I am experiencing this problem with the last builds from the ArchLinux Xfce 4.11 repository, and also with the git tree panel. The Clock panel seems to be making mistakes when saving and/or loading a number of xfconf keys, resulting in broken timezones, tooltip formats and "classic" clock formats. As a result, only the binary, digital and analog clocks are visible. The tooltip is never visible and the timezone is forced to GMT. This bug makes the Clock unusable, it *should* be fixed before 4.12
I've just upgraded to Xubuntu 16.04 and I'm experiencing this issue also. As soon as I saved the Clock's properties, the configuration disappeared. It's as if it's deleting the config instead of saving it.
*** Bug 12900 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
In Debian Sid, with xfce4-panel 4.12.1-2, the custom format input boxes for the digital clock and its tooltip are still going blank when the options dialog is closed. This makes the clock invisible if it's the clock's format that disappears. To reproduce: Open panel clock properties. Set a custom format for the tooltip and the digital clock. Close the settings window. Xubuntu also has a bug report on this: "https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-panel/+bug/1687367?comments=all" As a workaround, xkill the dialog after changing the settings. The panel will restart and the settings will be saved.
Same issue on xfce 4.1.2 (distributed by XUBUNTU) on Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon Edition. The xkill of the dialog after settings adjustments workaround by Will did the trick. Thanks Will. Hope they get this thing fixed soon. -Robert Woestman
I'm experiencing the same problem. Whenever I go to the properties, the text fields go blank and after closing the properties dialogue box, the clock plugin becomes invisible. Just a vertical line remains instead of the clock plugin. Hope this gets fixed soon. Thank you.
Can confirm issue also exists on Debian.
Also get this on Debian 9. Fixed it with: diff -Naur xfce4-panel-4.12.1.orig/plugins/clock/clock.c xfce4-panel-4.12.1/plugins/clock/clock.c --- xfce4-panel-4.12.1.orig/plugins/clock/clock.c 2016-08-12 07:54:27.000000000 +1000 +++ xfce4-panel-4.12.1/plugins/clock/clock.c 2017-07-28 11:45:01.388259000 +1000 @@ -730,13 +730,13 @@ if (format != NULL) { - gtk_entry_set_text (entry, format); gtk_widget_hide (GTK_WIDGET (entry)); - g_free (format); } else { + gtk_entry_set_text (entry, format); gtk_widget_show (GTK_WIDGET (entry)); + g_free (format); } } }
Same issue on debian 9, xfce 4.12.3. In addition, the 'Button title:' entered in 'Applications Menu' properties has a same bug. The xfce4-panel source code in Github has not been fixed according to Simon Naunton; Please also fix this in xfce4 packages distributed with debian9 (Compiling from source is annoying and dangerous). Thanks.
I too have experienced this on several linux distros, specifically every flavor of *buntu as well as Mint and pure Debian 8 and greater. I'm currently using AV Linux. This is the first bug I've run into with AV. :( BTW, I'm using an HP Pavillion 350G with AV linux. I love the XFCE D!. Been using it exclusively for years. That said, not sure why you guys haven't been able to squash such an insidiously pervasive bug, but it's getting anoying enough that I'm considering a different DE. <sigh> Thank you for your attention to detail, and your diligence at pest control. :)
I'm having a hard time reproducing this problem. Could you describe the exact steps needed? Also ideally the version/s of the panel and xfconf and/or your distribution.
I'm using Debian 9 stretch with Xfce 4.12. The clock disappears when I go to the Properties right-clicking on the Clock-plugin. The Properties dislog-box opens though, but the three text-boxes is shown empty with the cursor blinking in the Timezone text-box. Please find the screenshot attached for your perusal: https://imgur.com/a/ud0eH
I'm also experiencing this problem in Debian 9 Buster with XFCE 4.12.3.
