1712293 - Folder titles not being redrawn in Folder Pane (when using Classic, that is Windows 7 theme)

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Thunderbird :: Theme, defect)

Description

[P. Cramond]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:88.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/88.0

Steps to reproduce:

I first experienced this issue with TB 78.10.0 and the issue remains in TB 78.10.2 I should also say that I am using TB Portable from PortableApps which runs on my system as TB 64-bit -- but I don't think that will be any part of the issue. My operating system is Windows 7 Pro. SP1 x64.

Actual results:

Cutting a long story short, including testing in Safe Mode -- the problem does not occur in Safe Mode -- the issue is as follows:

I have the following Themes installed to my TB:

Default -- things work fine with this.
Dark -- This is another default theme and things work fine with this.
Light -- This is another default theme and things work fine with this.

In addition I have the following themes (add-ons) which I installed myself:

Soft Drawing Paper -- this is my favourite theme but things mess-up with this.
Dream of Waves -- things mess-up with this.
Soft Aqua -- things mess-up with this.

The problem is that as off TB 78.10.0 if I use any of the above self-installed three themes then when I click on, say, the 'Inbox' folder of the Folder Pane of an email account then the title 'Inbox' disappears in the Folder Pane. If I then click in the Message List of the Inbox then the title 'Inbox' reappears in the Folder Pane. Then the same thing repeats itself on every second folder I click on if I work my way down the list of folders in the Folder Pane.

I should add that I have used these three themes for years in earlier versions of TB without any issues at all. Which tends to make me think that this a TB bug, but I don't have the expertise to be sure if that is a correct judgement.

Expected results:

I would have expected Thunderbird to behave normally and 'redraw' the title of any folder clicked on in the Folder Pane.

Comment 1

[P. Cramond]

I had posted about this issue at mozillaZine Forums. One of the posters there 'morat' was able to replicate the issue and, after a little while, was able to post up a userChrome.css work-around for the issue. He was also able to point to the area where he thought the bug was in Thunderbird.

To see the replication post: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=14893663#p14893663

To see the workaround and likely area that is bugged in Thunderbird: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=14893669#p14893669

Hopefully that information will help Thunderbird developers to code a bug fix.

Comment 2

[WaltS48 [:walts48]]

I can't find the Soft Drawing Paper, Dream of Waves or Soft Aqua themes on ATN.

If they are themes you created, did you follow the Guide to Themes when creating them?

Do they work in a not portableapps version of Thunderbird?

Comment 3

[P. Cramond]

Thank you for responding, WaltS48.

Here are links to the theme add-ons:
https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/soft-drawing-paper/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/dream-of-waves/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/soft-aqua/

I did not create these themes. Each theme is by a different creator.

I do not know for sure if they work on non-portable TB. However, if you look at the mozillaZine forum links I posted to above the person that managed to replicate the issue sounds like he did so on a non-portable TB.

In any case I have used these themes for years and the issue only turned up as from TB 78.10.0. (Note: I also use the same themes in Firefox without any issues at all, and have done so for years.)

I would strongly recommend you go to the mozillaZine forum and read your way through the thread posted there on this issue: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=3075019

If you read that thread you will get a better idea of what the bug is and also clues as to how to implement a bug fix for TB. Someone, 'morat', posted up a userChrome.css workaround for the bug there (his workaround does actually work), and also gives some indication as to where the bug lies in TB, and morat does know what he is doing.

Hope this helps.

Comment 4

[WaltS48 [:walts48]]

Yes, I read that mozillaZine post.

See my comment here.

I'm not a developer, don't have Widows 7, but will test the extensions in a clean profile in my 78.10.2 on Windows 10 when time permits.

Maybe, morat would like to submit a bug fix in this report?

Comment 5

[WaltS48 [:walts48]]

Tested on Windows 10 with the Thunderbird 78.10.2 from Thunderbird using a clean test profile.

