[sugar] doubts about shell redesign

[Eben Eliason]

On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 12:44 PM, Joshua Minor <j at lux.vu> wrote:

>
> On Mar 12, 2008, at 9:25 AM, Eben Eliason wrote:
> >
> > - and what's the exact behavior for activity swtiching?
> >
> > There are two ways to switch activities.  First, one may expose the
> > frame and immediately switch to any running activity by clicking on
> > its icon.  This appears to be working at present.
> >
> > Second, one may use the alt-tab (and alt-shift-tab) shortcuts to
> > accomplish the same.  The following description depends on the
> > reordering of the activities in the Frame such that the most recent
> > is always shown at the far left, adjacent the activity sphere
> > icon.  When alt-tab is pressed the first time, the Frame should be
> > revealed, and the second activity in the Frame (immediately to the
> > right of the current one, and the last one used prior) should be
> > highlighted.  The highlight should simply be the same white rounded
> > rect outline used for keyboard focus in general.  Subsequent
> > presses of the tab key should cycle through the list of activities,
> > from left to right (most recent to oldest), looping around as
> > necessary. The active activity should *not* be switched during this
> > phase.  Only when one releases the alt key should the newly
> > selected activity be focused.
> >
> > Ideally, the selection of a new activity will provide visual
> > feedback about the reordering of the activities.  By visually
> > sliding the selected activity to the "head" of the list, and
> > shifting the others to the right we can make this action quite
> > clear.  If we cannot provide this form of feedback, we may need to
> > reconsider the rearranging of icons, and in turn the alt-tab
> > interaction.
>
> Have you considered using the Activity View button (F4) on the
> keyboard to cycle between activities?  For example, if you are not on
> an activity pressing it takes you to the current activity, but
> pressing it again could jump to the next activity.  You wouldn't be
> able to do the hold-alt trick you mentioned, but it would make that
> button more useful.


We did discus that option.  I think we tabled it because we wanted the icon
in the UI to function identically to the key on the keyboard, and because we
were skeptical about changing the purpose of a button based on context.  I
do agree that it makes sense on some levels, though.  One major drawback, as
you mention, is that you can't as easily do the "hold trick" as you put it.
 I suppose there might be ways to get around that, for instance by allowing
a short delay between presses before the activity actually switches and the
Frame hides again.  We may want to revisit the option, since alt-tab (apart
from legacy compatibility) isn't necessarily clear or discoverable.


> Also, does the Journal count as an activity when cycling with either
> or both of these keys?  Right now it does, which feels unnatural to me.


It does, and as long as the Journal is treated similarly with its icon in
the top edge of the Frame, I believe it needs to for consistency.  Others
have expressed their feeling that this is unnatural, so I'm curious to know
more about why that might be.  I think that switching between an activity
and the Journal may be a useful function;  I frequently find myself
alt-tabbing between the Finder and my current application (OSX), and I find
it quite useful.

- Eben
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