[haiku-development] Re: Typeahead Filtering in Tracker
- From: Stephan Assmus <superstippi@xxxxxx>
- To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:55:43 +0100
Michael Lotz wrote:
> Hi There
>
> Since I've implemented filtering in Tracker.NewFS back then I've become
> severely dependent on this feature. I'm always a bit lost when I want to
> navigate my music, mails and other such collections under Haiku, because
> I usually keep them all in one folder and then use filtering to get to
> where I want.
>
> The implementation in Tracker.NewFS was pretty simple and only took the
> filename into account, but it was enough (depends on your file naming
> schema). Since working on the typeahead feature recently I wanted to
> extend that into typeahead filtering that would be full fledged filtering
> based on all visible attributes.
>
> Therefore I have prepared the attached patch that takes more or less the
> same approach I took for Tracker.NewFS, reusing the VSPoseList that
> stores the visible poses in icon mode, but is completely unused in list
> mode. The patch changes list mode to also use the VSPoseList which then
> contains the filter result.
>
> I'm not checking this in directly, because it is a rather extensive patch
> and also brings a few usability concerns I'm not really sure how to best
> move forward with. I would be glad if some of you could apply and test
> this patch and give some feedback.
>
> Usage: Filtering can either be turned "always on" through the preference
> "Always Filter in Typeahead Search" under "Window" (defaults to off), or
> filtering mode can be entered through a key. When filtering is always on,
> starting a typeahead search automatically filters instead of selecting
> the best match. If automatic filtering is not activated one has to press
> (the arbitrarily choosen) "*" (asterisk) key to enter filtering mode and
> then just type ahead to start filtering. I've modified the count view to
> also show the count when filtering, to give feedback as to how many
> entries still match.
>
> Filtering mode is not left automatically in the way normal typeahead is
> but stays on until you either press escape or remove all characters from
> the typeahead buffer by backspace. This is to allow apps that communicate
> with Tracker to make use of the filtering feature. You could for example
> filter for a certain set of mails and then use the next/previous buttons
> in mail to navigate only this filtered set.
>
> I've found that a pretty intuitive way of working, but I'd really like to
> hear from others as well. So please feel invited to test and comment. If
> we can agree that we want this feature and the implementation is
> reasonable for now, I would like to go ahead and commit this patch.
I just tried it and I think the feature is pretty neat. The flow of it is
nice, how you can press * within the timeout of using the normal type
ahead. That the info view keeps displaying the typing is nice too, but as
the only visual indication, it may be a bit too easy to miss. On the other
hand it's pretty hard to enter filtering by accident. I like the "Action"
section in Ubuntu/Nautilus. If we had something like that we could use it
here ("Exit Filtering" button).
That all being said, I can understand Alexandre's concerns about not
messing too much with Tracker before the refactoring. If it were for me, I
would not have anything against the feature, I think it's nicely done,
although you have to know it's there in the first place. Maybe I need to
use it a few more days to become emotional about it... :-)
BTW, I just noticed a bug with normal type-ahead: If you hit a pose which
is already selected, then it isn't scrolled into view if it's outside.
Best regards,
-Stephan
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