[MacPorts] #57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
-------------------------+---------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: (none)
Type: enhancement | Status: new
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Keywords: haspatch | Port: qt4-mac
-------------------------+---------------------
There has been some discussion concerning flickering UI elements under OS
10.14 in KDE4 applications leading to https://github.com/macports
/macports-ports/pull/2974 .
KDE4 has long forced raster mode for a variety of reasons, but apparently
it causes or aggravates the flickering graphics problems under 10.14 .

The pull request mentioned above simply removes the forced raster mode
indiscriminately, i.e. also on OS versions where it is to be preferred.

I've implemented an alternative where users can control the default
graphics system used (native vs. raster vs. OpenGL) via Qt's own qtconfig
utility (to be used with a modified patch to kdelibs4). I've set the
default to "Native", evidently.

I would have preferred a solution specific to KDE4 but achieving a similar
user-friendliness would require a lot more work. It should be possible
however to implement a setting controlled through qtconfig but used
(applied) only by kdelibs4 (in the `KApplication` class).

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: (none)
Type: enhancement | Status: new
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+----------------------
Changes (by RJVB):

* Attachment "patch-graphicssystem-via-qtconfig.diff" added.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------
Changes (by mf2k):

* owner: (none) => michaelld
* status: new => assigned
* cc: michaelld (removed)

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

It should be possible however to implement a setting controlled through

qtconfig but used (applied) only by kdelibs4 (in the `KApplication`
class).

I have a PoC but I'm not sure if it's that good of an idea to add an
additional setting applying only to KDE apps in qtconfig. After all,
raster mode became the default in Qt5.

The further tinkering did allow me to notice something else:

Setting raster mode as early as done by the attached patch appears to
solve the graphics glitch when using the Oxygen or Breeze styles, where
(menu) items would appear and disappear when you move the mouse over their
parent widget. It doesn't make sense to me, but it appears to be a fact.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------
Changes (by RJVB):

* Attachment "patch-graphicssystem-via-qtconfig.2.diff" added.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by jjstickel):

I updated the qt4-mac Portfile to apply this patch. It built and installed
fine. What now? I can't find a qt4config utility.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

Oh bugger, I didn't realise that port:qt4-mac doesn't patch the build
system so it actually builds qtconfig ... I'm attaching an additional
patch that does this.

Fortunately you don't need to rebuild Qt4 completely to get the utility,
and you don't even have to apply the patch to the Portfile.

In case you let `port` clean the build directory:
{{{

port -n patch qt4-mac [+your+variants+of+choice]

}}}

then create a build directory somewhere, chdir into it and then

{{{

qmake `port work qt4-mac`/qt-everywhere-opensource-

src-4.8.7/tools/qtconfig/qtconfig.pro

make

}}}

I'm guessing you'll find qmake in /opt/local/libexec/qt4/bin . After the
build you'll have a new qtconfig.app bundle which you can run as usual and
move wherever you want. It's normal that it doesn't have a dedicated icon.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------
Changes (by RJVB):

* Attachment "patch-tools-build_qtconfig.diff" added.

patch to build the qtconfig utility

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

After the build you'll have a new qtconfig.app bundle

NB: this will be put in /path/to/your-build-dir/../../bin . Keep that in
mind, or change the DESTDIR line (to "./") in qtconfig.pro before calling
qmake.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by michaelld):

I'm pretty swamped right now & I doubt I'll get to this until December;
just not enough time in the day! I'd be more likely to get to this if it
were in a PR, but it's still going to take me a while given my workload
through November -- so, please be patient & I will get there. A PR would
allow you to more easily fix issues such as what the 2nd patch is doing,
all without me having to lift a finger to deal with patching / reverting /
whatever.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by michaelld):

I have no objections to your patches per se, but I do want to verify
building & runtime on various OSX versions before anything else.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

A PR would allow you to more easily fix issues such as what the 2nd

patch is doing

I'm not sure what you mean with that? If you mean the *other* patch I
uploaded, it just removes the Mac from the list of platforms where
qtconfig is NOT to be built. I have been using that one for years.

