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Find/replace overlay: improve switching between find and replace input fields #2161

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2 tasks done
Tracked by #2021
HeikoKlare opened this issue Aug 5, 2024 · 3 comments · May be fixed by #2515
Open
2 tasks done
Tracked by #2021

Find/replace overlay: improve switching between find and replace input fields #2161

HeikoKlare opened this issue Aug 5, 2024 · 3 comments · May be fixed by #2515
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enhancement New feature or request

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@HeikoKlare
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HeikoKlare commented Aug 5, 2024

Let's make sure issue is not already fixed in latest builds first.

Suggestion

From a fresh installation and clean workspace:

  • open a text editor
  • open the find/replace overlay via CTRL+F / CMD+F
  • open the replace bar (if not yet open) via CTRL+R / CMD+R
  • try to navigate from find input field to replace input field via pressing TAB

You have to tab through all the search options before reaching the replace input field.

I would like to be able to directly navigate between find and replace input fields via a single keyboard interaction (a single TAB press), as this is (in my opinion) the most important navigation scenario.

I see options how to improve this:

  1. Change the tab order by having replace input field right after search input field before navigating through the option buttons.
  2. Use a different way of keyboard interaction to navigate through the options and the input fields (such as tab for the input fields and Alt+Tab for the option or the like).

Acknowledgements

This proposal is based on a finding by Andreia Schoknecht and Lukas Kolender in a test session performed at SAP. Thank you for testing and reporting!

Community

  • I understand suggesting an enhancement doesn't mandate anyone to implement it. Other contributors may consider this suggestion, or not, at their own convenience. The most efficient way to get it fixed is that I implement it myself and contribute it back as a good quality patch to the project.
@thomasritter
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I just received more internal customer feedback from regular users regarding this. So, this is really something we should improve. I would recommend option 1. This is how it behaves in Intellij/VS Code.

@Madjosz
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Madjosz commented Oct 7, 2024

Option 1. is also how the old find/replace dialog behaved so it should definitely be implemented this way.

@ronso0
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ronso0 commented Oct 9, 2024

While 1. would be the obvious fix, here's another idea (unconventional, I know):

  1. reuse Ctrl+F/R, keep the tab order
    • Ctrl+R in Find field: show Replace row. If already visible -> focus Replace field
    • Ctrl+R in Replace field: hide Replace row
    • Ctrl+F in Find field: close dialog
    • Ctrl+F in Replace field: focus Find field

HeikoKlare added a commit to HeikoKlare/eclipse.platform.ui that referenced this issue Nov 12, 2024
The FindReplaceOverlay currently uses the default focus order. When
tabbing through the widgets, this means that when starting from the find
input field you have to tab over all the search options before coming to
the replace input field. Since the most often used navigation is between
the two input fields for find and replace, they should come after each
other in the focus order.

This change adapts the focus order of the involved elements:
- Tab between find and replace input field
- Tab between replace input field and the tools (starting from the
search tools)
- Tab between search/close and replace search tools (instead of coming
from search/close tools to the replace input field)

Fixes eclipse-platform#2161
HeikoKlare added a commit to HeikoKlare/eclipse.platform.ui that referenced this issue Nov 12, 2024
The FindReplaceOverlay currently uses the default focus order. When
tabbing through the widgets, this means that when starting from the find
input field you have to tab over all the search options before coming to
the replace input field. Since the most often used navigation is between
the two input fields for find and replace, they should come after each
other in the focus order.

This change adapts the focus order of the involved elements:
- Tab between find and replace input field
- Tab between replace input field and the tools (starting from the
search tools)
- Tab between search/close and replace search tools (instead of coming
from search/close tools to the replace input field)

Fixes eclipse-platform#2161
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4 participants