Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection + V#3 Windows scroll bars.

[Chris Good]

Hi Geert,

 

Re Changing GnuCash 3 scrollbars back to typical MS Windows style

 

Thanks for the information.

 

I see from your comment on:
 
<https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Windows#Q:_What_if_I_need_to_change_another_v
isual_aspect.2C_not_covered_by_.22Select_Theme.22.3F> 
https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Windows#Q:_What_if_I_need_to_change_another_vi
sual_aspect.2C_not_covered_by_.22Select_Theme.22.3F :
   To fix [This is not working as written below. The settings.ini file
is partly documented in the gtk api reference, but gnucash is not picking it
up. Perhaps we need to initialize the gtksettings early in the application
run ?]
 

that GnuCash is currently ignoring settings in the GTK3 settings.ini file. I
have tested this is still true.

 

I have raised bug https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=796421 - GTK3
settings.ini not being used

so that hopefully this can be fixed.

 

I see from:
 
<https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/GtkSettings.html#GtkSettings--gtk-p
rimary-button-warps-slider>
https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable/GtkSettings.html#GtkSettings--gtk-pr
imary-button-warps-slider :
   Whichever action you choose for the primary button, the other action
will be available by holding Shift and primary-clicking, or (since GTK+
3.22.25) clicking the middle mouse button.

 

I confirm that I can use shift-left-click or middle-button-click to perform
the desired scrollbar action in Windows 10.

I'll send a less complicated email to gnucash-user to let people know of the
alternative.

 

Regards, Chris Good

 

From: Geert Janssens <geert.gnuc...@kobaltwit.be> 
Sent: Tuesday, 22 May 2018 5:57 PM
To: gnucash-devel@gnucash.org
Cc: David Carlson <david.carlson@gmail.com>; Chris Good
<goodchri...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection + V#3 Windows scroll bars.

 

This is another behavioral change we got "for free" from Gtk3.

 

Luckily this one is configurable [1] by adding

gtk-primary-button-warps-slider = false

to the [Settings] section of gtk3's settings.ini file

 

The location of this file is platform dependent.

 

On systems following the Freedesktop specification (being linux, gnucash on
macports, most bsd's,...) settings.ini should be created (if not exists yet)

in

$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0

$HOME is a special shell variable and refers to your home directory.

For example

/home/someuser/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

 

On Windows this file should reside in

%localappdata%\gtk-3.0

%localappdata% is a special Windows variable and refers to a location to
store local user specific configuration files.

For example

c:\Users\someuser\AppData\Local\gtk-3.0

 

For our OS X/Quartz the settings.ini file will be searched for in

$HOME/Library/Application Support/Gnucash/config/gtk-3.0

Like on linux $HOME refers to your home direcory.

For example

/home/someuser/Library/Application
Support/Gnucash/config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

 

Geert

 

[1] According to this AskUbuntu forum topic:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/295988/how-to-fix-gtk3-scrollbar-behavior

 

Op dinsdag 22 mei 2018 02:47:01 CEST schreef David Carlson:

> I have seen that proportional scrollbar jumping behavior in some other

> Linux applications, and I too dislike it. In very long lists like our

> registers become after a while, it is not easy to scroll several screens
up

> or down frequently. I think that it is a GTK thing. If there is a

> work-around, I would like to know about it.

> 

> David C

> 

> On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 7:36 PM, Chris Good <goodchri...@gmail.com
<mailto:goodchri...@gmail.com> > wrote:

> > [GNC-dev] Register text selection

> > 

> > 

> > Geert Janssens

> > <mailto:gnucash-devel%40gnucash.org?Subject=Re:%

> > 20Re%3A%20%5BGNC-dev%5D%20Re

> > gister%20text%20selection=%3C1925551.

> > T7MvD3KevP%40legolas.kobalt

> > wit.lan%3E> geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be

> > Mon May 21 09:14:29 EDT 2018

> > 

> > _

> > 

> > Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:

> > > I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for

> > 

> > pasting

> > 

> > > selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the

> > > existing preselected text.

> > > 

> > > Currently...

> > > If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is
preselected.

> > > If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in
the

> > > list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the

> > > current open register.

