3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post your Gambas programming questions here.
CMWhitley
Posts: 13
Joined: Monday 1st February 2021 10:05pm

3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by CMWhitley »

Tried to load gambas3 onto a Linux Mint 20 machine and when attempting to launch, just got a small spinning circle for about 10 seconds then nothing.

Seems this was a known issue but never incorporated in the latest download.

This fixed that problem.
sudo apt install gambas3-gb-form-print

[this is the 21st century should not be relying on the Command Line especially when some of the Commands are hundreds of characters long and very prone to error]

Then issue 2: Attempting to run one of my Gambas programs created on a Linux Mint 19.3 machine I get a Form.Centered not a valid property.
Changing X and Y at the bottom of the offending form from 0,0 to 1,1 stops the error. I don't know what this will look like as I'm now fighting a 3rd problem.

Issue 3: Seems any object with a Background/Foreground set to "Royal Blue" generates an invalid property error. {don't know if there are more errors until I change the 30+ objects I've set to a "Royal Blue" background.
Don't know if other colors were dropped or if I'll run into problem 4,5,6, 30 after fixing #3

This is EXACTLY the reason I left Windows and my beloved VB 6.0 as I spent most of my time chasing "Update/Upgrade" errors. It is also the reason I don't "Update/Upgrade" Linux Mint as at my advanced age, I don't have that many days left to waste fighting errors created by people who don't check their code.
User avatar
gbWilly
Posts: 68
Joined: Friday 23rd September 2016 11:41am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by gbWilly »

CMWhitley wrote: Tuesday 23rd May 2023 9:07pm Tried to load gambas3 onto a Linux Mint 20 machine and when attempting to launch, just got a small spinning circle for about 10 seconds then nothing.

Seems this was a known issue but never incorporated in the latest download.

This fixed that problem.
sudo apt install gambas3-gb-form-print

[this is the 21st century should not be relying on the Command Line especially when some of the Commands are hundreds of characters long and very prone to error]
Did you install Gambas from the default Ubuntu repositories or did you use the version from the ppa of the Gambas developers?
If installed from Ubuntu repositories best remove and next follow instructions on wiki.
See wiki: https://gambaswiki.org/wiki/install/ubuntu
For me it installed with no problems nor missing components.

CMWhitley wrote: Tuesday 23rd May 2023 9:07pm Then issue 2: Attempting to run one of my Gambas programs created on a Linux Mint 19.3 machine I get a Form.Centered not a valid property.
Changing X and Y at the bottom of the offending form from 0,0 to 1,1 stops the error. I don't know what this will look like as I'm now fighting a 3rd problem.

Issue 3: Seems any object with a Background/Foreground set to "Royal Blue" generates an invalid property error. {don't know if there are more errors until I change the 30+ objects I've set to a "Royal Blue" background.
Don't know if other colors were dropped or if I'll run into problem 4,5,6, 30 after fixing #3
These all seem errors with a graphical component involved.
I could either be that you desktop theme causes issues, or (if running Gambas 3.18.x) the IDE is probably using gtk3 causing trouble.
First try running the IDE with qt5 (for instructions see here: viewtopic.php?t=1545) and see if things work as should be.
gbWilly
- Dutch translation for Gambas3
- Gambas wiki content contributer


... there is always a Catch if things go wrong!
User avatar
BruceSteers
Posts: 1523
Joined: Thursday 23rd July 2020 5:20pm
Location: Isle of Wight
Contact:

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by BruceSteers »

CMWhitley wrote: Tuesday 23rd May 2023 9:07pm Tried to load gambas3 onto a Linux Mint 20 machine and when attempting to launch, just got a small spinning circle for about 10 seconds then nothing.

Seems this was a known issue but never incorporated in the latest download.

This fixed that problem.
sudo apt install gambas3-gb-form-print

[this is the 21st century should not be relying on the Command Line especially when some of the Commands are hundreds of characters long and very prone to error]

Then issue 2: Attempting to run one of my Gambas programs created on a Linux Mint 19.3 machine I get a Form.Centered not a valid property.
Changing X and Y at the bottom of the offending form from 0,0 to 1,1 stops the error. I don't know what this will look like as I'm now fighting a 3rd problem.

Issue 3: Seems any object with a Background/Foreground set to "Royal Blue" generates an invalid property error. {don't know if there are more errors until I change the 30+ objects I've set to a "Royal Blue" background.
Don't know if other colors were dropped or if I'll run into problem 4,5,6, 30 after fixing #3

This is EXACTLY the reason I left Windows and my beloved VB 6.0 as I spent most of my time chasing "Update/Upgrade" errors. It is also the reason I don't "Update/Upgrade" Linux Mint as at my advanced age, I don't have that many days left to waste fighting errors created by people who don't check their code.

