Re: [Evolution] Keeping states

[Iain Buchanan <iaindb netspace net au>]

Hi,

Thanks for your comments Jeff.  They're interesting.

On Mon, 2005-10-24 at 21:59 -0400, Jeffrey Stedfast wrote:
> On Tue, 2005-10-25 at 09:22 +0930, Iain Buchanan wrote:
> > On Mon, 2005-10-24 at 15:06 +0200, guenther wrote:
> > > * When switching folders, Evo remembers the selected mail and the
> > >   position in the mail list. This even works after closing Evo.
> >
> > no it doesn't.  I know it intends to, but it doesn't do a very good job
> > of it IMHO.  Please don't be upset by this remark, I'm just
> > commenting :)
>
> actually it does, but a particular message is not always in the exact
> same scroll position between sessions (new mail has arrived and perhaps
> the folder is in threaded view, etc).

just to be annoying, no, it doesn't always.  Sometimes it remembers the
scroll position, but sometimes evo reverts to the "top" of the folder.
I notice this because I'm one of those weird people who reads messages
with the newest at the bottom.  Sometimes I leave a folder with the last
message selected (and scrolled to), and when I come back, evo is at the
very top of the list (ie. the oldest email).

> > I would file a bug, but the behaviour is so hard to define anyway, that
> > what should I expect it to do in the first place?
>
> we know it's bugged and how it should behave...

I suspected as much :)  At least its improving.

> > >   Caveat: Unfortunately Evo remembers the *scroll* position only and
> > >   will return to that position. If you get a lot of new mails in
> > >   between, the selected mail can scroll out of the visible area of the
> > >   list view.
> >
> > why?  wouldn't it make more sense to remember the specific selected
> > email?
>
> it does, but we also save the scroll position because you may have
> selected a message but then scrolled to the top/bottom/to some other
> message and then switched folders and when you switch back, you'd expect
> it to be in the same place (and not scrolled back to the selected
> message).

ah I see, so it not only remembers the selected message, but also the
scroll position, which can mean the selected message header isn't
visible in the thread list... hmm...

It would be nice to have an option to forget all this
last-message-selected and remember-scroll-position stuff, and just have
evo always go to the very last, (or very first) message in the folder,
no matter what.

IMHO that would be easier and a better compromise for remembering state.
However, MHO is not everyone elses!!

> anyways, suffice it to say that because of the weird way in which the
> ETable widget tries to outsmart the programmer's intent, it doesn't
> always work the way we mailer guys intended the message-list state
> saving/restoration to work.
>
> Luckily I've left the project and so I don't have to fix it :p

ha

> > > * Searches are saved on a per folder basis and remembered, when getting
> > >   back to that folder.
> >
> > yes, this works and works well.  Unfortunately, it works a little to
> > well, and sometimes I wonder where all my emails have gone, only to
> > notice a search is active.  I guess thats a PEBKAC though...
>
> of all the state that is remembered between sessions, I think this one
> is the one most likely to annoy people because of the reason you just
> described.

At least it's consistent!
-- 
Iain Buchanan <iaindb netspace net au>