Qtconfig is a really simple and perfectly standard Qt4 application that
should build on any platform where Qt4 builds itself. My initial patch
doesn't change that. Patches have been developed on 10.9 and I have no
reason to assume that Jonathan will report back that they don't work for
him (they may not have the same effect on presence/absence of graphics
glitches but that's another topic).

I didn't do a PR because I didn't think it necessary and didn't want to
decide for you where and how you put the patchfiles into the Portfile.
Now, if a PR means a CI will do those test builds on various OS versions
then that changes things a bit...

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Post by MacPorts
I didn't do a PR because I didn't think it necessary and didn't want to

decide for you where and how you put the patchfiles into the Portfile.

Understood. If you add the new patches to the end of the patches section
with their own new (#) & explanation, that's perfectly find. I hope the
patching MO in Qt4-mac is sufficiently clear to any experienced programmer
to be able to follow suit.

Post by MacPorts
Now, if a PR means a CI will do those test builds on various OS versions

then that changes things a bit...

Yes, yes it does! YA reason for PRs! The MP PR system can be a little
daunting, but if you try it out: go with the flow & don't worry too much
about precision!

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

It's cumbersome above all, and macports-ports has a relatively huge git
metadata overhead that is probably due to the fact it was converted from
svn.

You may remember I have my own Qt4 port that was forked off yours, so I'm
guessing I can still find my way around in yours (what with Qt4 being on
life support and all that).

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Post by MacPorts
Oh bugger, I didn't realise that port:qt4-mac doesn't patch the build

system so it actually builds qtconfig ... I'm attaching an additional
patch that does this.

I forgot to cc myself to this ticket, and so I just saw this now. I did
let port clean my build, but that's OK. I'll just apply the patch and
rebuild.

I can submit the PR once we are happy with this approach. I already
modified the Portfile in the manner Michael suggests in comment:9.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Post by MacPorts
I forgot to cc myself to this ticket, and so I just saw this now.

That should happen automatically when you comment?!

Post by MacPorts
I can submit the PR once we are happy with this approach. I already

modified the Portfile in the manner Michael suggests in comment:9.

I was going to find a moment to do this but if you're up for it I'll
gladly leave the honours to you :)

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by jjstickel):

Using qtconfig to change the raster setting (pull down menu titled
"Default Graphics System") does not seem to affect behavior in Dolphin.
When I closed qtconfig and clicked "yes" to save changes, my fonts got
clobbered, so it is doing something. Also, "raster" and "native" work the
same in qtconfig, but selecting "opengl" causes problems //in that app//
but not in Dolphin.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

Yes, qtconfig will also change the default system font back to what it
considers the default on your platform (and careful with Qt4 if you use a
less common font weight like "Medium"). It's always a good idea with that
tool to check the fonts setting before saving.

Anyway, it sounds as if maybe you didn't apply the companion patch I
appended to your PR. Because if your `KApplication` class still forces a
specific mode you won't see any effect from the setting made in QtConfig
which is applied at an earlier moment. The absence of effect of picking
OpenGL mode is telling, so I'm guessing that any other pure Qt4 app will
be affected in your case, and no KDE4 app.

If not, than we'll have to figure out why you don't see any effect in KDE4
apps, which is going to write some KDE4 code (there's no easy API for
querying the current graphics system).

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Post by MacPorts
Anyway, it sounds as if maybe you didn't apply the companion patch I

appended to your PR.

That's right, I didn't do that because it wasn't clear it needed to be
done at the same time or where that patch would be applied. To kdelibs4?

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

Yes, that's an alternative version of the kapplication/raster patch to be
applied instead of the original or the version from your PR. Sorry about
the confusion.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by jjstickel):

OK, it is working with the kapplication patch. No more dissapearing text
in dialog boxes, even with raster. BUT kde apps crash for some themes,
e.g., plastique, when using raster. QtCurve and aqua are OK. This is on
MacOS 10.12.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

When using raster? That's strange, because that's the same raster mode as
they used before these changes, but I guess it's for the same reason why
we no longer see graphics glitches in raster mode.

I can reproduce this on 10.9 and the crash is deep inside Qt's
CoreGraphics code, interestingly also in qtconfig itself when I select the
styles in question.

