Re: GTK menus on Ubuntu

[Allin Cottrell <cottrell wfu edu>]

On Tue, 11 Oct 2016, Jason Benjamin wrote:

> On Wed, 5 Oct 2016 21:11:41 -0400 (EDT)
> Allin Cottrell <cottrell wfu edu> wrote:
>
> > I'm wondering if anyone knows the machanism whereby Ubuntu
> > "commandeers" the main menu system of a GTK application and sticks
> > it into the global top-of-screen menu bar, or combines it with the
> > application-window title bar? I'm talking about a "traditional",
> > non-CSD GTK application, where the "natural" location for the main
> > menu system is at the top of the program's window but underneath the
> > window's title bar as added by a WM.
>
> I am familiar with this "distribution", if you could link some
> screenshots with details for the different operating systems that would
> help. That could be difficult, but if you need to use VirtualBox or
> something.  I may not be able to give you an answer with the little
> time I have right now, but at least someone else may be able to with a
> more comparable question.

Thanks, Jason. I think I now have a better handle on what's going on. 
It seems that the code responsible for the effect I mentioned is
unity-gtk-module, a "GTK+ module for exporting old-style menus as 
GMenuModels". There's a mechanism for "blacklisting" applications so 
they're not subject to this treatment, and there's also a relevant 
environment variable, UBUNTU_MENUPROXY: I gather that if this is set 
to 0 then unity-gtk-module doesn't kick in.

It seems to me that Ubuntu would have been better to adopt a 
"whitelist" approach -- that is, apply this mechanism only to programs 
that have been properly tested as working well under it. In the case 
of my application the main menus are set up using the GtkUIManager and 
GtkAction APIs, and the trouble (or one trouble) with unity-gtk-module 
is that calls to gtk_action_set_sensitive() are not getting through to 
the "hijacked" menus. It's hard to believe that my app is the only one 
to get broken in this way.

--
Allin Cottrell
Department of Economics
Wake Forest University, NC