> > > 

> > > If you navigate by keyboard, the next field text is preselected and
the

> > > cursor set to the end of text.

> > > If you navigate by mouse, the text is no

Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[Adrien Monteleone]

David,

I just repeated your steps verbatim and I don’t get the same result.

Note, I’m using 3.1-2 on High Sierra. (Your screenshot looks like 2.6x)

When I start typing ‘12345', the field in focus is the NUM field in the first 
blank transaction in the Checking register and it reflects my typing. (as does 
the status bar.)

Though I don’t understand why you are hitting TAB after cancelling the 
Reconcile Window.

If I don’t hit tab, the focus (and active editing as expected) is on the date 
field in that same transaction. TAB only advances me to the NUM field.

Also, before sending this I remembered I still had 2.6.21 installed. So I 
tested your steps there and sure enough, I get the same result as you.

So, this is fixed in 3.1-2. (or earlier)

Regards,
Adrien

> On May 22, 2018, at 9:40 AM, David T. via gnucash-devel 
> <gnucash-devel@gnucash.org> wrote:
> 
> Dang. The list doesn't like how Mac Mail handles attachments!
> Let's see if this will work...
> 
> 
> 
>  From: David T. via gnucash-devel <gnucash-devel@gnucash.org>
> To: Geert Janssens <geert.gnuc...@kobaltwit.be> 
> Cc: gnucash-devel@gnucash.org
> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 7:21 PM
> Subject: Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection
> 
> Geert,
> 
>> On May 22, 2018, at 1:22 PM, Geert Janssens <geert.gnuc...@kobaltwit.be> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Op maandag 21 mei 2018 19:44:57 CEST schreef David T.:
>>>> On May 21, 2018, at 6:14 PM, Geert Janssens <geert.gnuc...@kobaltwit.be 
>>>> <mailto:geert.gnuc...@kobaltwit.be>>
>>>> wrote:> 
>>>> Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
>>>>> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
>>>>> pasting
>>>>> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
>>>>> existing preselected text.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Currently...
>>>>> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
>>>>> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
>>>>> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
>>>>> current open register.
>>> 
>>> I would like to point out that I find *this* aspect of the register behavior
>>> highly confusing.
>>   
>> I had to re-read the description to get what you guys mean. I have *never* 
>> seen this precise behavior as described by Bob.
>>   
>> When I open gnucash the any keypresses I type before using my mouse will 
>> always go to the currently active tab. If that's a register tab it will 
>> alter the data field as that's the field selected by default.
>>   
>> The only variation I can think of would be if you have configured gnucash to 
>> open each tab in a separate window. I don't do that and haven't tested how 
>> it behaves in that case.
> 
> I am talking about multiple tabs open in one main window.
> 
> Here is the way I can demonstrate the problem.
> 
> Open GnuCash and close all tabs except the main Chart of Accounts.
> 
> Now, in sequence, open:
> 1) Your Checking account
> 2) Your Cash account
> 
> This will result in your GnuCash having the following tabs, in order: 
> Accounts, Checking, Cash.
> 
> Next, click on the Checking account tab.
> Click Reconcile, and OK in the Reconcile Information Window. Next, in the 
> Reconcile window, immediately click Cancel.
> 
> Now, the status bar at the bottom will show the date. Press Tab. Enter a 
> number (like 12345). The status bar will show the number you are entering, 
> ***but the register on screen will NOT show any change.*** This is because 
> the data is going into the Cash tab at the bottom. 
> 
> I am attaching a screen shot of my GnuCash at this particular juncture, which 
> shows: 
> 
> * the Checking account register (as indicated in the title bar at the top)
> * the status bar with my “12345” entry indicated
> * the register itself, which shows NO 12345.
> 
> If I access the Cash tab, the information is there. Interestingly, if one 
> clicks the Cancel button while still viewing the Checking register, there is 
> no effect on the (hidden) transaction that is being edited. You can only 
> cancel the transaction when it is in the current view.
> 
> David T.
> 
> ___
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> 
> 
>  PM.png>___
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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[David T. via gnucash-devel]