Issue 1: wow that's an old issue.

Issue 2: you have different versions of gambas installed. the older gambas does not know what Form.Centered is so it's an error.
upgrade to latest stable.
You cannot expect a program compiled on a newer gambas to just work on an older version.

Issue 3: there was a change in the way integer values are stored for color codes. some programs just need re-compiling. you will need to recompile for each version,

But you cannot even expect the executable gambas program to work on different gambas versions anymore because of the integer value change I mentioned. Benoit kinda broke backward compatibility with just running an executable compiled on a different gambas version +&- 3.17 I think.
you must load them into the ide and hit "compile all" on a machine with the version of gambas you want it to work on.

Your solution though...

use latest stable gambas on all systems. For Ubuntu / Mint there is the simple PPA option.
https://launchpad.net/~gambas-team/+arc ... tu/gambas3

Just run this in a terminal...

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gambas-team/gambas3
sudo apt update
then the new gambas repository is used so you can use your package manager to upgrade gambas packages or run a command..
sudo apt upgrade gambas3*

or just this to update all that needs it...
sudo apt upgrade

if you just use the old repository included gambas for each linux system version you will get old and varied gambas versions.

You don't have to upgrade mint. even though it's as simple as

Code: Select all

sudo apt install mint-upgrade
sudo mint-upgrade
but you will want to keep on top of the latest gambas version , the above mentioned PPA method is very simple.

😎
Hope that all helps
If at first you don't succeed , try doing something differently.
BruceS
User avatar
BruceSteers
Posts: 1523
Joined: Thursday 23rd July 2020 5:20pm
Location: Isle of Wight
Contact:

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by BruceSteers »

If you want your programs to work across different gambas versions then they must be coded to the earliest one.
For example Form.Centered cannot be used as it is new and was added with gambas 3.16, with gambas 3.15 Form.Centered causes an error.
So if your programs are failing on older versions of gambas then it's your code needs checking.

If it's other peoples programs failing it's because they are made on newer gambas versions.
If you insist you never want to upgrade anything then expect compatibility problems with programs made by people who do upgrade and do not ensure their programs are backward compatible with older gambas versions.
If at first you don't succeed , try doing something differently.
BruceS
User avatar
BruceSteers
Posts: 1523
Joined: Thursday 23rd July 2020 5:20pm
Location: Isle of Wight
Contact:

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by BruceSteers »

Just another note.

Nobody that has anything to do with gambas is in control of what is on the mint20 repository.

The fix for issue 1 has been resolved a long time ago but mint have clearly not upped the gambas version for mint 20 repo as 20 is now obsolete to them.

That's the point of upgrades
Gambas is on 3.18 now ,
Nothing is going to change for 3.17, 3.16, 3.15, etc, they are old versions,
Changes only happen on the latest version, the same is said for your mint 20 operating system.

Like we have said though just use the PPA method to get your latest gambas update,

Or if you want to keep the old version you have do not download gambas applications made for newer ones.

and get over your issues with not wanting to update anything but expecting everything to work still ;)

the Form.Centered problem does not even exist anymore with gambas, as I reported the bug that gambas crashes if a property name does not exist in it's .form file so Benoit has now fixed that.
But you gotta upgrade.

Respects
If at first you don't succeed , try doing something differently.
BruceS
User avatar
BruceSteers
Posts: 1523
Joined: Thursday 23rd July 2020 5:20pm
Location: Isle of Wight
Contact:

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by BruceSteers »

And just one more note CMWhitley

I hope i didn't sound too harsh there.
The truth is I used to be just as p**sed about versions.

It all started because I was using the latest Debian at the time Debian10 , their repo only had gambas 3.12 and that is what I used.

then I joined the gambas mailing list to report a bug.

that was where i found gambas was up to 3.15 and the version i used was old, the bug had already been fixed.
then it got all complicated because it would never be fixed in 3.12 and that was all i could use with debian (no PPA on debian) so i had to download the latest gambas source and compile it myself.

But then if i was coding around the fixed bugs then my programs would not work as expected on the version everyone else on debian10 would get. so i had to code using the old version to retain compatibility (forward compatibility usually just works)

It's not any fault of gambas that debian10 would not go past gambas 3.12, and after getting the latest gambas and realizing all that Benoit does to fix bugs and give us all an awesome language/IDE you realize how old versions cannot change, when things change the version changes. if you want the version that has the most things fixed and supports the most you need the latest.

