Extra space before applet

[rokups]

There is some extra empty space before applet. It creates a visual discrepancy when other elements are present, like window buttons in the screenshot.

Issue is even more severe when application icon is enabled.

Be great if there was no extra spacing, or if it was configurable.

Thank you for great applet 👍

P.S. I am positive margin comes from this applet because right-clicking empty space presents context menu option to configure this applet.

[kupiqu]

My QML skills are a bit limited, but I'll see what I can do...

[Chromace]

Does adjusting the "Spacing" option help much in that regard? I have it set to 6.5 on my end, and it looks rather nice. What about you?

[kupiqu]

Does adjusting the "Spacing" option help much in that regard? I have it set to 6.5 on my end, and it looks rather nice. What about you?

Yes, as @Chromace says (thank you btw!), that is exactly the role of the Spacing parameter. Please @rokups, give it a try...

[rokups]

Is it supposed to be here?

Edit:
Entire options window changed after installing git version. Version on KDE store is a bit outdated maybe? Anyhow spacing option works perfectly. Thanks!

[rokups]

Erm on the other hand i think there could still be some improvement:

Maybe allowing negative spacing would be an option? Screenshot has spacing set to 0.

Panel with widget is on top and window titlebar is below it.

[kupiqu]

Negative spacing does not make much sense, but indeed there is room for improvement when the window icon is shown. There should be an easy fix for this.

[kupiqu]

Entire options window changed after installing git version. Version on KDE store is a bit outdated maybe? Anyhow spacing option works perfectly. Thanks!

There should be two different versions in KDE store and I think you got the initial one.

[Chromace]

At least in my case, the display of the icon doesn't seem to be badly spaced. I have the spacing set at 7.0, as seen above. Wonder if it has something to do with screen resolution or something.

[rokups]

Hmm odd. Maybe it has to do anything with preceeding widget? In my case i have applet-window-buttons right before the title. Issue is visible bit more when that widget is hidden (window being out of focus).

Notice how left margin is larger than the bottom one. They probably should be same. I tried moving applet-window-buttons elsewhere by the way, that changes nothing.

[Chromace]

It seems ambiguous as to whether the problem stems from this title widget or another at the moment. At the very least from the screenshot I see above, the spacing seems fine. In what way is the left margin larger than the bottom one out of curiosity?

[kupiqu]

It's trickier than it seems. I opted for defining 3 space settings: Left, Right, in between of Icon and AppName. Will upload as soon as possible.

[kupiqu]

fixed with commit b73b229

[kupiqu]

It's trickier than it seems. I opted for defining 3 space settings: Left, Right, and in between of Icon and AppName.

Btw, I suggest to set your own spacing settings with an application whose icon fills all its width (not all application icons do so).

[kupiqu]

Also note that the settings UI (see issue #2) got uglier after this commit, will see if I can do sth about it.

[rokups]

I noticed that this is more of an issue with some applications than the others. For example konsole's icon aligns perfectly while firefox's icon has extra spacing. Did you test with firefox?

[kupiqu]

Yes, this is exactly what I meant here:

Btw, I suggest to set your own spacing settings with an application whose icon fills all its width (not all application icons do so).

Application icons do not necessarily fill the available width. This is an upstream issue of the icon itself, and there's nothing the applet can do about it. Well, it could have specific widths for specific applications, but I don't think it's worth the effort. Personally, I think these issues should be filled against the applications or icon themes, as then they will be consistent all around, e.g., in a vertical taskbar.

[rokups]

Kwin displays icon without extra spacing though.

[kupiqu]

Kwin displays icon without extra spacing though.

If you refer to the kwin menu, it doesn't. I clearly see a difference between icon spacing. Kile for instance is a very narrow icon compared to app icons that fill the space ( e.g. systemsettings). It is more difficult to perceive though because all those sizes are rather tiny.

[kupiqu]

[kupiqu]

I got it before alright, thanks, but please see my screenshot above to see that exactly the icon width issue exists in kwin as well (compared there kile and systemsettings; note that buttons do not appear because I have them in the right side).

Beyond that and with respect to your own setting, I cannot recommend other than adjusting the left spacing of my applet. If an issue remains it must be because an excessive right margin from the buttons applet. Please ask @psifidotos if that could be the case, and if so fill an issue there (https://github.com/psifidotos/applet-window-buttons/issues). Again, I have the buttons on the right side of the panel and appearing only for maximized windows, so I don't suffer your issue.

