Re: Split/dual pane view again (but this time with code)

[John Keller <gnome johnkeller com>]

Alexander Larsson wrote:
> On Mon, 2009-03-09 at 10:14 +0100, John Keller wrote:
> > Alexander Larsson wrote:
> >
> > > > Plus, as I wrote in the other thread, Ctrl+Tab is already used in 
> > > > Nautilus - and inconsistently, as well (inconsistent within Nautilus, 
> > > > and by a strict reading of that same quoted HIG phrase, inconsistent 
> > > > with the HIG too).
> > > Well, if by "used in nautilus" you mean "has the same behaviour in
> > > nautilus as in any other Gtk+ app".
> > What I meant was what I outlined in a previous email. The Ctrl-Tab 
> > behavior depends on the combination of browser vs. folder and list vs. 
> > icon view:
>
> I replied to this in the other mail. Its the same behaviour as in any
> other Gtk+ app with the same widgets.
>
> > * browser: Ctrl-Tab works until it ends up in the button bar, where it 
> > just changes between buttons and never returns to file display (file 
> > display in icon or list view)
>
> This is not the whole truth. This is the toolbar ctrl-tab behaviour, but
> its only if the toolbar is focused. Then ctrl-tab switches to the
> widget-internal focus chain. If you normal-tab to another widget then
> you get out and can ctrl-tab in that widget.
>
> > * folder view + icon view: focus alternates between little folder button 
> > in lower-left corner and file display
> > * folder view + list view: focus alternates between little folder button 
> > in lower-left corner and list headers, but never returns to file display
> >
> > This is what I meant by internal (in)consistency (internal to Nautilus).
>
> I think you have a weird definition of consistency. Tab walks the focus
> chain (w/ ctrl in different way). The various things you list above have
> different sets of widgets and thus different tab chains. But the tab
> behaviour wrt the tab chain is consistent, i.e. it behaves as in any
> other app/window with a similar set of widgets/tab chain. What you seem
> to want instead is for "tab" to be a per-app specified operation that
> does special things depending on the application, independently on the
> current set of widgets and the tab chain in the app.

OK, well I guess I understand better. Actually, I wasn't trying to mix 
up the idea of Ctrl-Tab as a special key and Ctrl-Tab consistency in my 
comments above. I just had interpreted the behavior I outlined above as 
inconsistency (especially in the icon view vs. list view of the folder 
view, since one of the two returns focus back to the main view and the 
other doesn't).

I'll stop with comment about consistency, my goal wasn't meant to 
request something weird. But I do think that if I had this hard of a 
time understanding the proper behavior of Ctrl-Tab, there's likely 
others as well. (Not Nautilus, more generally.) Though, as I say, I do 
finally understand; thanks for your time.

- John