Created an email account.
Created a newsgroup account and subscribed to two newsgroups.
Installed the Dream of Waves, Soft Drawing Paper, and Soft Aqua themes.
Enabled each one at a time.
Moved between different folders in the Folder pane using each theme,
Quit and restarted Thunderbird using each theme and did not see an issue with any of the extensions.

Repeated the process with my Thunderbird 78.10.2 on my Linux computer with no issues.

Maybe the theme expert has a thought?

Comment 6

[P. Cramond]

Okay WaltS48, fair on you, you tested and turned up nothing. Thank you for testing.

Now I've done a fresh install of 'Thunderbird 78.10.2 x64 - EnglishGB'. This was a full install to the system, so not now using PortableApps Thunderbird. I installed this to a Windows 7 Pro. SP1 x64 system.
Once the install was done I added an email account and then added the three themes mentioned above. I then tested Thunderbird for this bug using the three themes. The result was I still get the problem (bug) on this fully installed Thunderbird.

I then made a video of the bug in action (so to speak). The video can be seen here (best to watch it in full-screen mode): https://sendvid.com/ygq5iqt8

As you can see from the video the bug affects the Folder Pane and the Message Pane. Watch the video closely and you will see what happens on every second mouse click in those panes.

Again I would note that 'morat' was also able to manage to replicate this bug with a fresh install to Thunderbird to a Windows 7 system. Again I would ask the developers to please, please read the thread on mozillaZine Forums where morat also posted a workaround to this bug using userChrome.css code. He also provided a pointer to where in Thunderbird the bug is. http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=3075019

Comment 7

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

One detail is missing: you use Classic. A screenshot would made it easier to find.

Comment 8

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

Attachment: 1712293-odd-row-highlight.patch

Alessandro, you can test this on Windows 10 too when you use a High Contrast theme and a LW-theme (not a theme that sets the tree colours).

Comment 9

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

Forgot to write that it happens only on the odd rows because we need to overwrite the zebra striping.

Comment 10

[P. Cramond]

(In reply to Richard Marti (:Paenglab) from comment #7)

One detail is missing: you use Classic. A screenshot would made it easier to find.

I don't know what you mean by 'Classic'. For future reference would you please tell me 'Classic' what and why that is important?

Comment 11

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

Classic is the Windows 7 Theme that is looking like Windows 95. There exists also the Aero theme with the glass (partly transparent) windows, the Basic theme that looks like Aero but has opaque windows and the different High Contrast themes.

Aero and Basic are identified as default themes and the other as non-default and the appearance is differently styled on some parts like the trees.

Comment 12

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

Attachment: 1712293-odd-row-highlight-ESR.patch

[Approval Request Comment]
User impact if declined: on Windows 7 Classic with a LW-theme applied every odd tree row shows no selected appearance
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): soon on c-c
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): low, checked locally

Comment 13

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/49766c5f6812
[Windows] Fix odd rows not highlighted with non-default Windows themes and a LW-theme. r=aleca

Comment 14

[P. Cramond]

I am not a developer so much of what is done on this site is arcane to me. It seems like the bug has been identified, fixed and the bug report closed. The information I can't see, work out, is when the bug-fixed version will appear in Thunderbird, what version of Thunderbird? For my future reference can someone please point out to me where that information is displayed above?

And also thank you very much to all for fixing the bug. Good speedy work, well done!

Comment 15

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

It's in trunk (nightly builds) now. The request for uplift to TB 78 is not yet replied. When all goes well it will be in 78.11.0.
When you see in one of the next comments something like Thunderbird 78.11.0: then you know where it lands.

Comment 16

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Comment on attachment 9223692 [details] [diff] [review]
1712293-odd-row-highlight-ESR.patch

[Triage Comment]
Approved for esr78

78.11.0 should ship later next week

Comment 17

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Thunderbird 78.11.0:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-esr78/rev/d9139d449c65

Comment 18

[P. Cramond]

I just discovered this morning that this bug also affects the Address Book, List of Contacts Pane. That might have to be fixed too, if it isn't included in patch above.

Comment 19

[Richard Marti (:Paenglab)]

It's fixed too.