Geert,

> On May 22, 2018, at 1:22 PM, Geert Janssens  
> wrote:
> 
> Op maandag 21 mei 2018 19:44:57 CEST schreef David T.:
> > > On May 21, 2018, at 6:14 PM, Geert Janssens  > > >
> > > wrote:> 
> > > Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> > >> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
> > >> pasting
> > >> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> > >> existing preselected text.
> > >> 
> > >> Currently...
> > >> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> > >> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> > >> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> > >> current open register.
> > 
> > I would like to point out that I find *this* aspect of the register behavior
> > highly confusing.
>  
> I had to re-read the description to get what you guys mean. I have *never* 
> seen this precise behavior as described by Bob.
>  
> When I open gnucash the any keypresses I type before using my mouse will 
> always go to the currently active tab. If that's a register tab it will alter 
> the data field as that's the field selected by default.
>  
> The only variation I can think of would be if you have configured gnucash to 
> open each tab in a separate window. I don't do that and haven't tested how it 
> behaves in that case.

I am talking about multiple tabs open in one main window.

Here is the way I can demonstrate the problem.

Open GnuCash and close all tabs except the main Chart of Accounts.

Now, in sequence, open:
1) Your Checking account
2) Your Cash account

This will result in your GnuCash having the following tabs, in order: Accounts, 
Checking, Cash.

Next, click on the Checking account tab.
Click Reconcile, and OK in the Reconcile Information Window. Next, in the 
Reconcile window, immediately click Cancel.

Now, the status bar at the bottom will show the date. Press Tab. Enter a number 
(like 12345). The status bar will show the number you are entering, ***but the 
register on screen will NOT show any change.*** This is because the data is 
going into the Cash tab at the bottom. 

I am attaching a screen shot of my GnuCash at this particular juncture, which 
shows: 

* the Checking account register (as indicated in the title bar at the top)
* the status bar with my “12345” entry indicated
* the register itself, which shows NO 12345.

If I access the Cash tab, the information is there. Interestingly, if one 
clicks the Cancel button while still viewing the Checking register, there is no 
effect on the (hidden) transaction that is being edited. You can only cancel 
the transaction when it is in the current view.

David T.

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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[Geert Janssens]

Op maandag 21 mei 2018 17:33:25 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> Sorry I did not explain the third option very well, have a transaction
> between say "Checking Account" and "Cash in Wallet" with both registers
> open.
> Position the cursor on a transaction somewhere in the "Checking Account",
> go back to the "Cash in Wallet" and edit a transaction between the two and
> commit it.
> If you go back to the "Checking Account" you will find the text highlighted
> where the cursor was.
> 
I don't know if I see the same as you do:
I have opened my checking account and a credit card account side by side.
I click in the description field of the same transaction in both windows. So 
the text cursor (the vertical "caret") is visible in both.
I now choose either window to make a change to the description field (one 
character or complete text makes no difference). After committing the change 
the description in the other window updates as well and the text caret ends up 
at the end of the new description.

So far this looks like expected behavior to me.

On the other hand while digging deeper into something I've hit some kind of a 
race condition: starting from the setup above
- I change the description field text in one window, but don't commit yet
- Then I change the description field text in the other window (to something 
different from the first window) and commit.
=> The description field in the first window remains as I set it in the first 
step while the field in the second window gets updated.
- then I commit the change in the first window
=> The description field in both windows now updates to the value I set in the 
first window.

This has been duly reported by David Carlson in the past:
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=686052

While in itself this is correct behavior it can be very confusing if one of 
the changes happened accidentally. I don't know how hard it would be to catch 
such a situation and warn the user about it. I thought it worth pointing out 
though.

> I had a look at the "Edit Account Dialog" and the "Edit Customer Dialog",
> both do not preselect the first entry when opened and the cursor is at the
> beginning of that entry. When you tab to the next entry it is preselected
> but with the cursor hidden. If you type a letter, the cursor becomes
> visible as usual or if you left arrow it shows at the start or right arrow
> it shows at the end of the text.
> 
I see what you mean. And apparently I didn't fully grasp your original 
question. My replies were based on navigation in general, not what the initial 
state should be when opening a register.

