Bug 643450

Created attachment 468386 [details]
Possible patch to address the issue in metacity

What happens is that metacity uses the same state file each time, named after the SM client-id which remains.

gnome-session removes 'old' the state file after the app has saved its state but metacity uses the same so its state file is removed by the session manager and the state is not restored (thus the position and workspace of running windows is not restored).

TBH this is really a gnome-session issue, it should have been addressed by that commit upstream:

  http://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-session/commit/?id=3e346957cebcbf9e747757d2d649329266743afc

That patch is already in gnome-session 2.28.0 in el6, but unfortunately it does not seem to work as expected and the state file is really removed by gnome-session (the discard_exec hash should prevent this, but it does not, I am investing this as to why it does not work as expected).

This patch here is for metacity (although again, this is a gnome-session issue, not metacity), and is mainly a proof of concept, it allows for --sm-save-file and --sm-client-id to be used simultaneously in metacity.
 
Initially metacity allows for only --sm-client-id or --sm-save-file to be used and name its save state file after the client-id.
 
Other GNOME applications using eggsmclient use a  different state file each time, so that the new one does not get removed along  with the old state file.

It works well and the session is properly restored, but YYMV and a proper fix in gnome-session might be preferable.

This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for
inclusion in the current release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Because the affected component is not scheduled to be updated 
in the current release, Red Hat is unfortunately unable to 
address this request at this time.  This request has been 
proposed for the next release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
If you would like it considered as an exception in the 
current release, please ask your support representative.

This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for
inclusion in the current release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Because the affected component is not scheduled to be updated
in the current release, Red Hat is unfortunately unable to
address this request at this time. Red Hat invites you to
ask your support representative to propose this request, if
appropriate and relevant, in the next release of Red Hat
Enterprise Linux. If you would like it considered as an
exception in the current release, please ask your support
representative.

suggest we either WONTFIX this or dupe it with bug 664516 which, when fixed, will render the patch in attachment 468386 [details] unnecessary

This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for
inclusion in the current release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Because the affected component is not scheduled to be updated
in the current release, Red Hat is unable to address this
request at this time.
    
Red Hat invites you to ask your support representative to
propose this request, if appropriate, in the next release of
Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for
inclusion in the current release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Because the affected component is not scheduled to be updated
in the current release, Red Hat is unable to address this
request at this time.

Red Hat invites you to ask your support representative to
propose this request, if appropriate, in the next release of
Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

After thorough deliberation, this bugzilla is not planned on being addressed in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 time frame.