Q:

chrome.extension.getViews() and Extension Options page

If I open a new tab and navigate to chrome-extension://{ext_id}/options.html by typing directly into the address bar the page shows up in the list when I do
chrome.extension.getViews({'tab'})

This is the expected behaviour.
If I [right click] on my extensions "browser_action" action and select "Options" this brings up a new tab with chrome-extension://{ext_id}/options.html as the URL and it shows up in the list when I do
chrome.extension.getViews({'tab'})

Again, this is the expected behavior.
If I click a link on my extensions popup, that navigates to the options page, this opens up a new tab and navigates me to chrome-extension://{ext_id}/options.html. This is the expected behavior.
BUT, there is always a but, for some reason this page does NOT show up in 
chrome.extension.getViews({'tab'})

Even though it is obviously within the context and protocol of the extension. I just don't know what the difference between the FIRST and the LAST scenario is. If anything I would expect the first scenario to fail since the user is manually navigating there, rather than a extensions own popup navigating to the extensions own options page.
I have tried using both 
<a href="options.html" target="_blank"> 
/* and */
<a id="options" target="_blank">
<script>
    document.getElementById('options').href = chrome.extension.getURL('options.html');
</script>
/* This correctly sets the href as chrome-extension://{ext_id}/options.html */

but again the same problem. The extension still runs all its Javascript correctly. I still am able to use chrome.extension functionality correctly. Just the page is not showing up within getViews. I suspect it is a Sandboxing issue, but I can't understand it working for all other situations expect one.
Does anyone know how to either get it to work correctly? or open up the page in a different manner so it will work?
PS: I do not wish to open up the options page within the popup window. I have tested this, and it STILL does not list the page within the getViews but I presume this is because it is no longer a 'tab' but a 'popup'.. But again, its not the behavior I wish.

A:

If it looks like a bug and feels like a bug, then it is probably a bug. In the future, if you think that you're experiencing a bug, don't hesitate reporting it on Chromium's bug tracker at http://crbug.com/new.
I have reported your bug as https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=341459.
A work-around to get your extension page opened from the popup window to show up in chrome.extensions.getView({type: 'tab'}) is to open the tab using chrome.tabs.create:
chrome.tabs.create({
    url: 'options.html'
});