I still believe we should have the selected field highlighted completely when 
first opening. The reasoning behind this is the register is our main data 
entry element so it should be optimized for efficient data entry.

Compare this for example with libreoffice calc. When you open a sheet you can 
start typing immediately. There is an active cell and whatever was in there 
will be replaced. The experience doesn't match 100% with the gnucash register 
because calc uses a dedicated field on top of the page for cell entry in 
addition to direct cell editing and they don't highlight the active cell when 
tabbing into it. I think that's less clear though and I see many new users of 
a spreadsheet getting confused on that. But the point I'm trying to make is 
that in both cases typing your first key will replace the full contents of the 
selected cell. This model is different when using mouse navigation.

While we're on this subject anyway I came across a request not so long ago to 
also save our register cursor when closing gnucash in addition to the tabs and 
windows that are open. I can't find it immediately but I think that's also a 
valid improvement.

> I think I will close my PR and start again if required after you have made
> your changes.

Ok.

Geert


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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[Geert Janssens]

Op dinsdag 22 mei 2018 04:02:16 CEST schreef D:
> Rather than change the message (which is still a good idea), I think we
> should in this case fix the messenger--in other words, stop highlighting
> off screen data elements and stop allowing users to change things they
> cannot see.
> 
> David T.
> 
I agree on this part. The text entry focus should always be in the top most 
visible window. And if it's scrolled out of sight the first keystroke should 
scroll the edit field into view. I think this should be filed as a separate 
bug though.

But as explained in my previous mail this is only half of the story. A user 
can create pending edits regardless. And for me this is the essence of 
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=686051
I have thought a bit about this and I think preventing pending edits in non-
active tabs or windows is pretty difficult (and may have unwanted side-
effects) so improving the message and guiding the user to the pending edit is 
probably more realistic.

Geert

> On May 22, 2018, at 5:39 AM, David Carlson 
> wrote:
> 
> A long time ago I filed a bug report
>  about needing to have
> an easy way to navigate to those edited but not committed transactions that
> trigger the warnings when closing the file or clicking on Save.  I vote to
> escalate that bug.
> 
> 
> David C
> 
> On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 12:44 PM, David T. via gnucash-devel  wrote:
> > On May 21, 2018, at 6:14 PM, Geert Janssens 
> > wrote:> 
> > Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> >> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
> >> pasting
> >> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> >> existing preselected text.
> >> 
> >> Currently...
> >> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> >> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> >> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> >> current open register.
> 
> I would like to point out that I find *this* aspect of the register behavior
> highly confusing. The “Select a field in a register that is not the current
> one” problem crops up at other times. I am not certain, but I think it
> happens when a modal dialog is closed. It is extremely frustrating to be
> working in a register that is not the bottom-most and then discover that
> your typing is going into a register that is NOT the one you are currently
> working in! Moreover, you may not even be aware that you are changing a
> transaction that is out of sight—and if you choose to leave GnuCash at this
> juncture, you will get a mysterious dialog asking if you want to save your
> changes (huh? what changes? I guess I better!). And THEN, you have no idea
> the next time what happened in that OTHER register.
> 
> I am grateful that someone else has seen this behavior and commented on it.
> I’d like to see it changed.
> 
> David T.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[Geert Janssens]

Op maandag 21 mei 2018 19:44:57 CEST schreef David T.:
> > On May 21, 2018, at 6:14 PM, Geert Janssens 
> > wrote:> 
> > Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> >> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
> >> pasting
> >> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> >> existing preselected text.
> >> 
> >> Currently...
> >> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> >> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> >> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> >> current open register.
> 
> I would like to point out that I find *this* aspect of the register behavior
> highly confusing.

I had to re-read the description to get what you guys mean. I have *never* seen 
this precise 
behavior as described by Bob.

When I open gnucash the any keypresses I type before using my mouse will always 
go to the 
currently active tab. If that's a register tab it will alter the data field as 
that's the field selected 
by default.

The only variation I can think of would be if you have configured gnucash to 
open each tab in a 
separate window. I don't do that and haven't tested how it behaves in that case.

> The “Select a field in a register that is not the current
> one” problem crops up at other times. I am not certain, but I think it
> happens when a modal dialog is closed. It is extremely frustrating to be
> working in a register that is not the bottom-most and then discover that
> your typing is going into a register that is NOT the one you are currently
> working in!

