Hello Richard, On 2026-01-04 20:47:52 +0100 R Frith-Macdonald <[email protected]> wrote:
> Your screenchot contsins an alert panel *from* firefox, reporting a problem > *in* firefox (saying that it is already running but not responding). > > So that does not look like anything to do with GNUMail (or GNUstep libraries). > > From the content of that alert panel I imagine that: > > 1. your system is configured to run a firefox command to open a URL. > > 2. the new firefox program is checking to see if a copy of firefox is already > running, finding that it appears to be, but that the running copy is not > responding to the request to open it. > > So you would need to look at whether there really is a copy of firefox > already running. > > If so, why is it stuck? Perhaps an earlier open request was for some URL > where the web page content breaks firefox? > > If not, why does the new copy think it's running? > > You could try giving firefox experts the exact command that's being used, and > asking them why it's not working. > I think there is something related to openURL service: I made more tests. Case 1) Chromium - 'Chromium.app' (wrapper) set as Default Web Browser in 'Preferences.app'. - 'chromium' (binary) set as default browser (so successfully handling: 'xdg-open <URL>' command in a Terminal: page opened in less than 2 seconds.) Clicking on a link within a message of GNUMail: Behaviour: the Web browser (chromium) is launched with an empty tab; after 20 seconds, the expected page is shown on a second new tab. The log: patrick@patrick-mac:~$ openapp GNUMail & [1] 405836 patrick@patrick-mac:~$ 2026-01-08 19:49:18.465 GNUMail[405836:405836] Loading application scripting support 2026-01-08 19:49:18.485 GNUMail[405836:405836] WARNING: Use 'Classes' instead of 'STClasses' in ScriptingInfo.plist for bundle '/Local/Applications/GNUMail.app'2026-01-08 19:49:55.490 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView 2026-01-08 19:49:55.490 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView 2026-01-08 19:49:55.490 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView 2026-01-08 19:49:55.490 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView 2026-01-08 19:49:55.490 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView 2026-01-08 19:49:55.491 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView 2026-01-08 19:49:55.491 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView 2026-01-08 19:49:55.495 GNUMail[405836:405836] Method setIndicatorImage:inTableColumn: is not implemented for class NSTableView Opening in existing browser session. Well, except the two instances of the browser and the long delay (20 seconds) all was working as expected. But why an empty tab firstly opened? ============================================= Case 2) Firefox - 'Firefox.app' (wrapper) set as Default Web Browser in 'Preferences.app'. - 'firefox-esr' (binary) set as default browser (so successfully handling: 'xdg-open <URL>' command in a Terminal: page opened in less than 2 seconds.) Clicking on a link within a message of GNUMail: Behaviour: the Web browser (firefox) is launched with an empty tab; after 20 seconds, the expected page is not shown: we have an alert: "Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To use Firefox, you must first close the existing Firefox process, restart your device, or use a different profile." The log: Same as above, except we do not have the message: "Opening in existing browser session" nor any error message from GNUMail or openURL service. ============================================== Case 3) Mixing the Web Browsers: - 'Firefox.app' (wrapper) set as Default Web Browser in 'Preferences.app'. - 'chromium' (binary) set as default browser (so successfully handling: 'xdg-open...) Clicking on a link within a message of GNUMail: Behaviour: the Web browser (firefox) is launched with an empty tab; after 20, the expected page is opened in 'chromium' web browser (only one instance). =============================================== So we might say: 1) Chromium is better responding to the attempt, but we should try to reduce the delay (20 sec! VS the 2 seconds with xdg-open). See also question 4 below. 2) Firefox is unable to handle the "Opening in existing browser session". 3) The Default Web Browser setting in 'SystemPreferences' seems useless. The prevailing setting seems tied to the 'xdg-open' command. 4) Why a first instance of either Web browser (chromium or firefox) is launched firstly without the page and then the expected page is shown within a second instance of the browser? This double call of a browser is not expected: this never happens when we use directly 'xdg-open' in a Terminal. 5) The mixed scenario shows that the page is opened in a single instance of chromium, but this happens after the same delay of 20 seconds after firefox has launched first. So it is not a bug of Firefox, but the way the service is handling the openURL action ans the fact that two instances of the browser are called. 6) Maybe, while we have wrappers and not yet a native GNUstep Web Browser, we could handle openURL service using first 'xdg-open' command with a shorter delay? Cheers, Patrick -- Patrick Cardona - MacBookPro Intel Core i5 - GNU/Linux (Debian 13.1 amd64) Xorg (DRI driver: nouveau) - Backend: cairo - Runtime: GNU Window Maker (0.96.0) - GWorkspace (1.1.0 - 02 2025) - Theme: AGNOSTEP - MUA: GNUMail (1.4.0)