Most things made on a previous gambas work on newer versions okay it's just the other way round you get problems , so having the latest will fix all :)

you know it makes sense 8-)
If at first you don't succeed , try doing something differently.
BruceS
CMWhitley
Posts: 13
Joined: Monday 1st February 2021 10:05pm

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by CMWhitley »

Well thanks for all the detailed responses.

IMO, Gambas is the ONLY reason I remain with Linux as without it, I'd be hard pressed to create applications to serve MY needs {nothing commercial}. It is a great program and hopefully I did not offend anyone associated with it's creation.


Yes, I have, thanks to Windows, a strong aversion to "updates/upgrades" which break older well running code.

I, as a former Corporate Director of Engineering, with over site of over 70 plants, world wide, had to be very concerned with faulty code as our code controlled machines which, if faulty, could injure or kill someone not just break a GUI. I was fortunate, in my 30+ years in that position, to have only one minor incident caused by a college intern who was less than careful in her coding.

Yes the first issue is very old and IMO should have been addressed in any recent download.

The GUI issues regarding the "Centered" property and the various Color related issues were from code developed on an older version of Gambas and not handled well by the latest download onto a Linux Mint 20 machine. Opening every form and doing a "Search/Replace" for numerous background/foreground colors and deleting any "Centered" reference fixed those issues.
User avatar
BruceSteers
Posts: 1523
Joined: Thursday 23rd July 2020 5:20pm
Location: Isle of Wight
Contact:

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by BruceSteers »

All good friend, no offense taken and none intended.
(my association with it's development is small, mostly reporting bugs)

Yes the first issue HAS been addressed on gambas's part.
the complaint you have there is for linux mint and the version they have on 20 repo, (the slackers ;) )

If you add the launchpad PPA for the latest gambas stable then you will not have the issue as it's fixed.

Form.Centered could not be from too old a program as it has only existed Since 3.16 as the wiki states http://gambaswiki.org/wiki/comp/gb.qt4/window/centered.

It could only be a problem for gambas 3.15 or less.

also there is no such color as "Royal Blue"
there is Color.Royal though http://gambaswiki.org/wiki/comp/gb.image/color/royal

If that is what you have used then the error might be what i said about the way it's integer values are stored.
all you need to do is recompile the program, just load it into the ide and hit "compile all"

Yes this was a pain in the butt, but apparently gambas was doing something badly and the fix caused a shift in the way color integer values are stored.

this was the ONLY change i can think of that caused a problem for everyone as some programs just started to give errors until recompiled.

I know of nothing that has changed in newer gambas versions to make older programs fail (like color constant name changing)
Benoit is quite strict and aware how changes can effect people, the usual practice to "change" something is an addition of something new and the old thing becoming depreciated (but still functional) so as not to break peoples software.

what version gambas are you using?
If at first you don't succeed , try doing something differently.
BruceS
CMWhitley
Posts: 13
Joined: Monday 1st February 2021 10:05pm

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by CMWhitley »

Re: Versions
On the latest install on a LM 20 machine Gambas is 3.14.3 which seems very strange {obviously the LM provided updater/installer is in question}

On the source machine LM 19.3 Gambas is 3.18.2 {Don't know if finally accepting Linux updates on this machine changed this}

I will use your advise and use launchpad PPA as these versions are way too different.

Thank you!
User avatar
BruceSteers
Posts: 1523
Joined: Thursday 23rd July 2020 5:20pm
Location: Isle of Wight
Contact:

Re: 3 Issues using Linux Mint 20

Post by BruceSteers »

CMWhitley wrote: Saturday 27th May 2023 1:44pm Re: Versions
On the latest install on a LM 20 machine Gambas is 3.14.3 which seems very strange {obviously the LM provided updater/installer is in question}

On the source machine LM 19.3 Gambas is 3.18.2 {Don't know if finally accepting Linux updates on this machine changed this}

I will use your advise and use launchpad PPA as these versions are way too different.

Thank you!
Aah that now makes sense then.
you must have added the PPA or something on the source machine already as 3.18.2 IS the latest stable version.

Trying to use programs made on 3.18 with 3.14 will have a few glitches.

You are much better off keeping up with the latest gambas stable version.
the LM version should not matter as long as the gambas environments are up to date via launchpad (gambas) and not the normal packager install (linix mint)

All the best :)
If at first you don't succeed , try doing something differently.
BruceS
Post Reply