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Bug 775731 - GtkTreeView should open and close nested items with unmodified arrow keys
GtkTreeView should open and close nested items with unmodified arrow keys
Status: RESOLVED OBSOLETE
Product: gtk+
Classification: Platform
Component: Widget: GtkTreeView
3.22.x
Other Linux
: Normal normal
: ---
Assigned To: gtktreeview-bugs
gtktreeview-bugs
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2016-12-06 23:03 UTC by Nate Graham
Modified: 2018-05-02 17:50 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: 3.21/3.22



Description Nate Graham 2016-12-06 23:03:55 UTC
Fedora 25 + GNOME 3.22 + Wayland

Various programs use GtkTreeView to display nested content, like evolution and baobab. One frustration in all of these programs is that keyboard navigation does not open nested items with the unmodified right arrow key, or close nested items with the unmodified left arrow key when the root node is selected. Instead, the shift modifier key must be held down when pushing the relevant arrow key.

There are three problems with this:
1. It's hidden and user-unfriendly; the fact that you need to press the shift key is not documented or exposed anywhere.
2. It's unnecessary; The plain arrow keys aren't doing anything else, so there's no need to bury the functionality behind a modifier key.
3. It's contrary to expectations and the way tree views work in basically every other widget toolkit across every computing platform I've ever used.

Here are two bugs I filed against other programs to implement this, not knowing that GtkTreeView was the culprit:
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=775370
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=731689
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2016-12-07 16:00:25 UTC
Oh and #4: The most commonly used actions should be easiest, most discoverable, and most obvious. I would hazard a guess that thread/node/item navigation is a more common action that viewing potentially non-visible columns, which is what the unmodified arrow keys currently do.
Comment 2 GNOME Infrastructure Team 2018-05-02 17:50:36 UTC
-- GitLab Migration Automatic Message --

This bug has been migrated to GNOME's GitLab instance and has been closed from further activity.

You can subscribe and participate further through the new bug through this link to our GitLab instance: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/issues/717.