Bitcoin-Qt 0.8.x MacOS X app menu

[matt4054]

When I was using version 0.7.x of the official, universal MacOS X binary, I had an app context menu that popped up when click & holding on the app icon, just like the Litecoin client here:



Since version 0.8 (and still in 0.8.1) the menu is no longer here (I mean it's the default app menu from the OS)



The problem is that when you close the main window, there is no other way of re-opening it than exiting the app (Cmd+Q) and relaunching it, i.e. reloading all the database just to have the main interface window open again.

Should I consider it as a bug/regression and report it? Are there other Mac users here who can confirm that I'm not the only one having this problem?

[gweedo]

The problem is that when you close the main window, there is no other way of re-opening it than exiting the app (Cmd+Q) and relaunching it, i.e. reloading all the database just to have the main interface window open again.

Should I consider it as a bug/regression and report it? Are there other Mac users here who can confirm that I'm not the only one having this problem?

It doesn't happen a lot of for me, but sometimes, the developers aren't mac friendly so you kinda have to live with it.

[matt4054]

It doesn't happen a lot of for me, but sometimes, the developers aren't mac friendly so you kinda have to live with it.

Thanks for the feedback, in 0.7.x it used to happen sometimes, in 0.8.x it never worked on my Mac.

If "the developers" aren't Mac friendly, they should learn to be more platform agnostic. I have been developing myself over the last 20 years on AmigaOS, MS-DOS, Windows NT, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS and Android platforms (in more or less that order...), and a lot of platform-independent web apps / web services / REST APIs now, and I hate when the geeks start to act out like the religious people.

On the other hand, some platforms are more developer friendly than others. Precisely, Mac OS development, IMHO, is a pain for those coming from other platforms and who are not willing to take time learning the specifics of MacOS X. I don't know specifically about Qt support in Mac OS X, however.

So, I won't blame "the developers" if they are not doing anything to support Mac extensions because it would require some time that nobody has right now. I would blame them, however, if the MacOS X binary was lagging behind or left unsupported for "techno-religious" reasons.

[toffoo]

Should I consider it as a bug/regression and report it? Are there other Mac users here who can confirm that I'm not the only one having this problem?

I can confirm this same behavior.

The missing app context menu is just annoying and it would be good to have it back.

The fact that once you close the main window there is no way to re-open it is definitely a bug and should be reported as such.

[Gavin Andresen]

I have been developing myself over the last 20 years on AmigaOS, MS-DOS, Windows NT, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS and Android platforms (in more or less that order...)

Nice!  We need a good Mac OSX developer, do you know C++?  Are you willing to learn Qt?

My main machine is a Mac, but I'm not an expert OSX developer (I spend all my time in a Terminal window in emacs, pretending my Mac is a Unix machine).

[j980]

I have been developing myself over the last 20 years on AmigaOS, MS-DOS, Windows NT, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS and Android platforms (in more or less that order...)

Nice!  We need a good Mac OSX developer, do you know C++?  Are you willing to learn Qt?

My main machine is a Mac, but I'm not an expert OSX developer (I spend all my time in a Terminal window in emacs, pretending my Mac is a Unix machine).

No, all you need are a few bitcoins because I have made a coinfunder project for this project: https://www.coinfunder.com/project/view/id/20

I'm a good Mac OSX developer with knowledge of Qt, XCode and C++.  This looks like a very easy task, so head over to the coinfunder project if you want to see this issue fixed.

[gweedo]

I have been developing myself over the last 20 years on AmigaOS, MS-DOS, Windows NT, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS and Android platforms (in more or less that order...)

Nice!  We need a good Mac OSX developer, do you know C++?  Are you willing to learn Qt?

My main machine is a Mac, but I'm not an expert OSX developer (I spend all my time in a Terminal window in emacs, pretending my Mac is a Unix machine).

No, all you need are a few bitcoins because I have made a coinfunder project for this project: https://www.coinfunder.com/project/view/id/20

I'm a good Mac OSX developer with knowledge of Qt, XCode and C++.  This looks like a very easy task, so head over to the coinfunder project if you want to see this issue fixed.

That is great your going to extort your skills for the greater good of succeeding of bitcoin.

[j980]

That is great your going to extort your skills for the greater good of succeeding of bitcoin.

Yeah, with coinfunder this might be an interesting addition to my other work.  I've started some small initial projects to get the j980 brand a little reputation/trust.

[matt4054]

Nice!  We need a good Mac OSX developer, do you know C++?  Are you willing to learn Qt?

My main machine is a Mac, but I'm not an expert OSX developer (I spend all my time in a Terminal window in emacs, pretending my Mac is a Unix machine).

I'm willing to learn Qt, at least to fix the window closed + can't open it again issue at first. However, maybe more expert Mac devs are willing to jump in without asking to be rewarded first, like in the good ol' times of OSS ;-)
 
If I can fix it for me, I will propose the patch here then make a push request.

I was using the official binary so far. I have managed to compile Bitcoin-Qt successfully after cloning from GitHub, using Qt Create and the readme files. I am missing the old SDKs for 10.5 and 10.6, and I have that same issue with boost as the one described here (but the example is not related), that forces be to set the build target to 10.7, it will not compile otherwise. But I guess I could solve it by importing the old SDKs from an older Xcode.

[Severian]

If I can fix it for me, I will propose the patch here then make a push request.

If you can fix it, I'll send you some bitcoin. I'm sure a few others would throw in too.

[j980]

I was saying dude, it is an Open Source Project if you think your getting paid think again, why can't you just do it cause you want to see bitcoin succeed. Or you just going to be greedy like other devs do it cause you want to help grow bitcoin, not for wealth.

Oh sorry, I misunderstood.  I know of several projects I could contribute my time to (for free) that would be more beneficial than bitcoin.  However, if there is an interest in this bitcoin feature I can spend some time on it too (but not for free).  I did not feel I was being greedy.  If someone else does have the time to spare to implement this, then that's great too.  I of course respect your point of view on this.

[matt4054]

Well well well...

I do appreciate the reactivity of the devs. I was about to post a simple patch, but my last pull conflicted with... the fix that was made in the meantime.

So I am just a bit frustrated that they didn't at least leave a note here so I wouldn't have done the same in parallel for the last hours I had found it with git bisect and just a couple of hours of patience between rebuilds. It was an easy one indeed...

At least the problem is solved now. At any rate, a fundraiser for this little bug was overkill

(PS: the good thing is, yes it seems I could afford helping with some dev here and there on the Qt client, if I can help.)

[wumpus]

So I am just a bit frustrated that they didn't at least leave a note here so I wouldn't have done the same in parallel for the last hours I had found it with git bisect and just a couple of hours of patience between rebuilds. It was an easy one indeed...

Hah, you should monitor the github issues before going to work on something, that's where the development happens. not here. That pull was already open for a while

Thanks for trying anyway! We need more Mac developers.

[matt4054]

Hah, you should monitor the github issues before going to work on something, that's where the development happens. not here. That pull was already open for a while

Thanks for trying anyway! We need more Mac developers.

You're right about this, I wasn't actually considering getting involved in the project at this stage, just caught in the act of bitching instead of fixing (somewhat). So, yes, I will look into the tickets next time. And you're welcome, it was nice to discover the code behind the GUI anyway.