[psifidotos]

Please ask @psifidotos if that could be the case

Please test the latest Window Buttons from master branch...
in that version if the rightMargin = 0 then the space right to the button = buttonsSpacing/2

based on your screenshot that big gap between minimize button and Firefox icon is not from Window buttons.

[kupiqu]

based on your screenshot that big gap between minimize button and Firefox icon is not from Window buttons.

If it's not coming from Window Buttons, then Active Application definitely has a left margin different than 0. @rokups please start setting it to 0 and increase it according to your like.

[rokups]

All margins are set to 0 in my case.

…

On November 9, 2018 02:50:41 kupiqu ***@***.***> wrote: based on your screenshot that big gap between minimize button and Firefox icon is not from Window buttons. If it's not coming from Window Buttons, then Active Application definitely has a left margin different than 0. @rokups please start setting it to 0 and increase it according to your like. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[kupiqu]

Then, I'm sorry but as far as I can see, it's definitely not the responsibility of this applet, and there's nothing I can do.

[kupiqu]

A way to see that it's (or not) a problem of this applet is moving the applet all the way to the left of the panel for testing purposes while keeping the left margin to 0. Then make a screenshot to show me if there is still some buggy left margin. If so, then I'll need to dig deeper, otherwise it's not the applet.

[rokups]

This is how it looks:

Right-clicking all the way to the left indicates that applet covers very first pixel of the panel:

[kupiqu]

This is how it looks like in my case:

Can you show your settings?

[rokups]

By the way applet is in latte-dock (panel mode). maybe that is of any significance?

[kupiqu]

Are you at sync with master?

It's in latte, are you not? if so I will test

[rokups]

Yes, both latte and active application are latest git versions

Edit: well a confession - screenshots came from bit older commit (as you probably guessed already), but i updated/retested and icon positioning is identical to my previous results.

[kupiqu]

Yes, both latte and active application are latest git versions

You should see Plasmoid version: 0.1.95 (0.2 beta)

Said that, I don't think I made any relevant change lately related to this issue though.

I think the problem is how icons get scaled down according to the panel height, because I don't suffer from firefox icon but I see the effect with broader icons such as systemsettings. @psifidotos do you have any clue how to workaround the issue? I don't think it may even be possible :(

[rokups]

I tried switching to different icon theme and numix theme looks to be working properly (like in your screenshots). Numic-circle and breeze - not so much.

Maybe it would be possible to crop icon at runtime, trimming transparent edges? It definitely is possible with Qt, but i am clueless about QML.

[psifidotos]

@rokups for the margin check also that in Dock Settings->Apperance->Applets Distance is set to 0%

@kupiqu I have lost the conversation... what is the issue?

[kupiqu]

@kupiqu I have lost the conversation... what is the issue?

The issue happens because icons do not have typically the same width and height sizes, so different behavior is seen when they are scaled down according to panel width or height, whichever is more restrictive.

Compare for instance the icon sizes in Latte's icon vertical bar:

Something similar is happening in Active Application

Another example, look the different separation between icons in the system tray:

[kupiqu]

In the first screenshot, kile is particularly affected.
In the second screenshot kdeconnect is.

[psifidotos]

ok...

icon themes are created with some design principles... e.g. how much will be the padding around the icons, which is going to be the color palette etc. etc...

if an icon theme does not have such design principles then it is theme's fault...

I would not mess with something that is theme designers responsibility...

[rokups]

But.... How come kwin displays icon without extra padding?

Applet above, kwin below. Same icon.

[kupiqu]

But.... How come kwin displays icon without extra padding?

Applet above, kwin below. Same icon.

As I said before, it depends on the icon (and therefore theme) but also on the available space... If you would set the panel height in plama/latte to the same heigth as in kwin window title then you should see exactly the same behavior in both (assumed the enforced padding, if any, is the same in kwin and plasma/latte).

[kupiqu]

I would not mess with something that is theme designers responsibility...

I totally agree

[rokups]

Height was a bit off (like 5 pixels). I made it same and gap only increased:

What i do not understand is how it is icon's fault if one thing renders it fine and another thing renders it wrong. If icon is really at fault here then kwin must be fixing icons to render proper.

