664093 - Restart is not necessary (cf. bug 663660)

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(SeaMonkey :: Website, defect)

Description

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

Concerns page http://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/langpack-notes/2.0

1. "How to activate language packs" is not specific to release 2.0. Maybe a "more generic" URL could be used (or maybe it isn't worth the trouble)

2. (cf. bug 663660) I suggest replacing the last two bullets by:
  o From now on, all new windows and dialogs will be in your newly selected language. (Existing windows remain in the previous language until you close them.)

Rationale: Experiment shows that if two or more windows are open (e.g. Browser and MailNews, which can be assumed to be a common use case for SeaMonkey), closing and reopening one, then closing and reopening the other (and so on if more than two), will display everything in the newly selected language. This may be faster or slower than a full restart (depending e.g. on number of tabs) so I tried to use a formulation which applies to both use cases ("one window at a time" or "full restart").

Comment 1

[Robert Kaiser]

(In reply to comment #0)
> 1. "How to activate language packs" is not specific to release 2.0. Maybe a
> "more generic" URL could be used (or maybe it isn't worth the trouble)

Just means "starting with 2.0" basically. ;-)

> 2. (cf. bug 663660) I suggest replacing the last two bullets by:
>   o From now on, all new windows and dialogs will be in your newly selected
> language. (Existing windows remain in the previous language until you close
> them.)

Wrong.

> Rationale: Experiment shows that if two or more windows are open (e.g.
> Browser and MailNews, which can be assumed to be a common use case for
> SeaMonkey), closing and reopening one, then closing and reopening the other
> (and so on if more than two), will display everything in the newly selected
> language. This may be faster or slower than a full restart (depending e.g.
> on number of tabs) so I tried to use a formulation which applies to both use
> cases ("one window at a time" or "full restart").

You probably have XUL caches off, which may cause you to see this. Usually, all the values are cached and nothing is applied until you restart and those get wiped because of the locale change.

Comment 2

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

(In reply to comment #1)
[...]
> You probably have XUL caches off, which may cause you to see this. Usually,
> all the values are cached and nothing is applied until you restart and those
> get wiped because of the locale change.

Well, in my usual profile about:config says
nglayout.debug.disable_xul_cache    user set    boolean    false
(I couldn't find any other pref which seemed relevant to the XUL cache)

which seems to indicate that the default would be true (disable the cache) and that I have it enabled. However I just changed UI language to French in this instance, clicked OK, reopened the Preferences dialog, and it came up in French; so did a second browser window.

Comment 3

[Robert Kaiser]

Hmm... Then something has clearly changed how this works some time. Would be interesting to find out what did when and why.

Comment 4

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

(In reply to comment #3)
> Hmm... Then something has clearly changed how this works some time. Would be
> interesting to find out what did when and why.

Interesting? Probably. Worth the trouble of chasing by hg bisect or similar means which changeset did it, from which bug, whether it was intentional or a side-effect...? that's a horse of another colour.

Comment 5

[Robert Kaiser]

Well, no hg bisect (and building yourself) necessary, doing a binary search on published nightlies probably would do it...

Comment 6

[Jens Hatlak (:InvisibleSmiley)]

I just tried with a fresh profile and SM 2.4.1 on Linux. Steps taken:
1. Update from 2.4 to 2.4.1
2. Install German langpack from the 2.4.1 download page
3. Restart SM
4. Open Edit/Preferences/Appearance, change User Interface Language to German
5. Close Preferences
6. Open a new browser window
7. Open Edit/Preferences

Results: Neither the new browser window nor the newly opened Preferences were shown in German. The only change was that User Interface Language now showed "Deutsch" instead of "German", and that a different start page loaded (seamonkey.at). That's not enough to say that switching the UI language didn't require a restart, so I'll WONTFIX this.

Since no change is necessary, I won't introduce a different URL either (otherwise I would have considered it).