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Bug 170546 - No way of switching current folder into/out of browser mode
No way of switching current folder into/out of browser mode
Status: RESOLVED OBSOLETE
Product: nautilus
Classification: Core
Component: [obsolete] Spatial Mode
2.10.x
Other All
: Normal enhancement
: ---
Assigned To: Nautilus Maintainers
Nautilus Maintainers
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2005-03-16 10:37 UTC by Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)
Modified: 2012-07-20 15:15 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: Unversioned Enhancement



Description Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) 2005-03-16 10:37:16 UTC
Distribution/Version: Ubuntu Hoary

Build: Nautilus 2.10.0, Ubuntu Hoary preview

To reproduce:
*   Open a folder window in normal mode, and try to change it to browser mode.
*   Open a folder window in browser mode, and try to change it to normal mode.

Expected results:
*   You can.

Actual results:
*   You can't.

Workaround for changing to browser mode:
1.  Choose "File" > "Open Parent".
2.  In the new window, the folder you were viewing is selected automatically.
    Choose "File" > "Browse Folder".
3.  Close the original window.
4.  Close the parent window.

Workaround for changing to normal mode:
*   None.

Suggested implementation:
1.  Add an item to Nautilus's "View" menu as follows.
    ------------------------
      as Icons       Ctrl+1
      as List        Ctrl+2
      ...
      as Browser     Ctrl+0
    ------------------------
2.  When "as Browser" is selected:
    -   Change the window size and position to the last-used size and position
        for a browser window (appropriately offset if that browser window is
        currently open, so as not to appear exactly on top).
    -   Change the view in the window to browser mode.
3.  When browser mode is exited:
    -   Change the window size and position to that remembered for the folder
        that is currently open in the browser window.
    -   Change the view to that selected.

The interface is conceptually simplest if the Browser view is mutually exclusive
with the Icons, List etc views. This is the case, for example, with the column
browser in Mac OS X.
Comment 1 Daniel Borgmann 2005-04-02 02:05:27 UTC
I don't think that the lines between spatial folders and the browser should be
blurred in such a way.
The first problem (opening current folder in browser) is very much related to
the general problem, that menu options for a folder are only available from the
icon's context menu, but not from the folder window itself. This is a frequently
discussed topic and maybe there will be a solution for it. One obvious
possibility would be to allow the entries in the File menu to act on the current
folder, if no other file is selected. Then you could just use "Browse Folder"
and maybe it should automatically close the current folder window.
Another downside of your approach would be, that you couldn't chose between Icon
and List view in the browser anymore.
Comment 2 Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) 2005-04-02 04:08:33 UTC
I think any blurring is avoided by the window sizes/positions in steps 2 and 3.

> ... related to the general problem, that menu options for a folder are only
> available from the icon's context menu, but not from the folder window itself.

It's only related while the browser mode remains a file operation, and that's
what I'm suggesting be changed. I think it's more understandable as a view mode,
because it doesn't open/close/alter anything, it's just a way of viewing folders.
Comment 3 Sitsofe Wheeler 2005-05-02 18:45:00 UTC
Watch out - Ctrl-0 is already taken for "Normal Size" in the HIG
(http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/input-keyboard.html#id2555160
and mentioned in bug #302754 )
Comment 4 Steven Garrity 2005-05-08 16:13:34 UTC
While I agree with the basic premise of this bug (easier way to switch in/out of
browser mode on current folder), I think putting "...as Browser" along side of
"as Icons" and "as List" should be avoided.

Having three different types of "views" like this implies that they are related.
"as Icons" and "as List" do not affect the position or size of the window - only
the arrangements contents. Switching through the views like this might prove
disorienting (NOTE: this is just speculation on my part - I don't have any user
testing to back that up).
Comment 5 Christian Neumair 2005-08-10 07:36:20 UTC
Switching from browser to spatial mode won't be supported. I remember an IRC
discussion where Alex rejected this. Spatial => Browser is supported through the
location button context menu (2.12).
Comment 6 Mantas Kriaučiūnas 2005-12-06 09:06:49 UTC
Why switching from browser to spatial mode won't be supported ?
Comment 7 Paul Bolle 2008-11-24 23:16:05 UTC
(In reply to comment #5)
> Switching from browser to spatial mode won't be supported. I remember an IRC
> discussion where Alex rejected this. Spatial => Browser is supported through the
> location button context menu (2.12).

Well, 2.24 has got a context menu item labelled "Browse Folder". I guess that this bug can now be closed WONTFIX, can't it?

(NOTABUG might be valid too, but suggesting that would make it look like I have an actual opinion in this matter.)

Comment 8 Cosimo Cecchi 2008-11-25 13:09:44 UTC
Right, let's WONTFIX this.
Comment 9 Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) 2008-11-27 20:12:16 UTC
I described the "Browse Folder" workaround in comment 0. Obviously, it's not a pleasant way of switching the view.
Comment 10 Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) 2008-11-27 20:29:47 UTC
To be clear, the problem is that there is no reasonable way of switching the currently open folder into/out of browser mode. That was true in Nautilus 2.10 when I reported this bug, and it's true in Nautilus 2.24.1 now. The problem doesn't have to be fixed using my suggested design, though; it could be fixed some other way that makes more of a distinction between normal/browser and icons/list.

Perhaps an analogy will help. Imagine if the only way to open an application in full-screen mode was to (1) close the application if it was open already, (2) right-click on the application in the Applications menu, and (3) choose "Open Full-Screen" from the context menu. And imagine there was no way to switch back out of full-screen mode, without closing the application and relaunching it the normal way. This is like that. Expecting people to think about what view they want a folder in, *before* they open it, is doing things in the wrong order.
Comment 11 Allan Day 2010-06-22 20:18:14 UTC
Changing component as a part of ongoing bug reorganisation work.

As a side-note: I'm not convinced that this is a good idea at all. Exposing spatial mode to users would be baffling in the extreme.
Comment 12 Cosimo Cecchi 2012-07-20 15:15:46 UTC
Spatial mode was removed for GNOME 3, closing as OBSOLETE