[Bug 160013] New: Inform user if and why OpenCL had to be turned turned off

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=160013

            Bug ID: 160013
           Summary: Inform user if and why OpenCL had to be turned turned
                    off
           Product: LibreOffice
           Version: 5.3.0.3 release
          Hardware: All
                OS: All
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Keywords: needsUXEval
          Severity: normal
          Priority: medium
         Component: LibreOffice
          Assignee: libreoffice-bugs at lists.freedesktop.org
          Reporter: stephane.guillou at libreoffice.org
                CC: libreoffice-ux-advise at lists.freedesktop.org
            Blocks: 97391, 102187

Since 5.3[1], we have automatic tests to decide if OpenCL is safe to use.

However, the user is not informed of if and why "Tools > Options > LibreOffice
> OpenCL > Allow use of OpenCL" was turned off after turning it on and
restarting - regardless of the reason (tests failed, not on device whitelist,
OpenCL not installed...).
The only way to find out it was actually turned back off is to go back to the
dialog.

We don't want to bother the user with too much information, but silently
turning off what the user turned on is poor UX (and makes troubleshooting
difficult).

We have reports about this issue:
- bug 103580 on macOS
- bug 106162 on Linux
- bug 133449 on Windows

And on ask.LO:
- https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/opencl-could-not-be-enabled/25011
- https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/unable-to-activate-opencl/45714

If the option remains exposed in the UI[2], the UX needs improving. Because
OpenCL might be updated (or even just installed!) after LO was installed, I
think it's OK to keep the workflow of automatically turning off after a check.
However, we'd also need:
- so the user is aware that it did not work, a dialog at startup with the
message:

"OpenCL was turned off because:
<reason XYZ>"

- In the Options dialog, a message like:

"Last attempt to use OpenCL failed: <reason XYZ>."

A link to a full log of failed tests would also be useful (similar to what we
have for Skia since 7.6 for bug 155070). We have relevant user profile files
opencl_profile.xml and opencl_devices.log[3], but I understand they are only
available if OpenCL was able to be used.

Easy access to a short error message, + a full log with useful info, would be
useful for the user to solve the issue themself (e.g. OpenCL not installed) or
for QA to more efficiently troubleshoot.

[1]: https://meeksfamily.uk/~michael/blog/2017-02-01-under-the-hood-5-3.html
[2]: because of poor support on e.g. macOS, it has been suggested to remove the
option from the GUI. See bug 103580 comment 12
[3]: see 8d3dd678bf9fd50a736cc0ff956f1efd7e660502 for bug 99453, and
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/FirstSteps#Computation-related_issues_in_Calc_(_OpenCL_)


Referenced Bugs:

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=97391
[Bug 97391] [META] OpenCL and "Software Interpreter" issues in Calc
https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=102187
[Bug 102187] [META] Options dialog bugs and enhancements
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