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Bug 678919 - Gnome App Menus integration outside GNOME
Gnome App Menus integration outside GNOME
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Product: gtk+
Classification: Platform
Component: Class: GtkApplication
3.4.x
Other Linux
: Normal enhancement
: ---
Assigned To: gtkdev
gtkdev
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2012-06-26 19:14 UTC by Magnus
Modified: 2014-05-17 03:26 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---


Attachments
App menu fallback in GTK+ 3.12 (12.20 KB, image/png)
2014-05-17 03:26 UTC, Michael Catanzaro
Details

Description Magnus 2012-06-26 19:14:50 UTC
I’m currently using Xfce and I’ve noticed that since the introduction of the app menus in GNOME 3.4 some apps now have a single item in the menubar with the name of the application, which is actually the app menu from GNOME. The problem with this is that it’s extremely confusing to have the application name as the name of the app menu outside GNOME, and it’s redundant since the name of the application is already on the title bar. Can anything be done so that the app menus feel consistent outside GNOME and Unity?
Comment 1 André Klapper 2012-06-26 20:29:12 UTC
This is the fallback if GNOME Shell is not available...
What is your proposal, instead of the application name?
Comment 2 Magnus 2012-07-14 21:14:40 UTC
Ideally the fallback should have all the options relocated to other menu items, depending on the application. 
If you must insist on having the app menu on the menu bar for the fallback then a word or an icon that makes it clear to the user that it's a menu of some sort should be used. But since global menus don't make sense outside Gnome Shell (and Unity) the fallback should be to redesign the menu, not to tack on the global menu and expect the user to figure out what to do.
Comment 3 Allison Karlitskaya (desrt) 2012-07-15 02:37:25 UTC
it originally said "Application"...
Comment 4 Magnus 2012-07-15 19:37:16 UTC
"Application"... that sounds good. But I still think it would be best to relocate all the items in the app menu to other places. That or doing something like Firefox's Windows Aero UI, in which the name of the application in the title bar is also a button, but that would need replacing the window manager's decorations and it's even more of a hassle than making two different menu arragements.
Comment 5 Allison Karlitskaya (desrt) 2012-07-15 19:51:51 UTC
If you want to modify your window manager to be able to display the menu for the application I think that would be a fine approach, but as you said -- this is something that would have to be done with the WM.
Comment 6 Magnus 2012-07-21 01:15:04 UTC
Well, that was just an idea. I've heard that there are a few apps that will keep the traditional menu (without the app menus) outside Gnome Shell. Could this be done with all apps? I think that would be the best approach.
Comment 7 Magnus 2012-07-27 01:19:08 UTC
Where are all the design decisions made? I want to bring this up to the people responsible for design.
Comment 8 Matthias Clasen 2012-07-27 08:49:33 UTC
I've added an example to the GTK+ docs now for how applications can handle 'fallback app menu' themselves.
Comment 9 Magnus 2012-08-19 16:26:06 UTC
There should be a policy so that all GNOME apps handle the fallback app menu themselves, so that there is proper integration outside GNOME.
Comment 10 Michael Catanzaro 2014-05-17 03:26:07 UTC
Created attachment 276696 [details]
App menu fallback in GTK+ 3.12

I think we can finally close this as fixed now that GTK+ 3.12 has much better app menu fallback for applications using GtkHeaderBar.  The app menu is now displayed in a menu button in the header bar, with the application's window icon on the button.

The menu bar, which is the subject of complaint in this report, is now only used as fallback for applications that (a) do not use GtkHeaderBar, and (b) do use GtkApplication, and (c) choose to set an application menu, and (d) do not handle fallback themselves.  I think it's reasonable to file bugs individually against applications that hit all four of these conditions, or that manually handle fallback in a particularly poor manner.