GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 775370
Arrow left/right for closing/opening threads
Last modified: 2016-12-06 23:04:38 UTC
Right now navigating a threaded message list is done by holding down the shift key and using the left and right arrow keys, which also expands and collapses the thread if at the first or last message. I am requesting that the requirement to hold down the shift key go away and these features work with just the bare arrow keys. Other clients that work this way include Thunderbird and Apple Mail--two popular and widely-used programs. Here is the answer the inevitable question "what is wrong with shift-arrow keys?" - It's not discoverable in the UI at all - It's not necessary since the left and right arrow keys don't do anything in this context without a modifier key set Basically just get rid of the requirement that the shift key be held down and the problem magically vanishes, and the message list conforms to how Thunderbird and Apple Mail behave. Note: I am aware this has been requested and vetoed in the past (bugs 651917 and 220627; I am deliberately filing an duplicate in order to present new information to hopefully persuade the developers why this enhancement is desirable.
Thanks for a (duplicate) bug report. The bug #220627 is more a question, the reporter wasn't sure for what the left/right arrows are. The bug #651917 discusses actual change to use plain left/right arrows to expand/collapse a node/thread. The main argument is at the end of the bug #651917 comment #6, the current state is consistent with GtkTreeView, a standard gtk+ widget which also provides tree-like view. If the evolution diverges from this, and even replaces its own widget for the message list with the standard GtkTreeView, then it'll mean more work to teach the GtkTreeView about the plain left/right arrows, what they should do, but more importantly, this functionality would be surely forgotten in the time. In any case, it can be changed, added as an addition to the shift+arrows, when the cursor mode is to select whole line, not respective columns. The next time, feel free to comment on the rejected bug reports, such can be reopened.
Created commit b22d4cb in evo master (3.23.3+) Created commit d33dca8 in evo gnome-3-22 (3.22.3+)
Thank you very much for fixing this! I have also filed a bug against GtkTreeView so that other programs using it (e.g. baobab) can get the same benefit for free: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=775731