That also sounds like you are opening registers in multiple windows ?

> Moreover, you may not even be aware that you are changing a
> transaction that is out of sight—and if you choose to leave GnuCash at this
> juncture, you will get a mysterious dialog asking if you want to save your
> changes (huh? what changes? I guess I better!). And THEN, you have no idea
> the next time what happened in that OTHER register.

I have seen this "mysterious dialog" pop up at times so I agree there's room 
for improvement.

I know closing a modal dialog is not the only way to get it. It can be 
triggered by an action as 
simple as starting a change in one register and forgetting to complete it 
before moving to 
another making other changes.

For example I frequently hit this when I am clearing (not reconciling) splits. 
That's done by 
clicking in the "n" in the reconcile state column of a register. The click 
changes the "n" to "c" but 
the state change is only complete when I *leave* the transaction. Something I 
frequently forget 
to do for the last transaction I'm changing.

Geert
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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection + V#3 Windows scroll bars.

[Geert Janssens]

This is another behavioral change we got "for free" from Gtk3.

Luckily this one is configurable [1] by adding
gtk-primary-button-warps-slider = false
to the [Settings] section of gtk3's settings.ini file

The location of this file is platform dependent.

On systems following the Freedesktop specification (being linux, gnucash on 
macports, most 
bsd's,...) settings.ini should be created (if not exists yet)
in
$HOME/.config/gtk-3.0
$HOME is a special shell variable and refers to your home directory.
For example
/home/someuser/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

On Windows this file should reside in
%localappdata%\gtk-3.0
%localappdata% is a special Windows variable and refers to a location to store 
local user 
specific configuration files.
For example
c:\Users\someuser\AppData\Local\gtk-3.0

For our OS X/Quartz the settings.ini file will be searched for in
$HOME/Library/Application Support/Gnucash/config/gtk-3.0
Like on linux $HOME refers to your home direcory.
For example
/home/someuser/Library/Application Support/Gnucash/config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

Geert

[1] According to this AskUbuntu forum topic:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/295988/how-to-fix-gtk3-scrollbar-behavior

Op dinsdag 22 mei 2018 02:47:01 CEST schreef David Carlson:
> I have seen that proportional scrollbar jumping behavior in some other
> Linux applications, and I too dislike it.  In very long lists like our
> registers become after a while, it is not easy to scroll several screens up
> or down frequently.  I think that it is a GTK thing.  If there is a
> work-around, I would like to know about it.
> 
> David C
> 
> On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 7:36 PM, Chris Good  wrote:
> > [GNC-dev] Register text selection
> > 
> > 
> > Geert Janssens
> >  > 20Re%3A%20%5BGNC-dev%5D%20Re
> > gister%20text%20selection=%3C1925551.
> > T7MvD3KevP%40legolas.kobalt
> > wit.lan%3E> geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be
> > Mon May 21 09:14:29 EDT 2018
> > 
> >   _
> > 
> > Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> > > I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
> > 
> > pasting
> > 
> > > selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> > > existing preselected text.
> > > 
> > > Currently...
> > > If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> > > If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> > > list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> > > current open register.
> > > 
> > > If you navigate by keyboard, the next field text is preselected and the
> > > cursor set to the end of text.
> > > If you navigate by mouse, the text is not selected and the cursor is the
> > > mouse position.
> > > If you update a transaction in one register and have the other
> > > corresponding register open, the text where the cursor is will get
> > > selected. (I think this is an easy fix).
> > > 
> > > I am just wondering if we should be doing this preselected text at all ?
> > 
> > As far as I can tell the first two (text navigation hightlights the full
> > text,
> > mouse navigation sets the text cursor) are at least common behavior, if
> > not
> > default. Find any dialog with more than one text field and try what
> > happens
> > if
> > you tab from one field to the next or click in random fields. I would find
> > it
> > disturbing if the register would behave differently.
> > 
> > I don't understand exactly what you mean with the third behavior.
> > 
> > > Some might say it is a good indication of where the focus is, only with
> > > keyboard navigation, but one could simply add something like this to
> > > your
> > > css file which would also work for mouse navigation...
> > > 
> > > cursor entry {
> > > 
> > >   background-color: pink;
> > > 
> > > }
> > > 
> > > So just asking the question.
> > 
> > It's not just a matter of visual indication. It's also about ergonomics.
> > Text
> > and mouse navigation have different dynamics and this is reflected in the
> > way
> > text is selected or not when entering a text field.
> > 
> > For your information I plan to work in this area of the code soon to fix
> > input
> > methods. I intend to drop all code related to text manipulation from the
> > sheet
> > and make the gtk entry responsible for it instead. Perhaps it's best you
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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[D via gnucash-devel]

