ANNOUNCE: xfce4-power-manager 1.3.0 released

[Guido Berhoerster]

* Eric <eric.koegel at gmail.com> [2014-06-01 20:33]:
>   One of the most noticable changes to xfpm is a new panel plugin
> to monitor battery and device charge levels which replaces the
> trayicon. If anyone outside of Xfce was using xfce4-power-manager
> in a different panel, such as LXDE, and wants xfpm to continue to
> work there, request it in bugzilla and we'll work on it.

I need some kind of battery status indicator for the openSUSE default
configuration of the panel that works for both laptops and desktop
computers. The big problem with a panel plugin in contrast to the
previous tray icon is that it cannot be hidden if the computer is on
AC power with no battery present or if there are no exposed devices
at all. Right now the new panel applet shows the rather scary
xfpm-primary-000 icon (critical battery levels) in that case. I
suppose this is an issue for other distros as well, ideas how to
address this and make it work for this usecase?

>   The settings dialog has been completely restructured for better
> oversight. Additionally, xfce4-power-information, a stand-alone
> application has now been embedded inside the settings dialog.

While testing in kvm and on real hardware I've run into a number of
bugs and issues:

panel-plugin:
- the panel plugin icon is clipped with the Adwaita theme
- should the preferences menu item in the panel plugin's popup menu
  rather be in the context menu as with every other panel plugin?

settings dialog:
- the values below the inactivity-on-battery/inactivity-on-ac
  hscales get clipped for large values
- why does the label on the "Display" tab say "Disable power saving"?
  if it is supposed to mean "Display Power Saving" it can probably
  be removed altogether
- brg-level-on-battery/brg-level-on-ac should be left-aligned with
  the hscales above them
- on-battery-lid combobox initially has no active entry
- the "Battery" and "Plugged In" labels are always (even when
  devices are present) insensitve, making them hard to read and
  confusing
- does the network-manager-sleep property really need to be exposed
  in the UI?

Bugs/issue on computers with no power-related devices:

panel-plugin:
- xfpm-primary-000 icon is shown (critical battery level)
- the popup menu always shows a separator although there are no
  devices on top

settings dialog:
- the on-ac-lid combobox is not visible
- inactivity-on-battery/ac comboboxes are sensitive
- the brg-on-ac hscale and brg-on-ac-level spinbutton are
  insensitive, all other widgets are sensitive
- the devices tabs shows some empty and zero-width widget

If there are no devices exposed by upower it is probably sensible to
assume AC power and everything not relevant, such as all the "On
Battery" stuff, "When laptop lid is closed", or the "Devices" tab
should not be shown at all whereas the widgets related to "Plugged
in" should be sensitive and visible.

I can later file bugs for these issues but I think it is more
appropriate to discuss some of the less clear-cut issues on list
first.
-- 
Guido Berhoerster