GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 331405
delayed mouse button release causes menus to close
Last modified: 2007-05-31 11:43:10 UTC
That bug has been described on https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/gtk+2.0/+bug/31598 "I'm running Dapper Drake (testing). After depressing the mouse button on a menu the menu is opened and displayed as expected. If the mouse button is released within a short frame of time the menu remains visible. However, if there is a delay ( anything longer than 1 second on my system) between when the mouse button is pressed and when the mouse button is released then the menu disappears. This anomaly seems to occur with every application that utilizes GTK+ including the GNOME panel. It also affects context menus. Besides occurring when there is a delay of input from the user, this situation can also arise on older hardware and/or on systems that are under heavy load. I propose that menus should remain open until the user explicitly provides input (mouse click, key press, etc.). Not only do I believe that this will help to achieve better usability but it will also allow GTK+ programs to act more consistently with other non-GTK+ programs that ship with Ubuntu (e.g. Mozilla Firefox and OpenOffice.org)."
There is not much consistency between menu systems (firefox, oo, different win32 versions, all behave different in detail), so thats not a strong argument. Look at bug 128968 for similar issues, not sure if it is an exact duplicate.
Actually, there is. I posted this comment on the original bug : This is not a bug, but a feature ;-) Menu selection can work in two ways : - "classic" : you click on menu, click on sub-menu and finaly click on the actual submenu item - "single click" mode, you press the mouse button on the menu, move to the submenu, move to the sub-menu item and only then release the button The choice between the modes is made with the length of the first click. If it is short, "classic" mode is used. If it is not short, then "single click" mode is used. This is the same in GTK+, Firefox, even Windows.
I was wrong. I tested it again, and : - in Windows and Firefox : it works - GTK : does not work The difference is : when you press the mouse button on a menu, wait (the "timeout"), then release the button, a GTK menu disappears, while a Windows or Firefox menu stays (it goes on in the "classic" mode). So I guess this is a real bug after all. Someone could argue that this is a RFE, but : - the FF/win way is more user friendly and useful - the GTK mode has no obvious advantages - FF/win way is established and standard (can someone check the behavior in other environments, like KDE, motif, etc ?) (I tested the Sun Java implementation/imitation of Motif and it behaves as windows or firefox)