Rather than change the message (which is still a good idea), I think we should 
in this case fix the messenger--in other words, stop highlighting off screen 
data elements and stop allowing users to change things they cannot see.

David T.

On May 22, 2018, at 5:39 AM, David Carlson  wrote:

A long time ago I filed a bug report 
 about needing to have an 
easy way to navigate to those edited but not committed transactions that 
trigger the warnings when closing the file or clicking on Save.  I vote to 
escalate that bug.


David C


On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 12:44 PM, David T. via gnucash-devel 
 wrote:



> On May 21, 2018, at 6:14 PM, Geert Janssens  
> wrote:
> 
> Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
>> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for pasting
>> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
>> existing preselected text.
>> 
>> Currently...
>> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
>> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
>> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
>> current open register.
>> 

I would like to point out that I find *this* aspect of the register behavior 
highly confusing. The “Select a field in a register that is not the current 
one” problem crops up at other times. I am not certain, but I think it happens 
when a modal dialog is closed. It is extremely frustrating to be working in a 
register that is not the bottom-most and then discover that your typing is 
going into a register that is NOT the one you are currently working in! 
Moreover, you may not even be aware that you are changing a transaction that is 
out of sight—and if you choose to leave GnuCash at this juncture, you will get 
a mysterious dialog asking if you want to save your changes (huh? what changes? 
I guess I better!). And THEN, you have no idea the next time what happened in 
that OTHER register.

I am grateful that someone else has seen this behavior and commented on it. I’d 
like to see it changed.

David T.




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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection + V#3 Windows scroll bars.

[David Carlson]

I have seen that proportional scrollbar jumping behavior in some other
Linux applications, and I too dislike it.  In very long lists like our
registers become after a while, it is not easy to scroll several screens up
or down frequently.  I think that it is a GTK thing.  If there is a
work-around, I would like to know about it.

David C

On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 7:36 PM, Chris Good  wrote:

