Re: [Usability] Single click directory navigation?

[Magnus Bergman <magnusbe algonet se>]

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 16:20:19 -0500
Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu> wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 14, 2003 at 05:19:45PM +0300, Tuomas Kuosmanen wrote:
> > On Sun, 2003-09-14 at 19:03, Magnus Bergman wrote:
> > > Has the idea of single click directory navigation (click once on a
> > > directory to enter it) ever been considered for the FOSA dialog?
> > > This is used in Deluxe Paint and GQView for example and I like it
> > > very much. (I'm lazy and clicking once is half the job of click
> > > twice, right?)
> 
> Not really. Double-clicking comes so naturally to so many that web
> browsers have to ignore the second click. Single-click activation
> becomes costly where selection is desirable.

My explanation was demonstrably not clear enough. My idea is only valid
in the case that there is separate directory and file lists, and that
the dialog is used for selecting one or more files. In that case the
directory list is only used navigating the file system (and I claim that
there is no need to have a directory selected). So single clicking will
change the directory (as well as double clicking like before).

I do not suggest that the behaviour of the file selection list should be
changed in any way.(Well, maybe it would be nice if the selection was
toggled then clicked if multiple selection is enabled, so I don't have
to reach for ctrl. But that's another issue.)

> > > The only drawback I can think of in inconsistency with how lists
> > > usually work. You can not have a directory in the list selected,
> > > but that isn't useful anyway. And double clicking will still
> > > function the same.
> > 
> > Selecting multiple files at once also becomes impossible or hard to
> > do.
> 
> The smalltalk browser widget is a nice way to get single-click and
> multiple selection. It's the widget seen in NeXT and MacOS X with
> multiple list columns.

I will have a look at that.

> However, unlike a tree, multiple selection is limited to a single
> folder. Yet, I think opening multiple files from multiple folders is
> an `occasionally by few' task.

I think such capabilities should not be expected from the dialog by any
application. If that is useful (in a specific application) I think the
application should let the user open files multiple times (once for each
directory).

> P.S. - Magnus, please don't exceed 80 columns when mailing to the
> list.

I'm sorry. 72 was my setting, but I guess the "smart wrapping" feature
of sylpheed didn't quite do it's job. =(