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Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2017 Jan 30, 03:04
by EMathews3
Using the "Copy/Move to destination folder" dialog could be made faster for keyboard, in XP2 3.3.0.2 <U> 10/28/2016.

Problems
  1. Tab-order is out of whack.
  2. The Filter checkbox does not show a visual indicator that it is currently selected.
  3. The Use queue checkbox is in the same option group as the Here and Tab option buttons.
Requests
  1. Change Tab-order to Windows standard:
    • Within the dialog, Tab-order should be Top to Bottom.
    • Within each row , Tab-order should be Left to Right.
  2. On Alt-F, toggle the Filter checkbox and then promote the cursor to the Filter dropdown list.
    This provides visual feedback about which control is selected. Normal indication does not exist because Filter has no label, other than the group-box label, which does not get focus.
  3. When Here or Tab is selected, arrow keys should select and activate the other option, and should not move control-selection to Use queue.
Suggestions - Enhance UI to be more useful:
  • After Alt-H, promote cursor/control-selection to the Here combo box. Unsure if clicking the Here option button should also promote.
  • After Alt-T, promote cursor/control-selection to the Tab dropdown list. Unsure if clicking the Tab option button should also promote.

    On second thought, there will be no need for this suggestion when pressing the Tab key promotes selection as expected, from the option buttons rightward to the text controls.

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2017 Feb 01, 07:32
by nikos
I suppose there is room for improvement !

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2017 Feb 02, 06:38
by dunno
nikos wrote: ↑2017 Feb 01, 07:32 I suppose there is room for improvement !
*Sputters on his Rum*, "suppose ?" :bigsmile:

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2017 Feb 02, 07:14
by Kilmatead
dunno wrote:Sputters on his Rum
Well, even a grudging acceptance of a man's inevitable fate feels like a tonne of bricks on the chest - give Nikos a break, he's slowly learning to listen to other people, as painful as that is for him.

He's spent so much of his life denying the reality of his users, think of what his response would have been just a few short years ago! :twisted:

Remember, this is the century where even lipservice is viewed as progress on the world political stage... so baby-steps are huge leaps of imagination for some. :wink:

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2017 Mar 10, 09:16
by nikos
now I realize WHY the dialog was strange, it was because of the RADIO buttons!
now it doesn't behave properly... so bugfix release will follow :mad:

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2017 Apr 28, 17:49
by EMathews3
Whee! This is VASTLY improved in 3.4.0.1 (skipped a release or two since posting). :D Muuuch easier to use. THANK YOU!

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2019 Jul 04, 14:16
by EMathews3
Next round.

1. When the Opposite pane option button and textbox are greyed out, it is still possible to set focus to the textbox, by either clicking in there or tab-keying into there. The field correctly does not accept input, but it should not accept focus either.

2. Wishing to swap the positions of Here and Tab. It's quicker / easier to pick a destination from a visible Tab than to go digging in the Browse For Folder dialog. This swap would cut out unnecessary clicks / Tab-key / Alt-T and leave just the Down-Arrow to pick the target. Moving that navigation effort to the Here option ... umm

OR, take the Most Recently Used targets when Copying/Moving to a tab and add them to the Here dropdown.
As in, include the visible Tabs in the Here dropdown.
A super-complete solution would make this stuff user-configurable.

3. When the Here and Tab option buttons receive focus, they should immediately push the focus to the corresponding dropdown. This will cut out a spurious click / Tab-key, so that Down-Arrow can be used right away to select the destination.

4. Alt-F should do more than just send focus to the Filter checkbox. As it is now, the dotted focus rectangle around the checkbox is invisible. Alt-F should toggle the state of the checkbox just like clicking it does. Also, checking the box "on" should push focus to the Filter dropdown.

5. When these dropdowns receive focus automatically from their corresponding option button / checkbox, they should automatically open to display their contents. The Tab dropdown already opens when it is clicked on; not sure why the other two don't do that already.

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2019 Jul 04, 23:29
by johngalt
Have to say that E's analysis is spot on. It would work so much better if these were enacted.

One further enhancement would be to allow tabs from the opposite pane to be selected as well.

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2019 Jul 05, 06:41
by nikos
i'll see what can be improved for the next version

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2020 Jul 23, 16:27
by EMathews3
Next round, using xp2 4.4.0.1 Ultimate x64.

When in Dual Pane view, Edit -> 'Copy to' and 'Move to' both open the dialog box to select the destination. But Ctrl-F5 and Ctrl-F6 simply assume the other pane as the destination, and perform the operation without further prompting. This is great. But I wish this convenience could be extended to include 'the other tab' when it makes sense.

For example, in Single Pane view with only one other tab open, the same shortcut would be very useful. Edit -> 'Copy to' and 'Move to' would open the dialog box as usual. But Ctrl-F5 and Ctrl-F6 should assume the other tab as the destination, and perform the operation immediately, without any dialog. This would be even better than moving the Tab dropdown list in the Copy/Move dialog above the Here dropdown, because it substitues the Tab dropdown for the Opposite Pane default selection when there is no Opposite Pane.

Moving files around using two tabs makes more sense than using two xp2 windows, since only tabs within the app are needed, and no other apps are used. Ctrl+Alt+Left_Arrow and Ctrl+Alt+Right_Arrow quickly shift focus to the other tab, but Alt+Tab to shift between windows is just distracting.

Finally figured out navigation using Tab and Shift+Tab; they are not just reverse directions of each other, as is standard. Instead, Tab moves focus between Panes. (When there is only one Pane, I can't see *where* Tab moves focus to.) Shift+Tab moves focus to the Folders/Tree pane (and the next Shift+Tab again moves focus to, like, nowhere). Anyway, moving focus between the Folders/Tree pane and (the current) Folder/Files pane using Tab and Shift+Tab is reasonable enough.

Re: Copy/Move dialog UI Nitpicks

Posted: 2020 Jul 24, 09:08
by nikos
are you looking for the global optimum efficiency out of copy dialogs? :)
there's always the risk that people will press the wrong key and end up scratching their heads exactly what happened

as for cycling the panes, there are the commands with ID 33525-6 (type PANE in the command finder) that do true pane cycling forward and backward. If you assign keyboard shortcuts to them, you can jump panes without thinking too much (trading precision for ease of use)