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AP81

Member

Registered: 2022-04-01

Posts: 5

Why are application menus hidden?

Hi,

I'm using XFCE 4.14 and I really dislike how application menus are hidden.  For example PHP storm, I can see the menu when the  application starts up, then it's hidden.

I'm using the AppMenu plugin, but it's quite clunky with two monitors, in that it sometimes spans both screens.

Is there a way to enable all applications to show their menu so I don't have to use the AppMenu plugin?

Thanks.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

Hello and welcome.

Sounds like you don't have the appmenu configured to support java apps. Are you using vala-panel-appmenu? There are instructions there on how to build the plugin to support java swing apps.

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AP81

Member

Registered: 2022-04-01

Posts: 5

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

Hello and welcome.

Sounds like you don't have the appmenu configured to support java apps. Are you using vala-panel-appmenu? There are instructions there on how to build the plugin to support java swing apps.

I'm a little confused.  So I'd rather not use AppMenu at all, but rather any application that is open to display it's menu.  I'm not what the issue is with XFCE4 in regards to this, but OpenBox and Gnome for example, any application that is open will show its menu (if it has one).

I haven't used XFCE for a while as I have used a Mac the last decade, but I can't recall this being an issue when I last used XFCE

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

The purpose of the AppMenu plugin is to pull the menus off of the applications and display them in the panel (ala Mac). If you don't want that, uninstall/disable the appmenu plugin and its supporting libraries/modules. This will depend on how you initially installed it.

Which distro are you using?

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AP81

Member

Registered: 2022-04-01

Posts: 5

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

The purpose of the AppMenu plugin is to pull the menus off of the applications and display them in the panel (ala Mac). If you don't want that, uninstall/disable the appmenu plugin and its supporting libraries/modules. This will depend on how you initially installed it.

Which distro are you using?

Exactly, but that's the thing... without it enabled, lots of applications are missing their menu, so it becomes incredibly frustrating.  So for usability purposes I had to enable it, otherwise I cannot see menus on lots of applications.

I'm using Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS which came preinstalled on a ThinkPaid X1.  XFCE4  was installed via synaptic.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

Appmenu contains both a plugin and a module. Removing the plugin alone will not revert the menus back to the application - they will just have no where to be displayed. You have to remove the module as well.

What does the following return:

dpkg -l | grep -i appmenu

And...

env | grep GTK_MODULE

And...

xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Gtk/Modules

Last edited by ToZ (2022-04-01 01:58:03)

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AP81

Member

Registered: 2022-04-01

Posts: 5

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

1)

dpkg -l | grep -i appmenu

(Note I removed the xfce4-app-manager package prior to this)

Output:

ii  appmenu-gtk-module-common                  0.7.3-2                             all          Common files for GtkMenuShell D-Bus exporter
ii  appmenu-gtk2-module:amd64                  0.7.3-2                             amd64        GtkMenuShell D-Bus exporter (GTK+2.0)
ii  appmenu-gtk3-module:amd64                  0.7.3-2                             amd64        GtkMenuShell D-Bus exporter (GTK+3.0)
ii  appmenu-registrar                          0.7.3-2                             amd64        Appmenu DBusMenu registrar
ii  libappmenu-gtk2-parser0:amd64              0.7.3-2                             amd64        GtkMenuShell to GMenuModel parser (GTK+2.0)
ii  libappmenu-gtk3-parser0:amd64              0.7.3-2                             amd64        GtkMenuShell to GMenuModel parser (GTK+3.0)
ii  vala-panel-appmenu-common                  0.7.3+dfsg1-2ubuntu0.1              all          Common files for Application Menu plugins

2)

env | grep GTK_MODULE

Output:

GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge:appmenu-gtk-module:appmenu-gtk-module:appmenu-gtk-module:appmenu-gtk-module:appmenu-gtk-module:appmenu-gtk-module

3)

xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Gtk/Modules

Output:

xfconf-query -c xsettings -p /Gtk/Modules
Property "/Gtk/Modules" does not exist on channel "xsettings".

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

The best way is to uninstall all of those appmenu packages and reboot. That should reset the menus.

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AP81

Member

Registered: 2022-04-01

Posts: 5

Re: Why are application menus hidden?

The best way is to uninstall all of those appmenu packages and reboot. That should reset the menus.

Thank you, resolved now!