blog: add GSoC '26 week 09 progress report by Dev (#997)

Author: Dev10-sys

src/constants/MarkdownFiles/posts/2026-07-26-gsoc-26-dev-week09.md

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+---
+title: "GSoC '26 Week 09 Update by Dev"
+excerpt: "Running a deep post-migration API audit across all three repositories, fixing GTK4 window destruction patterns and popover lifecycle issues, and pushing theme contrast improvements in sugar-artwork."
+category: "DEVELOPER NEWS"
+date: "2026-07-26"
+slug: "2026-07-26-gsoc-26-dev-week09"
+author: "@/constants/MarkdownFiles/authors/dev.md"
+tags: "gsoc26,sugarlabs,week09,dev,gtk4-port,Sugar shell"
+image: "assets/Images/GSOC.webp"
+---
+
+<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
+
+# Week 09 Progress Report by Dev
+
+**Project:** [GTK4 Transition Part 2: Sugar Shell](https://github.com/sugarlabs/GSoC/blob/master/Ideas-2026.md#gtk4-transition-part-2-sugar-shell)  
+**Mentors:** [Krish Pandya](https://github.com/MostlyKIGuess), [Ibiam Chihurumnaya](https://github.com/chimosky)  
+**Assisting Mentors:** [Walter Bender](https://github.com/walterbender), [Juan Pablo Ugarte](https://github.com/xjuan)  
+**Organization:** [Sugar Labs](https://sugarlabs.org)  
+**Reporting Period:** 2026-07-19 - 2026-07-25  
+
+---
+
+## Goals for This Week
+
+- **Goal 1:** Perform a comprehensive post-migration audit across `sugar` and `sugar-toolkit-gtk4` to catch any remaining GTK3 API violations.
+- **Goal 2:** Fix all identified window destruction patterns and popover lifecycle regressions across the Sugar shell.
+- **Goal 3:** Push GTK4 theme contrast and dropdown color improvements in `sugar-artwork`.
+
+---
+
+## This Week's Achievements
+
+With the main PR bodies in reasonable shape from last week's audit round, I spent this week doing a thorough second pass across all three repositories to catch any patterns that slipped through.
+
+1. **Deep API Audit and Window Destruction Fixes (`sugar`)**  
+   - I scanned every Python file under `src/jarabe` for GTK3 patterns that would crash silently or raise `AttributeError` at runtime on GTK4. The main findings were around `Gtk.Window.destroy()` which was removed in GTK4.
+   - Replaced `self.destroy()` calls in `ActivityChooser` and `ViewHelp` with `self.close()`. Fixed the `close_window()` helper inside `shell.py` to always call `close()` before falling back to `unparent()` so the priority is correct.
+   - Cleaned up redundant comment blocks in `favoritesview.py` around palette teardown logic, setting `self.palette = None` directly after `popdown()`.
+   - Verified that all `unparent()` calls introduced in Week 08 are working correctly and there are no leftover `container.remove()` calls in the journal or frame modules.
+   - Commit: [gtk4: resolve Wayland runtime behavior, window destruction, and UI styling](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar/pull/1106/commits/88d70d96)
+
+2. **Popover Lifecycle and Layout Allocation Fixes (`sugar-toolkit-gtk4`)**  
+   - After the Week 08 popover work, there were still some edge cases around widget layout measurement and memory cleanup that I addressed.
+   - Replaced remaining `destroy()` calls in `PaletteWindow.detach()` with `popdown()` followed by `unparent()`. This prevents widget hierarchy crashes when a popover is torn down while still attached.
+   - Replaced all deprecated `get_allocation()` calls in `Tray`, `ToolbarBox`, and `PaletteWindow` with GTK4 native `measure()`, `get_width()`, and `translate_coordinates()`.
+   - Replaced `Gdk.cairo_set_source_pixbuf` usage inside `Icon` and `IconEntry` with `Gdk.MemoryTexture` and `GdkPixbuf` stream decoding since the old function was removed in GTK4.
+   - Fixed a property setter in `Alert` that was constructing a new pixbuf icon on every property update without releasing the old reference.
+   - Fixed a disposal order issue in `HTray` and `VTray` where buttons were being removed from the layout after the tray itself was already detached, causing `Gtk.Widget.unparent()` to be called on an already-freed widget.
