Down pointing triangles to the right of IDE buttons do not work

[fedkad]

Sometimes the down pointing triangles (▼) to the right of the IDE buttons, like "Change build mode", "Run", "Open...", and "Desktops..." become "unclickable". Only the respective buttons at the left work; but triangles, which normally open a drop down list, do not respond to mouse clicks. Restarting Lazarus IDE does not fix the problem in most cases.

[MarkMLl]

So are you seeing this on Linux or Windows? And if on Linux, what window manager?

I've not seen anything like that (Debian x86_64 using KDE but with a GTK2 IDE) but will keep my eyes open.

MarkMLl

[fedkad]

My Lazarus version is already given in my signature.
OS version is Ubuntu 21.10 (GNOME).

[MarkMLl]

My Lazarus version is already given in my signature.
OS version is Ubuntu 21.10 (GNOME).

Your sig has two different OSes. DOES IT HAPPEN IN BOTH?

What desktop does Ubuntu use these days?

MarkMLl

[fedkad]

I am not using Windows as much as I use Ubuntu. However, I haven't noticed the same problem occurring on Windows.

Standard Ubuntu is using GNOME desktop by default AFAIK and that's what I am using for three years now.

[MarkMLl]

Thanks for the extra detail, I'll keep an eye open (as I'm sure others also will).

I tend to use the IDE buttons very little, since I've got a gamer's keypad programmed up for the operations I use most often.

MarkMLl

[fedkad]

When I start lazarus-ide from command line, nothing relevant is printed on the console.

However, the following four lines logged to syslog may give some hints:

Feb 16 16:50:41 xxx gnome-shell[2412]: Window manager warning: Buggy client sent a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW message with a timestamp of 0 for 0x7400049
Feb 16 16:50:41 xxx gnome-shell[2412]: Window manager warning: Buggy client sent a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW message with a timestamp of 0 for 0x7400054
Feb 16 16:50:41 xxx gnome-shell[2412]: Window manager warning: Buggy client sent a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW message with a timestamp of 0 for 0x7400159
Feb 16 16:50:41 xxx gnome-shell[2412]: Window manager warning: Buggy client sent a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW message with a timestamp of 0 for 0x7400042

[Martin_fr]

Just a guess here: Could it be related to which window has the focus?

That brings up the question, do you use an IDE with individual windows, or do you use anchor-docking (and if so, a single Window or several groups)?

Or maybe it depends on some hint being shown when the issue happens? Or any other menu, popup-menu or drop-down is open when it happens? (Some Linux desktop managers have their own peculiar rules on how they handle such things.)

Can you visible (grey out) see, if the down-arrow is enabled or disabled?

If you do not use anchor docking:
- Does focusing the main-ide-bar make a diff. Well that is, how the focus is moved to the main-ide-bar.
   Obviously, attempting to click the down-arrow does focus the main-ide-bar.
   But if you first move focus to the main-ide-bar, before/without clicking the down-arrow (also not clicking the button that has the down-arrow). E.g. Click some icon in the component palette to move the focus.
- If you tried the down button and it did not work => move the focus away (e.g. to the source editor), then to the component palette, and then test the button again.

[fedkad]

Just a guess here: Could it be related to which window has the focus?

I tried various alternative actions, but not able to reach to a conclusion. Please, note that this problem occurs on some invocations of Lazarus; and on some others (very rarely) it does not occur.

That brings up the question, do you use an IDE with individual windows, or do you use anchor-docking (and if so, a single Window or several groups)?

I am not using "anchor docking".

Or maybe it depends on some hint being shown when the issue happens? Or any other menu, popup-menu or drop-down is open when it happens? (Some Linux desktop managers have their own peculiar rules on how they handle such things.)

Only the forms, Source Editor, and sometimes the Object Inspector is open in the IDE. The same problem happens on a new "Application" project also.

Can you visible (grey out) see, if the down-arrow is enabled or disabled?

No visible clue. Also hovering the mouse over these type of buttons only changes (slightly) the color of related button, but not the triangle. (Note that, the triangle color does not change even in cases when this problem does not occur.)

If you do not use anchor docking:
- Does focusing the main-ide-bar make a diff. Well that is, how the focus is moved to the main-ide-bar.
   Obviously, attempting to click the down-arrow does focus the main-ide-bar.
   But if you first move focus to the main-ide-bar, before/without clicking the down-arrow (also not clicking the button that has the down-arrow). E.g. Click some icon in the component palette to move the focus.
- If you tried the down button and it did not work => move the focus away (e.g. to the source editor), then to the component palette, and then test the button again.

Nothing changes on these tests.

[wp]

Sometimes the down pointing triangles (▼) to the right of the IDE buttons, like "Change build mode", "Run", "Open...", and "Desktops..." become "unclickable".

What does "sometimes" mean? The observation is not reproducible? Or the issue occurs only in a particular situation? What must be done to arrive to that situation?

Checked with Laz/main in my Ubuntu-VM (21.10/Gnome/Window manager Wayland), and I don't see the issue in a freshly opened Lazarus.

[fedkad]

What does "sometimes" mean? The observation is not reproducible? Or the issue occurs only in a particular situation? What must be done to arrive to that situation?

Yes. It is not reproducible. I have not been able to find the exact circumstance(s) that lead(s) to this problem. Presently, it seems complete random. I close Lazarus IDE and reopen it and sometimes the problem is gone. Without doing anything special, I close the IDE and reopen it again and the problem is there. I can say that this problem occurs roughly in 80% of Lazarus invocations.

[MarkMLl]

No visible clue. Also hovering the mouse over these type of buttons only changes (slightly) the color of related button, but not the triangle. (Note that, the triangle color does not change even in cases when this problem does not occur.)

I doubt this is relevant but it might be a useful clarification for faultfinding.

I notice that using an IDE built for GTK2 that the mouse pointer over either an enabled button or the associated inverted chevron causes (only) the button to be outlined.

On Qt3 moving the pointer over either causes both to be highlighted together.

I don't see any untoward messages at startup on either the console or in syslog, although I did with 2.0.12.

MarkMLl