GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 312609
gcalctool memory register window shouldn't be a top-level window.
Last modified: 2005-09-13 20:01:20 UTC
Please describe the problem: If the current focus is in the gcalctool memory register window, there is no way for the user to get the focus back to the main gcalctool window. Steps to reproduce: 1. 2. 3. Actual results: Expected results: Does this happen every time? Other information: The suggested fix is for F10 in the memory register window to give focus to the main window and display the menubar.
Adding Calum to the Cc: Calum, just want to make sure I'm doing the correct thing here. What is the preferred keystroke to "tab" from one window to another withing a GNOME application?
There are a couple of possibilities here... the first is to blame the window manager :) Alt-F6 ought to switch focus between windows in the same application, but as yet that hasn't been implemented. See bug 94682. Since this is a read-only window anyway, another option might be to essentially implement it as a floating toolbar or palette, so that it doesn't gain focus when it's opened, but only when the user explicitly gives it focus. That might be a bit awkward for screenreader users, though, who presuambly want access to its contents as soon as it's opened. Failing those two ideas, the best compromise I can think of (as long as the register window is purely read-only, with no keyboard focusable elements) would be just to pass any keystrokes from the register window right through to the main calculator window, so you can continue to use the calculator from the keyboard even though the register window retains focus. Have no idea how tricky that would be to implement though :)
Ah, that might interfere with screenreader users too, though... you presumably wouldn't want to pass through the keystrokes that actually allowed those users to read out the contents of the register window. Or maybe that wouldn't be an issue, unfortunately I'm not familiar enough with gnopernicus to say for sure.
Thanks Calum. I think I'm going to leave this until GNOME 2/13/14. At that time, I propose making the memory registers by a menu available in the menu bar. This problem would then go away.
Seems this was just a wetware problem and that Alt-Tab happily will switch between the gcalctool main window and the memory registers window and vica versa. Closing out as not a bug.
Actually that sounds exactly like a bug :) Alt-Tab shouldn't switch between windows in the same application other than top-level windows, and I doubt that the register window should be a top-level window.
Then the bug is that the register window is a top-level window. ;-) There is also bug #162453 which covers another memory register problem. I'll reopen this one and work with you in the GNOME 2.13/14 timeframe to solve both of them. Changing the summary to be something more appropriate.
Created attachment 52183 [details] Fix. Patch to make the memory register window a dialog rather than a top-level window.
Change checked into CVS HEAD. Version number in configure.in bumped to 5.7.1.