What are the other styles where this happens for you, CDE, "MS Windows 9x"
and Motif?

I call Qt4 bug, worked around by using Native graphics if you really want
to use one of these styles.

If I were to forward a wild guess I'd say that our previous way of setting
raster mode, just a bit later, kept native mode on for a bit longer which
allowed something crucial to be initialised.

We may need to document this, though.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by jjstickel):

Yes, using raster as selected by qtconfig. I didn't test them all, but I
had crashes with "MS Windows 9x" and Motif, I think. I'm fine with the
using Native graphics as a workaround for those styles.

Document via note in the Portfile of qt4-mac or kdelibs4?

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

I suppose you are, you were planning to force Native graphics on everyone
;)

Maybe best to touch on it in the graphics system selector tooltip, and
draw attention to the new feature via the port `notes` feature. I guess
I'll be doing the PR for this after all!

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by jjstickel):

I captured the changes so far in a branch on my fork here:

https://github.com/jjstickel/macports-ports/tree/qt4mac-raster

Maybe that is useful to you. It includes edits to the qt4-mac portfile.
Note that I incremented the revision of qt4-mac and kdelibs4 for
convenience for me when working on this. I'm not sure if that is correct
to do for this fix.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

@jjstickel: could you please try with the new kapplication raster patch I
pasted (inline) into the PR (https://github.com/macports/macports-
ports/pull/3022#issuecomment-441384590)? This should

- prevent glitches when you don't change anything w.r.t. your current
config (assuming you picked a graphics system via qtconfig)
- revert the glitches when you select "(unset)" in qtconfig

For anyone not following discussion on the PR: my initial proposal
apparently caused crashing with more than just the incompatible styles
that we identified. This version gives users the choice to stick with the
forced raster mode as it was always imposed by port:kdelibs4 (and keep
using pure Qt apps without imposing a graphics system choice). Or they can
impose a choice via qtconfig.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Post by MacPorts
@jjstickel: could you please try with the new kapplication raster patch

I pasted (inline) into the PR (https://github.com/macports/macports-
ports/pull/3022#issuecomment-441384590)?

I replaced the `patch-kapplications-raster.diff` with that one and rebuilt
(and installed) kdelibs4. What functionality do you want me to try?

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

I thought that would be evident :) Check your graphics glitches
(flickering):

- if you picked a graphics system via qtconfig this new version should not
glitch any more than the previous version
- you should get the glitches again when you select "(unset)" in qtconfig

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by jjstickel):

Yes, OK, I didn't look for the (unset) option for graphics system.
Selecting that reverts the behavior of kde apps to what it was before.

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------

Comment (by RJVB):

Thanks for the confirmation. That means we can now cater to all
possibilities:

- reproduce the "legacy" behaviour (default graphics system for pure Qt4
apps, raster for KDE4 apps)
- impose native graphics on every Qt4 app
- impose raster graphics on every Qt4 app

[MacPorts]

#57577: qt4-mac : set the graphicssystem via qtconfig
--------------------------+-----------------------
Reporter: RJVB | Owner: michaelld
Type: enhancement | Status: closed
Priority: Normal | Milestone:
Component: ports | Version:
Resolution: fixed | Keywords: haspatch
Port: qt4-mac |
--------------------------+-----------------------
Changes (by RJVB):

* status: assigned => closed
* resolution: => fixed


Comment:

In [changeset:"8da4eb3dada6c3e790fab218cd9641db350e27a0/macports-ports"
8da4eb3dada6c3e790fab218cd9641db350e27a0/macports-ports] (master):
{{{
#!ConfigurableCommitTicketReference repository="macports-ports"
revision="8da4eb3dada6c3e790fab218cd9641db350e27a0"
qt4-mac/kdelibs4 : convert hardwired graphics system selection to use

(#3022)

* qt4-mac/kdelibs4 : convert hardwired graphics system selection to user
option. Kdelibs4 used to set the Raster graphics system, causing graphics
issues on newer OS versions. This change puts the graphics system under
user control via Qt.
Closes: https://trac.macports.org/ticket/57577
}}}