816838 - Thunderbird often forgets the column layout setting on restart

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, defect)

Description

[Seungbeom Kim]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:17.0) Gecko/17.0 Firefox/17.0
Build ID: 20121119183901

Steps to reproduce:

I turn off several columns (Priority, Status, etc.) from the thread pane.


Actual results:

The turned-off columns often reappear, usually when Thunderbird is started afresh.


Expected results:

The column layout setting should be preserved.

Comment 1

[:aceman]

Can you find out when this happens? What you do before it happens.

Comment 2

[Seungbeom Kim]

As far as I could see so far, it appeared random, but I'll keep an eye on it and report back if I can identify anything meaningful.

Comment 3

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

bug 393787?

Comment 4

[Seungbeom Kim]

(In reply to Thomas D. from comment #3)
> bug 393787?

The subject looked quote similar, but the bug seems to be about Penelope, which I've never used.

Comment 5

[Seungbeom Kim]

(In reply to :aceman from comment #1)
> Can you find out when this happens? What you do before it happens.

All I can say for now is that this happens when I start Thunderbird; I don't think I've ever seen it happen while Thunderbird is running.

Which file contains the column layout setting?

Comment 6

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to Seungbeom Kim from comment #5)
> (In reply to :aceman from comment #1)
> > Can you find out when this happens? What you do before it happens.
> 
> All I can say for now is that this happens when I start Thunderbird; I don't
> think I've ever seen it happen while Thunderbird is running.
> 
> Which file contains the column layout setting?

<foldername>.msf

xref bug 813539

Comment 7

[Seungbeom Kim]

I see an outstanding needinfo request made of me, but I'm not sure what kind of info is requested. (Is the request related to bug 813539, and if so, how?) Please explain the request in more detail and I'll try my best to fulfill it.

Let me make this clear if I didn't: this bug is not about Thunderbird failing to remember (on restart) a new change I made on the column layout; the layout remains the same for days or weeks, and sometimes I see some columns that has remained hidden suddenly reappear on startup. (FWIW, for me those columns have always been Priority, Status, Unread, and Total, reappearing together at once.)

Comment 8

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

I'm thinking that bug 813539 is the same issue, or very close.  So I guess the implied question are, did you determine more information since comment 2, and to what extent bug 813539 describes your problem?

Comment 9

[Seungbeom Kim]

Bug 813539 seems to be remotely related in that the column layout is changed after a restart, but not quite because my case doesn't seem to be related to add-on updates.

I don't see how the WinBackMyTrash add-on mentioned in bug 813539 comment 10 can help track the issue; when I see the column layout is changed upon a restart, the add-on obviously tells me so. I guess monitoring the .msf file for any change in the column layout setting would help better (assuming that some action causes the change in the .msf to be revealed in the actual setting at the next restart).

Comment 10

[WADA:World Anti-bad-Duping Agency]

(In reply to Seungbeom Kim from comment #9)
> I don't see how the WinBackMyTrash add-on mentioned in bug 813539 comment 10 can help track the issue;

FYI.
That addon is never for resolving problem.
That addon is for ease of accurate and useful report about "currently used column layout in Tb's memory/object", instend of hard to understand report about "what is happening in reporter's environment" except that phenomenon of "different column from user's expectation" was shown by Tb. (No need of lengthy statements about what column is shown and what column is not shown. Simply "Copy&Paste" is sufficient to report it to other peoples.)
That addon is also for ease of comparison between "column layout in Tb's memory/object when problem happens" and "column layout saved in .msf file" by problem reporter himself.
,

Comment 11

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to Seungbeom Kim from comment #9)
> Bug 813539 seems to be remotely related in that the column layout is changed
> after a restart, but not quite because my case doesn't seem to be related to
> add-on updates.

1. I'm not sure the point that bug 813539 is addon related has been proved

2. "the layout remains the same for days or weeks" but summary states "often". How often does this happen per week?  And how often do you restart thunderbird?

3. One possibility is this is caused by a compact shortly before, or shortly after restart. Please disable automatic compact in tools | options | advanced | network and disk | uncheck "compact..."

what are your results?

Comment 12

[Seungbeom Kim]

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) from comment #11)
> 2. "the layout remains the same for days or weeks" but summary states
> "often". How often does this happen per week?

Strangely, this is happening less and less often. I think the last time it happened was several weeks ago, but it was definitely more frequent than this when I first reported this bug.

>  And how often do you restart thunderbird?

About once every 1 or 2 days, I'd say; I usually keep it open when I put my laptop into sleep. The memory usage of Thunderbird doesn't grow as fast as that of Firefox, whereas it takes a lot (as long as one minute) to start up Thunderbird, so I don't restart it much less often.

> 3. One possibility is this is caused by a compact shortly before, or shortly
> after restart. Please disable automatic compact in tools | options |
> advanced | network and disk | uncheck "compact..."

I'll try it and see how it goes. (Given the current frequency of the problem, it may take a long time before I encounter it the next time, though.) Thanks for the suggestion.

Comment 13

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

What are your current results comparred to comment 12?
With version 31?

Comment 14

[Seungbeom Kim]

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) from comment #13)
> What are your current results comparred to comment 12?
> With version 31?

I haven't observed this symptom for a while, so I suspect that the bug has disappeared.

Comment 15

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Thanks