the autoFontAndSize=false line.

5.26 allows the user to set custom font size, but lost the ability to have both a custom font and autosize. So now if you use a custom font, you'll need to manually set a font size too. (But there's a trick: you can set a very large font size, then the font will autosize when the panel height is less than that size)
Comment 16 Jin Liu 2022-10-18 01:28:35 UTC
(In reply to Jin Liu from comment #14)
> (In reply to Nate Graham from comment #12)
> > Sounds like something in our settings migration script went wrong,
> > unfortunately.
> 
> I think it's not in the settings migration script, but because of the
> fontSize's default value 10 can be too small in some screens.
> 
> If we want to keep digital clock's look unchanged from 5.25 to 5.26, with
> custom font set in 5.25, then I think there're 3 options:
> 
> 1. When migrated from 5.25, has fontSize set to a secret value (e.g. -1), so
> that the QML code will use custom font and auto size, exactly as in 5.25.
> This is bad, because we can't configure this in 5.26. It'll be only
> available for widgets migrated from 5.25, but not for newly created widgets.
> 
> 2. When migrated from 5.25, the migration script calculates a suitable
> fontSize according to the panel height in config file.
> This is too difficult due to the complexity in digital clock's layout code.
> 
> 3. When migrated from 5.25, has fontSize set to a secret value (e.g. -1).
> Then the QML code, when first run in 5.26, do layout in autosize mode, and
> write the calculated font size back to config file (can I write config in
> QML?).
> The custom font still won't resize with the panel, but at least widgets
> migrated from 5.25 should look unchanged (until the user resizes the panel).
> This is the most feasible. However, it has no effect for those users already
> upgraded to 5.26. And it adds more to the already complicated QML code. So
> I'm unsure if it shall be done...

Oh I just realized there's another, very simple option:
4. When migrating from 5.25, the migration script sets the font size not to the default 10, but to a very large value (or at least larger than the panel height). Then the font will autofit to the panel, similar to 5.25.
cons:
1) Too late for users already upgraded.
2) The config dialog looks a bit strange with a very large sample text.
Comment 17 Bug Janitor Service 2022-10-18 02:00:40 UTC
A possibly relevant merge request was started @ https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/-/merge_requests/1213
Comment 18 Fushan Wen 2022-10-20 15:45:49 UTC
Git commit e878272bc8866328c2b4170190e8eb702700b71b by Fushan Wen, on behalf of Jin Liu.
Committed on 20/10/2022 at 04:21.
Pushed by ngraham into branch 'master'.

[applets/digitalclock] Fix font size change when migrating from 5.25

When migrating from 5.25, if custom font is set, the migration script
sets fontSize=10, which causes the look of digitalclock to change from
5.25 (where the font autosizes). And the default value of 10 can be too
small for some users.

So now this settings migration script sets fontSize=72 if custom font is
set in 5.25. For panels thinner than 72pt, this should retain 5.25's
autosize behavior.
cons:
1) Too late for users already upgraded to 5.26
2) The config dialog looks a bit strange with a very large sample text.

M  +7    -0    desktoppackage/contents/updates/digitalclock_migrate_font_settings.js

https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/commit/e878272bc8866328c2b4170190e8eb702700b71b
Comment 19 Nate Graham 2022-10-20 15:46:54 UTC
Git commit 18870d13d8eed284d50efaaf88888a728d6226e7 by Nate Graham, on behalf of Jin Liu.
Committed on 20/10/2022 at 15:46.
Pushed by ngraham into branch 'Plasma/5.26'.

[applets/digitalclock] Fix font size change when migrating from 5.25

When migrating from 5.25, if custom font is set, the migration script
sets fontSize=10, which causes the look of digitalclock to change from
5.25 (where the font autosizes). And the default value of 10 can be too
small for some users.

So now this settings migration script sets fontSize=72 if custom font is
set in 5.25. For panels thinner than 72pt, this should retain 5.25's
autosize behavior.
cons:
1) Too late for users already upgraded to 5.26
2) The config dialog looks a bit strange with a very large sample text.


(cherry picked from commit e878272bc8866328c2b4170190e8eb702700b71b)

M  +7    -0    desktoppackage/contents/updates/digitalclock_migrate_font_settings.js

https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/commit/18870d13d8eed284d50efaaf88888a728d6226e7