>
> [GNC-dev] Register text selection
>
>
> Geert Janssens
>  20Re%3A%20%5BGNC-dev%5D%20Re
> gister%20text%20selection=%3C1925551.
> T7MvD3KevP%40legolas.kobalt
> wit.lan%3E> geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be
> Mon May 21 09:14:29 EDT 2018
>
>   _
>
> Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> > I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
> pasting
> > selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> > existing preselected text.
> >
> > Currently...
> > If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> > If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> > list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> > current open register.
> >
> > If you navigate by keyboard, the next field text is preselected and the
> > cursor set to the end of text.
> > If you navigate by mouse, the text is not selected and the cursor is the
> > mouse position.
> > If you update a transaction in one register and have the other
> > corresponding register open, the text where the cursor is will get
> > selected. (I think this is an easy fix).
> >
> > I am just wondering if we should be doing this preselected text at all ?
> >
> As far as I can tell the first two (text navigation hightlights the full
> text,
> mouse navigation sets the text cursor) are at least common behavior, if
> not
> default. Find any dialog with more than one text field and try what happens
> if
> you tab from one field to the next or click in random fields. I would find
> it
> disturbing if the register would behave differently.
>
> I don't understand exactly what you mean with the third behavior.
>
> > Some might say it is a good indication of where the focus is, only with
> > keyboard navigation, but one could simply add something like this to your
> > css file which would also work for mouse navigation...
> >
> > cursor entry {
> >   background-color: pink;
> > }
> >
> > So just asking the question.
>
> It's not just a matter of visual indication. It's also about ergonomics.
> Text
> and mouse navigation have different dynamics and this is reflected in the
> way
> text is selected or not when entering a text field.
>
> For your information I plan to work in this area of the code soon to fix
> input
> methods. I intend to drop all code related to text manipulation from the
> sheet
> and make the gtk entry responsible for it instead. Perhaps it's best you
> hold
> off other changes related to text entry until that's done to avoid doing
> double work.
>
> Geert
>
>
>
> I agree with Geert, the way it is, works well with how I work, and is usual
> UI.
>
>
>
> The fact that the current field is highlighted when you go back to the
> register makes it easier to find where you are.
>
>
>
> This email reminded me of another issue I wish to discuss.
>
> The scroll bars on all the windows seem to have changed in 3.0+.
>
> If you now click above (or below) the current position bar in the
> scrollbar,
> it takes you to the place in the
>
> window which is proportional to where in the scroll bar you click, rather
> than up (or down) 1 screen full.
>
>
>
> This is not typical MS Windows UI and surprises me because it is not what I
> expect. Suddenly I am far from
>
> where I was instead of just being 1 page away, and it can be laborious to
> get back to where I want to be.
>
>
>
> I know I can use PgUp/PgDn instead and once I get used to it, the new
> method
> does offer extra
>
> functionality, but I'm not sure if there is a real need to be able to go
> say
> approx. 1/3 of the way through all
>
> the entries in the window.
>
>
>
> Also, usually in Windows, the height of the scroll bar indicates how much
> the current screen is, as a
>
> proportion of all entries.
>
>
>
> What do other think?
>
>
>
> Maybe this is an option I can set in css?
>
>
>
> Regards, Chris Good
>
>
>
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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[David Carlson]

A long time ago I filed a bug report <
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=686051> about needing to have an
easy way to navigate to those edited but not committed transactions that
trigger the warnings when closing the file or clicking on Save.  I vote to
escalate that bug.

David C

On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 12:44 PM, David T. via gnucash-devel <
gnucash-devel@gnucash.org> wrote:

>
>
> > On May 21, 2018, at 6:14 PM, Geert Janssens 
> wrote:
> >
> > Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> >> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
> pasting
> >> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> >> existing preselected text.
> >>
> >> Currently...
> >> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> >> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> >> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> >> current open register.
> >>
>
> I would like to point out that I find *this* aspect of the register
> behavior highly confusing. The “Select a field in a register that is not
> the current one” problem crops up at other times. I am not certain, but I
> think it happens when a modal dialog is closed. It is extremely frustrating
> to be working in a register that is not the bottom-most and then discover
> that your typing is going into a register that is NOT the one you are
> currently working in! Moreover, you may not even be aware that you are
> changing a transaction that is out of sight—and if you choose to leave
> GnuCash at this juncture, you will get a mysterious dialog asking if you
> want to save your changes (huh? what changes? I guess I better!). And THEN,
> you have no idea the next time what happened in that OTHER register.
>
> I am grateful that someone else has seen this behavior and commented on
> it. I’d like to see it changed.
>
> David T.
>
>
>
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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[David T. via gnucash-devel]

> On May 21, 2018, at 6:14 PM, Geert Janssens  
> wrote:
> 
> Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
>> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for pasting
>> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
>> existing preselected text.
>> 
>> Currently...
>> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
>> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
>> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
>> current open register.
>> 

I would like to point out that I find *this* aspect of the register behavior 
highly confusing. The “Select a field in a register that is not the current 
one” problem crops up at other times. I am not certain, but I think it happens 
when a modal dialog is closed. It is extremely frustrating to be working in a 
register that is not the bottom-most and then discover that your typing is 
going into a register that is NOT the one you are currently working in! 
Moreover, you may not even be aware that you are changing a transaction that is 
out of sight—and if you choose to leave GnuCash at this juncture, you will get 
a mysterious dialog asking if you want to save your changes (huh? what changes? 
I guess I better!). And THEN, you have no idea the next time what happened in 
that OTHER register.

I am grateful that someone else has seen this behavior and commented on it. I’d 
like to see it changed.

David T.