+   - Commit: [graphics: fix widget lifecycle, layout allocation, and popover management](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-toolkit-gtk4/pull/33/commits/05f06778)
+
+3. **GTK4 Theme Contrast and Dropdown Styles (`sugar-artwork`)**  
+   - I worked on the GTK4 CSS stylesheet inside the `gtk4/theme` directory to fix visual issues that were visible during local testing.
+   - Added explicit background and text color rules for GTK4 `GtkDropDown` and `GtkComboBox` popover menus. Without these, the popover menu text was inheriting a dark-on-dark color combination that made items unreadable after clicking.
+   - Updated row selection background and text colors in `GtkTreeView` to match the Sugar color palette properly under GTK4 since the old GTK3 selector names no longer apply.
+   - Tuned button state padding for the Control Panel section tiles so hover and pressed states render with consistent spacing.
+   - PR: [sugar-artwork #131](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-artwork/pull/131) · Commit: [gtk4/theme: update dropdown menu contrast and treeview selection styles](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-artwork/pull/131/commits/3667413)
+
+---
+
+## Challenges & How I Overcame Them
+
+- **Challenge:** Tracking down `Gtk.Window.destroy()` calls that failed silently without throwing immediate errors.  
+  **Solution:** In GTK4, calling `destroy()` on a window doesn't raise an exception immediately in all code paths—it either crashes on the next frame render or silently corrupts the widget tree. I ran a full text scan across all Python files and cross-referenced the class hierarchy for every call site to confirm whether the receiver was a `Gtk.Window` subclass or a data object.
+
+- **Challenge:** Adapting to GTK4 CSS node name changes for dropdown menus and popovers.  
+  **Solution:** GTK4 renamed many internal CSS node names. The `GtkComboBox` drop-down list used to be styled with `.combo .popup`, but in GTK4 it renders as a `GtkPopover` with `popover.menu` node hierarchy. I used the GTK Inspector during local runs to inspect the exact node names applied by the runtime and wrote target rules accordingly.
+
+---
+
+## Key Learnings
+
+- GTK4 removed `Gtk.Window.destroy()` entirely. The correct replacement is `Gtk.Window.close()` which sends the delete event through the normal lifecycle and allows the window to clean up.
+- `GtkDropDown` in GTK4 does not share CSS node names with `GtkComboBox` from GTK3. Both require separate selector rules in a GTK4 theme stylesheet.
+
+---
+
+## Next Week's Roadmap
+
+- Run extensive end-to-end testing across all shell views (Home Screen, Journal, Control Panel, Frame) under Casilda to find any remaining regressions.
+- Prepare a video walkthrough of the new GTK4 shell running natively on Wayland to share progress with the community.
+
+---
+
+## Resources & References
+
+- Sugar Shell Repository - [sugar](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar)
+- GTK4 Toolkit Library - [sugar-toolkit-gtk4](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-toolkit-gtk4)
+- Documentation - [Read the Docs](https://sugar-toolkit-gtk4.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
+- GTK4 Migration Guide - [GNOME Docs](https://docs.gtk.org/gtk4/migrating-3to4.html)
+- PyPI Package - [sugar-toolkit-gtk4](https://pypi.org/project/sugar-toolkit-gtk4/)
+- Sugar Ext Repository - [sugar-ext](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-ext)
+- Casilda Compositor - [Casilda](https://gitlab.gnome.org/jpu/casilda/-/tree/main?ref_type=heads)
+- Sugar Artwork Repository - [sugar-artwork](https://github.com/sugarlabs/sugar-artwork)
+
+---
+
+## Acknowledgments
+
+Special thanks to my mentors Krish Pandya, Ibiam Chihurumnaya, Walter Bender, and Juan Pablo Ugarte for their continued guidance and support!