Re: Keyboard navigation- outstanding issues

[Owen Taylor <otaylor redhat com>]

"Padraig O'Briain" <Padraig Obriain sun com> writes:

> > Well, having collated the responses I got on- and off-list, predictably
> > enough, there was some difference of opinion  :o)  However, here's a
> > summary of what consensus there was:
> > 
> > Issue 1: Most support was shown for the idea of allowing the developer
> > to choose whether tab characters should be allowed in individual text
> > entry fields or not, by means of a flag or similar.  If they're allowed,
> > Tab key inserts a tab character, and [Shift+]Ctrl+Tab navigates out of
> > the field.  If they're not allowed, [Shift+]Tab and [Shift+]Ctrl+Tab
> > both navigate out of the field.  Default should be 'not allowed'.  
> > (Perhaps should be 'tab characters allowed' for multiline fields?)
> > 
> > Problem: This would presumably mean an unplanned gtk patch :o)
>
> I am working on a patch to GtkEntry and GtkTextView for this. Implementation of 
> [Shift]Ctrl+Tab will depend on a previous patch for changing the behavior of 
> GtkNotebook being accepted.

Well, the patch adding the magic "supports-focus-out" data keys is
_not_ going to be accepted. But we can add something to the same
effect, if that's necessary.

It seems to me that from a accessibility/useability standpoint,
saying:

 Ctrl-Tab means focus-next-tab within the notebook unless you
 are inside an entry with tabs allowed or inside a GtkTextView
 in which case it means "really focus the next widget".

Is rather strange. I would think we shoulddecide on a single meaning
for Ctrl-Tab and find some other key shortcut for the other use.
But maybe that's just "it must be logical" programmer think.
 
> The default behavior for GtkTextView is allow_tab_character so I will assume 
> that is the correct default for multiline fields.

I'm a little confused; GtkTextView doesn't have a allow_tab_character
property or anything equivalent. Do you mean "the only behavior
for GtkTextView currently is to allow tabs so if we add
a allow_tab_character property it should default to TRUE?
 
Regards,
                                        Owen