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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[Robert Fewell]

Sorry I did not explain the third option very well, have a transaction
between say "Checking Account" and "Cash in Wallet" with both registers
open.
Position the cursor on a transaction somewhere in the "Checking Account",
go back to the "Cash in Wallet" and edit a transaction between the two and
commit it.
If you go back to the "Checking Account" you will find the text highlighted
where the cursor was.

I had a look at the "Edit Account Dialog" and the "Edit Customer Dialog",
both do not preselect the first entry when opened and the cursor is at the
beginning of that entry. When you tab to the next entry it is preselected
but with the cursor hidden. If you type a letter, the cursor becomes
visible as usual or if you left arrow it shows at the start or right arrow
it shows at the end of the text.

I think I will close my PR and start again if required after you have made
your changes.

Bob

On 21 May 2018 at 14:14, Geert Janssens  wrote:

> Op maandag 21 mei 2018 13:08:05 CEST schreef Robert Fewell:
> > I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for
> pasting
> > selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> > existing preselected text.
> >
> > Currently...
> > If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> > If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> > list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> > current open register.
> >
> > If you navigate by keyboard, the next field text is preselected and the
> > cursor set to the end of text.
> > If you navigate by mouse, the text is not selected and the cursor is the
> > mouse position.
> > If you update a transaction in one register and have the other
> > corresponding register open, the text where the cursor is will get
> > selected. (I think this is an easy fix).
> >
> > I am just wondering if we should be doing this preselected text at all ?
> >
> As far as I can tell the first two (text navigation hightlights the full
> text,
> mouse navigation sets the text cursor) are at least common behavior, if
> not
> default. Find any dialog with more than one text field and try what
> happens if
> you tab from one field to the next or click in random fields. I would find
> it
> disturbing if the register would behave differently.
>
> I don't understand exactly what you mean with the third behavior.
>
> > Some might say it is a good indication of where the focus is, only with
> > keyboard navigation, but one could simply add something like this to your
> > css file which would also work for mouse navigation...
> >
> > cursor entry {
> >   background-color: pink;
> > }
> >
> > So just asking the question.
>
> It's not just a matter of visual indication. It's also about ergonomics.
> Text
> and mouse navigation have different dynamics and this is reflected in the
> way
> text is selected or not when entering a text field.
>
> For your information I plan to work in this area of the code soon to fix
> input
> methods. I intend to drop all code related to text manipulation from the
> sheet
> and make the gtk entry responsible for it instead. Perhaps it's best you
> hold
> off other changes related to text entry until that's done to avoid doing
> double work.
>
> Geert
>
>
>
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Re: [GNC-dev] Register text selection

[David Carlson]

As a concerned user, not a developer, I would vote to drop all
preselection.  I think it is confusing to users who do not necessarily
consider the differences between the various navigation methods as being
significant.

Further, in the cases where the curser is not visible in the register
window, the only way to find it is to use a trick such as pressing tab to
bring it back into the visible window, assuming it is in a transaction that
has not been hidden by the View > Filter by option, which complicates this
issue, and when the curser is in the blank transaction at the end, if the
register is in single line view it may not be visible.

That is my 2¢ *.*

David C

On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 6:08 AM, Robert Fewell <14ubo...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I have been looking at getting the middle mouse button to work for pasting
> selected text and whilst trying to do that started to wonder about the
> existing preselected text.
>
> Currently...
> If you open a register, the blank transaction date text is preselected.
> If you start Gnucash with saved open registers, the last register in the
> list to load has the blank date text preselected, this may not be the
> current open register.
>
> If you navigate by keyboard, the next field text is preselected and the
> cursor set to the end of text.
> If you navigate by mouse, the text is not selected and the cursor is the
> mouse position.
> If you update a transaction in one register and have the other
> corresponding register open, the text where the cursor is will get
> selected. (I think this is an easy fix).
>
> I am just wondering if we should be doing this preselected text at all ?
>
> Some might say it is a good indication of where the focus is, only with
> keyboard navigation, but one could simply add something like this to your
> css file which would also work for mouse navigation...
>
> cursor entry {
>   background-color: pink;
> }
>
> So just asking the question.
>
> Regards,
> Bob
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