Selecting windows taskbar menu application item starts new duplicate process instead of activating application

[lostminds]

Tested versions

4.3b3

System information

WIndows 10

Issue description

In the windows task bar you can right-click to bring up a menu with options (like open windows, closing etc). This top item in this menu shows the application name and selecting this item usually activates and brings the application to the front if it's running.

However, for Godot exported application (including the Godot editor) selecting this top item instead starts a new duplicate process, which I think is both unintentional and unexpected. It also effectively allows you to run multiple instances of all exported Godot windows applications, which they're likely not designed to allow.

Steps to reproduce

• Run an exported Godot application on windows (including the Godot editor)
• Right click the icon in the task bar to bring up the menu
• Select the top item and observe a new duplicate copy of the application being started.

Minimal reproduction project (MRP)

Just the editor is required, or any exported windows project.

[lostminds]

There's also the same / similar issue if you try to open a file with a running Godot application. Instead of activating the running application as expected and in some way sending the dropped file to the process (not supported yet?) a new duplicate process is started instead.

As if in both these cases the existing running Godot game process the event should be directed to is disregarded and instead a new duplicate game process is started. This second case (opening an associated file) also duplicates the process on macOS.

The same issue exists with the Godot editor. Just try double-clicking a .godot project file on macOS while the editor is running and it'll start a new separate Godot editor process so you now have two Godot editors running editing the same project if it was already open.

[Calinou]

I believe this is what all apps on Windows do if they don't enforce having a single instance active. Try it with other apps that allow having multiple instances open.

[lostminds]

I believe this is what all apps on Windows do if they don't enforce having a single instance active. Try it with other apps that allow having multiple instances open.

I see, I didn't see it in any other windows applications I tried it with, but that might be since all the application I tried were single-instance ones. On macOS it is however very unusual and unexpected to have multiple copies of the same application running (for processes visible to the user in the dock). Perhaps the issue then is that the exported Godot applications do not enforce having a single instance? Or at least should have an option to do so?

[lostminds]

If this is then by design, it might not be a bug even if it was unexpected to me.

I've opened a proposal for allowing exported games to be restricted to a single process instance, so unless you wish to keep this issue open for discussion feel free to close it.

[bruvzg]

There's also the same / similar issue if you try to open a file with a running Godot application. Instead of activating the running application as expected and in some way sending the dropped file to the process (https://github.com/godotengine/godot-proposals/issues/10195) a new duplicate process is started instead.

That's pretty much macOS exclusive behavior, the normal way to open files on Windows is running a new instance with the file name as command line argument. Dropping files is a completely unrelated process.

[KoBeWi]

btw the behavior is different depending if the app is pinned or not, at least on Windows 10.