P.S. @psifidotos see screenshot, buttons applet is not centered vertically. Better visible when zoomed in.

[psifidotos]

set the panel height in plama/latte to the same heigth as in kwin window title then you should see exactly the same behavior in both

makes some sense... but you forget the PlasmaCore.IconItem limitations....
the plasma IconItem because it doen not want to provide blur at any case shrinks the icons in some cases in order to support always only the icons with the sizes that are provided by the icon theme...

If you want to overcome this and use always the maximum size provided you should use:
qiconitem from kquickcontroladdons : https://github.com/KDE/kdeclarative/blob/master/src/qmlcontrols/kquickcontrolsaddons/qiconitem.h

either way... I will probably create something new for window titles and icons... it is just a qml applet that does not need any c++ code... I will take the best practices for all applets that provide application titles etc... and I will combine them in a single plasmoid....

P.S. @psifidotos see screenshot, buttons applet is not centered vertically. Better visible when zoomed in.

use Window Buttons git version and just set a thickness margin... if it is still valid open an issue at Window Buttons page.

[kupiqu]

kwin is not fixing anything, kwin is suffering the same but constraints are different wrt plasma/latte, and you are picking just an icon that works fine with kwin and doesn't in latte, but that's cherry picking, if it would fix the issue it should work for all, but no, please see below kwin failing with the same thing (comparison between konsole and kile):

[kupiqu]

makes some sense... but you forget the PlasmaCore.IconItem limitations....
the plasma IconItem because it doen not want to provide blur at any case shrinks the icons in some cases in order to support always only the icons with the sizes that are provided by the icon theme...

This was only for testing this particular issue, but yes, I can see that internals of kwin and plasma/latte may make icons look different even for the same height.

If you want to overcome this and use always the maximum size provided you should use:
qiconitem from kquickcontroladdons : https://github.com/KDE/kdeclarative/blob/master/src/qmlcontrols/kquickcontrolsaddons/qiconitem.h

either way... I will probably create something new for window titles and icons... it is just a qml applet that does not need any c++ code... I will take the best practices for all applets that provide application titles etc... and I will combine them in a single plasmoid....

I don't think my applet needs any c++ code. Would you prefer to start from scratch?

[rokups]

@kupiqu i understand. But i am not cherry-picking icons. All of them have this extra margin on my system. I just have firefox always opened so it is convenient to make screenshots with :) If i change icon theme to numix then this margin gets smaller but still a bit noticeable so it is definitely something related to icon theme. And to be honest - that issue with kile looks way better than fat padding in my case.

[kupiqu]

@kupiqu i understand. But i am not cherry-picking icons. All of them have this extra margin on my system. I just have firefox always opened so it is convenient to make screenshots with :) If i change icon theme to numix then this margin gets smaller but still a bit noticeable so it is definitely something related to icon theme.

I see. Sorry, I inferred that because that's how it looks like in my system. What icon theme do you use and what panel height in latte?

And to be honest - that issue with kile looks way better than fat padding in my case.

Well yeah, the problem there would be with konsole, no padding basically

[psifidotos]

I don't think my applet needs any c++ code. Would you prefer to start from scratch?

I will probably cherry pick code between different applets... c++ is not needed

[kupiqu]

I will probably cherry pick code between different applets... c++ is not needed

Sounds good. Do you have a time frame for that?

Not trying to be pushing, just asking because there are some open issues here about UI settings and so on. On the one hand, I recognize the very much need for improvements on that terrain, but on the other hand, I am far from expert on that regard... So, if your time frame is not long, I guess I can stop worrying about that (furthermore because I think little of what I could accomplish in there, would eventually make it in your applet).

[psifidotos]

I believe that until this Christmas I will be able to publish a version

[rokups]

what panel height in latte?

Panel height is 28px.

What icon theme do you use

That is a complicated question :) I am using a frankenstein mix of breeze+numix+numix-circle.

~/.local/share/icons % tree   
.
└── breeze
    └── apps
        ├── 128 -> /usr/share/icons/Numix/128/apps
        ├── 48 -> /usr/share/icons/Numix-Circle/48/apps
        └── 64 -> 48

And breeze icon theme selected in settings. This gives me a nice blend of breeze icons in dolphin while stuff like application icons in the dock are round and nice. Its a hack i know, but looks good :)