GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 315910
Dialog/utility windows don't have buttons (minimize/maximize) that users seem to expect
Last modified: 2020-11-06 20:05:51 UTC
Please describe the problem: The Gnome Human Interface Guidelines specify that, for usability, programs should place minimize buttons on utility windows. http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/ Since metacity does not honour the DIALOG/UTILITY hint in this regard, it doesn't conform to the HIG. Steps to reproduce: 1. write a Gtk application 2. create a window and give Gtk the dialog/utility hint (which it immediately gives to the wm) 3. run this program under metacity Actual results: the window only has a close decoration Expected results: it should also have a minimize button Does this happen every time? yes Other information: I was asked by Havoc Pennington to report this as metacity bug. Personally, I regarded it as a shortcoming of the EWMH.
metacity/src/window.c:recalc_window_features() : if (window->type != META_WINDOW_NORMAL) { window->has_minimize_func = FALSE; window->has_maximize_func = FALSE; window->has_fullscreen_func = FALSE; } combined with metacity/src/frame.c:meta_frame_get_flags() making the appearance of the button depend on window->has_minimize_func is what causes this bug.
so you can confirm this is a bug?
Sure, but I tend to ignore confirmed vs unconfirmed state so it doesn't really matter.
*** Bug 354937 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
If you want to talk HIG, it has a dialog subset (alerts) without maximize, minimize, or close buttons; then it has regular dialogs with minimize but not maximize; and utility windows with minimize and close. I tend to think anything marked dialog or utility that needs maximizing is not really a dialog or utility window.
> I tend to think anything marked dialog or utility that needs maximizing is not really a dialog or utility window. What is the definition of dialog and utility windows? No maximize IMO implies no resize IMO implies no scrollbars.
if you want a precise "definition" then I guess the HIG is as close as you'll get. but in the end it's just a design judgment, not some kind of a priori thing derived from first principles. I would say one aspect of a dialog is that it's only supposed to be onscreen for a short time, and one aspect of a utility window is that it's supposed to be onscreen alongside larger document windows. I have no real interest in debating the subject, don't get me wrong. I would personally just implement what the HIG says and close the bug, and let people go argue with the HIG if they like.
> and let people go argue with the HIG if they like. I've send an email to usability@gnome.org about this.
bugzilla.gnome.org is being replaced by gitlab.gnome.org. We are closing all old bug reports in Bugzilla which have not seen updates for many years. If you can still reproduce this issue in a currently supported version of GNOME (currently that would be 3.38), then please feel free to report it at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/metacity/-/issues/ Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry it could not be fixed.