#643679 gnucash: the "GnuCash Tip Of The Day" window doesn't appear where it is positioned

Package:
gnucash
Source:
gnucash
Description:
personal and small-business financial-accounting software
Submitter:
Vincent Lefevre
Date:
2011-11-17 23:57:03 UTC
Severity:
minor
#643679#5
Date:
2011-09-28 16:17:58 UTC
From:
To:
When I start GnuCash, FVWM asks me to choose the position of the
"GnuCash Tip Of The Day" window (as I have the ActivePlacement
option). Once done, the window appears higher than the chosen
position.

The most annoying problem is that this window sometimes appears
partly off-screen (at the top).
#643679#14
Date:
2011-10-06 19:40:04 UTC
From:
To:
tags 643679 + wontfix
severity 643679 minor
thanks

Vincent Lefevre <vincent@vinc17.net> writes:

I am able to reproduce your problem using a fresh install of fvwm and
only "Style * ManualPlacement" in my ~/.fvwm2rc.

Actually the placement of the "Tip of the day" dialog is controlled by
the GConf key /apps/gnucash/dialogs/tip_of_the_day/window_position
(editable with "gconf-editor"). This setting overrides the placement
that you manually choose with FVWM. Also note that this setting is saved
across runs of GnuCash, so if you manually move the dialog then close
it, GnuCash will remember the new location in future runs.

The immediate solution to your problem is therefore to put a more
sensible value there.

I guess that in the mind of the GnuCash developers this is a feature and
not a bug, so it is unlikely that in the future GnuCash will adopt the
behavior that you would like to see.

Best,
#643679#19
Date:
2011-10-07 01:18:08 UTC
From:
To:
OK.

It may be a feature, but currently, it's broken in two ways if GnuCash
wants to override the manual placement. First, it should choose a
default position that is not partly off screen! Second, it should
disable the manual placement (like what is done for its main window).
#643679#24
Date:
2011-10-15 09:44:07 UTC
From:
To:
Vincent Lefevre <vincent@vinc17.net> writes:

My understanding is that the default position is middle-of-the-screen at
the first run of GnuCash, and that if you manually move the window then
the new position is stored in GConf and restored at next launch.

So my guess is that you moved it partly off screen some time ago and
that GnuCash remembers this position.

To confirm this, try to delete the GConf key
/apps/gnucash/dialogs/tip_of_the_day/window_position using gconf-editor,
and check that the default position chosen by GnuCash at next launch is
indeed middle-of-the-screen.

My guess is that GnuCash developers won't accept to change the current
default behavior. However, maybe they would accept to make this
configurable and have the behavior that you want as an configurable
alternative. Tell me if you want to turn this bug report into a wishlist
item for this.

Best,
#643679#29
Date:
2011-10-15 21:15:03 UTC
From:
To:
No, the default position is not middle-of-the-screen, as if I remove
the /apps/gnucash/dialogs/tip_of_the_day/window_position GConf key,
the position is exactly the one I choose via FVWM.
a part of the title bar must still be visible, because the window is
moved by dragging the title bar and the mouse pointer remains on screen
(ditto when setting the initial position). Here the whole title bar was
invisible.

Now, I sometimes run gnucash remotely (via SSH) from a machine that has
a larger screen. However even in this case, the Y window position should
remains non-negative. I would say that the window could be off-screen on
the bottom part, but here it was on the top part of the screen. Another
explanation could be that the window_position meaning changed in the
past.

I don't see why. This is a bug, which must be fixed. If GnuCash wants
to remember the window position, then fine[*]: it should place the
window at this position and that's all. Asking the user to choose the
window position then change this position is not a correct behavior
(GnuCash is the only application that behaves this way!).

[*] Well, perhaps even not. It might break

http://standards.freedesktop.org/wm-spec/wm-spec-latest.html#id2552674

but I'm not sure.
#643679#34
Date:
2011-10-15 21:29:29 UTC
From:
To:
problem with GnuCash is only the one mentioned above.
#643679#39
Date:
2011-10-16 15:48:03 UTC
From:
To:
Vincent Lefevre <vincent@vinc17.net> writes:

Do you mean that when you remove that key, then GnuCash respects the
position that you choose for the window? (and only in this case if I
understand correctly)

If GnuCash has changed the position that you had initially chosen, and
in addition has put it off-the-screen, then I agree that this is a
bug.

However I am not able to reproduce this behavior. Are you able to
produce a reproducible test case (ideally with a negative value in the
GConf key)? Maybe this has to do with your remote logins with a
different screen size, though I don't understand how this could create a
negative offset.

Best,
#643679#44
Date:
2011-10-16 22:34:36 UTC
From:
To:
Yes, and only in this case.

I've done a few tests, and without remote SSH, I can't reproduce this
bug. But I've noticed another one: if I move the tip window to some
position (near the bottom? but completely on screen) and restart
GnuCash, the tip window doesn't always reapper at the same place.
In such a case, with gconf-editor, I can see that window_position
changes after GnuCash is restarted. I haven't found a consistent way
to reproduce this.
#643679#49
Date:
2011-11-17 23:55:11 UTC
From:
To:
I could reproduce this problem. Reported as bug 649132.