With German locale for time display (LC_TIME=de_DE.utf8), one line of the 'Clock' panel applet display format is empty. This can be reproduced on Parabola and Fedora 26 x86_64; both provide xfce4-panel 4.12.1 On Fedora 26 x86_64 I compiled the Git 'master' branch (resulting in xfce4-panel 4.13.1git-711d4a6d), used an LXDE session to be able to start my compiled version of `/opt/xfce4/bin/xfce4-panel` and found the same issue. This method is the fastest to test the user LC_TIME setting with the Xfce panel on the fly, from my point of view. Steps to reproduce on Fedora 26 x86_64: 1. set German locale for time display: # system setting (restart computer to take effect; no user setting must be present): $ cat /etc/locale.conf LANG=de_DE.utf8 # user setting (log out/in sufficient; overwrites system setting): $ cat ~/.bashrc export LC_TIME=de_DE.utf8 Other user files (~/.dmrc ~/.pam_environment ~/.config/user-dirs.locale) do not work. 2. check locale: In terminal execute `locale`. 3. configure applet: right mouse button click on 'Clock' panel applet -- Properties -- Clock Options -- Format: |18:58| |18:58:18| || # <--- here is the problem! |06:58| |Custom Format| The third option from the top is empty in preview and actual display. With English-US locale (en_US.utf8) for time display the format options look like this: |19:29| |19:29:56| |07:29:56 PM| |07:29 PM| |Custom Format| Note: The 'date and time' panel applet is not affected. The 'xfce4-datetime-plugin' package does not provide the 'Clock' applet as far as I could find out. It seems to be part of 'xfce4-panel'.
@René Genz: Thanks for the steps - I can reproduce the issue now. I'll take a look...
This seems to be a bug in glib, more concretely in g_date_time_format (https://developer.gnome.org/glib/stable/glib-GDateTime.html#g-date-time-format) It simply returns an empty string on the format specifier %r (which the panel uses as third option by default) with the German locale. You can quickly confirm that by setting "%r" as custom format and you will get the same behaviour. It is *not* a bug in the date function itself because calling "date +%r" in the terminal results in the correct response with the above settings/locale. Resolution will be 1) to handle empty strings and not display this option in the clock within the panel and 2) to submit an upstream bug against glib.
Simon Steinbeiss referenced this bugreport in commit e43248058e67e1cf2725788c894616dc431458cd clock: Fix invalid datetime formats appearing in list (Bug #11527) https://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/commit?id=e43248058e67e1cf2725788c894616dc431458cd
1) The panel now hides unsupported options (but you can still set them in the custom formatter and get emptry strings/clocks, which is also the case for any unsupported character so we would have to evaluate the format specifier or set a default fallback...) 2) Upstream glib bugreport: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=790416
I don't think adding a validator is worth the pain, so I consider this issue closed for now.
Simon Steinbeiss referenced this bugreport in commit a25624c894e93e1ff354f597975639ef0c2822c2 clock: Add a validator for digital custom formats (Bug #11527) https://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/commit?id=a25624c894e93e1ff354f597975639ef0c2822c2
Turns out it was simple enough, so I added a validator that colors the entry red if an invalid format is specified.
@Simon Steinbeiss, the problem reported by @René Genz is different to the logged problem which is fixed by the patch I created (see comment 7: https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11527#c7) which has not been included in git yet.
@simon naunton: I can't reproduce your issue I guess, I could only reproduce the other part and presumed it was the same. Also your patch doesn't really make sense to me - or I don't get what it's supposed to fix and how. Setting the entry text is for copying the "last selected format" to the "custom format" entry. It should be ok to do that when the entry is hidden i.e. when a preset format is selected. Then showing the entry will simply reveal this "last selection".
@Simon Steinbeiss. Hmmm.... seems to be working now. Ignore me. Sorry.
Nice! Well no problem at all, thanks for getting back to me/us on this - always good to be sure!
Simon Steinbeiss referenced this bugreport in commit 989d654b5d6b33e1c4127c740c806420a30b45a4 clock: Fix format validation (Bug #11527) https://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-panel/commit?id=989d654b5d6b33e1c4127c740c806420a30b45a4
*** Bug 14507 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***