fix-14818-search-panel-startup

[Kartikkdg05]

User description

Closes #14818

Side pane visibility is now restored from user preferences on startup.
Previously, panes such as Web Search could reopen even after being closed.

Now, side panes open or stay closed exactly as the user left them.

Steps to test

Started JabRef with a fresh configuration

Closed Web Search, restarted → stays closed

Opened Web Search, restarted → opens again

if user kept the web search on before exiting Jabref

if not then,

Mandatory checks

• I own the copyright of the code submitted and I license it under the MIT license
• I manually tested my changes in running JabRef (always required)
• [/] I added JUnit tests for changes (if applicable)
• I added screenshots in the PR description (if change is visible to the user)
• [/] I described the change in CHANGELOG.md in a way that is understandable for the average user (if change is visible to the user)
• I checked the user documentation: Is the information available and up to date? If not, I created an issue at https://github.com/JabRef/user-documentation/issues or, even better, I submitted a pull request updating file(s) in https://github.com/JabRef/user-documentation/tree/main/en.

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PR Type

Bug fix

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Description

• Removed WEB_SEARCH from default visible side panes on startup

• Added validation to prevent empty pane visibility from overwriting preferences

• Ensures side panes respect user's last session state correctly

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Diagram Walkthrough

flowchart LR
  A["Default Panes Config"] -->|Changed| B["GROUPS only<br/>WEB_SEARCH removed"]
  C["User Preferences"] -->|Load on Startup| D["setAll Method"]
  D -->|Added Validation| E["Skip if Empty<br/>Preserve State"]
  E -->|Result| F["Panes Match<br/>Last Session"]

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File Walkthrough

Relevant files

Bug fix

SidePanePreferences.java Fix default panes and preference restoration logic              jabgui/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/frame/SidePanePreferences.java Removed SidePaneType.WEB_SEARCH from default visible panes, keeping only GROUPS Added null/empty check in setAll() method to prevent overwriting preferences with empty pane sets Ensures user's side pane visibility state is properly restored from previous session +4/-2

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[qodo-free-for-open-source-projects]

PR Compliance Guide 🔍

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🟢	No security concerns identified No security vulnerabilities detected by AI analysis. Human verification advised for critical code.
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[qodo-free-for-open-source-projects]

PR Code Suggestions ✨

Explore these optional code suggestions:

Category	Suggestion	Impact
Possible issue	✅ Allow user to have no panes Suggestion Impact: The commit partially implemented the suggestion by removing the isEmpty() check that prevented saving empty pane sets (lines 14-16 removed, line 17 simplified). However, the commit did not add the null check for the preferences object that was suggested. code diff: public void setAll(SidePanePreferences preferences) { - if (!preferences.visiblePanes().isEmpty()) { - this.setVisiblePanes(preferences.visiblePanes()); - } + this.setVisiblePanes(preferences.visiblePanes()); this.setPreferredPositions(preferences.getPreferredPositions()); this.webSearchFetcherSelected.set(preferences.getWebSearchFetcherSelected()); Remove the condition preventing an empty set of panes from being saved, as having no visible panes is a valid user preference. Instead, add a null check for the preferences object. jabgui/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/frame/SidePanePreferences.java [71-77] public void setAll(SidePanePreferences preferences) { - if (!preferences.visiblePanes().isEmpty()) { - this.setVisiblePanes(preferences.visiblePanes()); + if (preferences == null) { + return; } + this.setVisiblePanes(preferences.visiblePanes()); this.setPreferredPositions(preferences.getPreferredPositions()); this.webSearchFetcherSelected.set(preferences.getWebSearchFetcherSelected()); } [Suggestion processed] Suggestion importance[1-10]: 7 __ Why: The suggestion correctly identifies that the PR change prevents users from saving a state with no visible side panes, which is a valid user preference, and proposes a fix that respects this user choice.	Medium
Update

[satyambuilds]

Thanks for the clear fix and detailed test steps 👍

One question / suggestion regarding edge cases:

• If a user intentionally closes all side panes, should this empty state be treated as a valid preference and restored on startup?
• Currently, the validation preventing empty pane visibility from overwriting preferences might block that scenario.

If intentional, maybe worth clarifying in code comments or documenting the expected behavior.

Otherwise, the approach looks solid and the manual test steps are clear.

[Kartikkdg05]

@satyambuilds Thanks for pointing this out

Yes, closing all side panes is a valid user choice and should be remembered.
The check is only there to avoid default settings overwriting saved preferences during startup, not to block user actions

[koppor]

If intentional, maybe worth clarifying in code comments or documenting the expected behavior.

Go ahead and update https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/tree/main/docs/requirements. We are trying to improve the documentation there. Don't use AI to create. Think for yourself. I don't want to read AI text coming from a sloppy prompt. I am more efficient when interacting with an AI for myself.

One question / suggestion regarding edge cases:

* If a user intentionally closes _all_ side panes, should this empty state be treated as a valid preference and restored on startup?

Good pattern as newcomer: Create an answer with pros and cons.

Maybe start an old version of JabRef and test it out.

This is not too hard. Really. It's worth the time.

* Currently, the validation preventing empty pane visibility from overwriting preferences might block that scenario.

Unclear text. "might" is speculative. Think. Read the code. Think again. It is NOT a distributed system here. It is a desktop application - and side panes are directly visible. Not much code for toggling. READ AND LEARN. -- Improve your code reading skills.

[Kartikkdg05]

@koppor @Siedlerchr changing the default visible panes is not the correct approach, I’ll undo the default change and rework on the issue

[subhramit]

@satyambuilds kindly refrain from getting involved in projects and discussions you have no idea about, just to experiment with AI or fulfill some "2.5k+ contributions" target. That's really not what open source is supposed to be about. Note that all this activity of yours will be public and can (and will) potentially do more harm than good.

[github-actions]

This pull requests was closed without merging. You have been unassigned from the respective issue #14818. In case you closed the PR for yourself, you can re-open it. Please also check After submission of a pull request in CONTRIBUTING.md.