Re: [Pan-users] Pan doesn't usually minimize to system tray

[Duncan]

David Melik posted on Sat, 23 Sep 2017 09:33:12 +0000 as excerpted:

> Pan doesn't usually minimize to system tray.  Minimizing it *never* 
> disappears it from the taskbar/panel.  I have to select the system tray 
> icon instead, and that only minimizes it maybe 5% to 10% of tries.

Pan's systray behavior has always frustrated me a bit, as it has never 
seemed to be ideal, but I've learned to work around it.  FWIW, I'd prefer 
the behavior to be that of claws-mail, the other major gtk2-based app I 
keep running in the tray.

But I can explain the inconsistency you're seeing, and my workarounds.


1) For apps that run from the tray, there's a distinction between closing 
a window, closing the app entirely, and simply minimizing a window.

1a) In my expectation, minimizing (to the taskbar) a window should do 
just that, it should still be in the taskbar and alt-tab sequence, 
because it's minimized to the taskbar, not actually closed.  For me, this 
works as expected for both pan and claws.

1b) In my expectation, closing a window should do just that.  For the 
main window of non-tray apps, this will commonly close the application as 
well, but tray apps should remain running... without the window and in 
the tray only, the closed window should no longer appear in the taskbar 
or alt-tab sequence.  For me, this too works for both pan and claws.

1c) Tray apps normally have a separate "quit" action that quits the 
entire app, removing it from the tray as well.  After this the app should 
no longer be running at all.  Again, this works for me with both pan and 
claws.


2) Tray apps should also respond from the tray icon.  With a few 
exceptions where interacting with the tray icon opens a smaller "popup" 
interface, simply (primary-button) clicking the tray icon should toggle 
the main window, opening it if it was closed, closing it if it was open.  
This is where pan's behavior differs from the expected.

2a) If pan's main window is closed (as opposed to minimized to the 
taskbar), clicking the tray icon reliably opens it, as expected.

2b) Unfortunately, if pan's main window is open, clicking the tray icon 
does not reliably close it, so the tray-toggle action is incomplete, the 
main window can be reliably opened from the tray, but not reliably 
closed.  More on this behavior in point #3, below.

2c) If pan's main window is simply minimized to the taskbar (as opposed 
to closed), clicking the tray icon should show it again, just as alt-
tabbing to it or clicking the taskbar entry should.  This takes care of 
the case where a user doesn't see the main window and doesn't remember 
whether they closed it or minimized it, so they don't have to check the 
taskbar or alt-tab to see if pan is listed there, simply click the tray 
icon.  Unfortunately, this doesn't work either.

2d) Optionally, a tray app may have a (configurable to avoid clashes) 
hotkey that behaves just as clicking the tray icon does, showing the main 
window if it is minimized or closed, closing it (as opposed to minimizing 
or quitting the app) to the tray if it's open.  This exposes the app's 
tray functionality to those who couldn't otherwise use it, as well as 
being a convenience feature when the keyboard's easier to use than the 
mouse.  Pan is missing this optional feature as well (but claws, by 
comparison, has it), but it /is/ optional, not entirely expected, and 
given that pan's tray behavior is partially broken anyway, this wouldn't 
be so useful anyway.


3) For pan's irregular behavior closing the main pan window via tray icon 
when the window is open, the explanation is simple.  It depends on 
whether that window is active (has focus) or not.  If pan's main window 
has focus, clicking the tray icon will close it.  If another window has 
focus, unfortunately, clicking the tray icon does nothing.

This should explain your 5-10% reliability factor.  Very likely, pan's 
active when it works, some other window is active when it doesn't.


4) As for my workaround, I've simply learned to use the window-
decoration's close icon to close the main pan window when I want it 
closed, instead of trying to use the tray icon.  I only use the tray icon 
to open it back up.  (Alternatively, I can minimize the window and use 
alt-tab or the window list to get back to it; I don't run with a 
conventional taskbar here as I find alt-tabbing or other alternatives 
sufficient, and can save the space or popup hassle the taskbar would 
otherwise take.)

It's still a bit irritating to me, but after years of working with pan 
this way it's a minor irritation.  Were some coder to actually fix it, 
however, I'd of course still be delighted!  Were they to fix it *AND* 
provide that configurable global hotkey tray-toggle-trigger, I'd be even 
*MORE* delighted, to the "walking on air" for several days level! =:^)

(As a minor note, back when I was running my dual or triple 42-inch full-
hd monitors, 1920x1080 each, I had a kwin window rule set to hide the 
window decoration for claws, giving me more room in the window itself, 
since I could reliably open and close it from the tray icon or with the 
hotkey.  I wanted to do the same with pan, but couldn't, because the tray 
icon didn't allow me to reliably close the window and I had to use the 
windeco button for that.  Since then I've upgraded to a 65-inch 4k 
monitor primary, still with a 48-inch full-hd secondary for playing full-
screen video on while I work on the big one, and I use a windeco that's a 
bit smaller now, so I put the windeco back on the claws main window.  But 
it'd still be nice to have the /option/ of running pan windeco-less, 
which having reliable tray-icon main-window toggle functionality would 
give me.)

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman