Re: Tab completion in gmc

["James M. Cape" <jcape jcinteractive com>]

Simon Murcott wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 28 Jan 1999, James M. Cape wrote:
> 
> > Marcus Brubaker wrote:
> > >
> > > On Thu, 28 Jan 1999, James M. Cape wrote:
> > >
> > > > Marcus Brubaker wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Just a thought, but could we make a "double tab" do completion?  This
> > > > > might be harder than it's worth, but I think it would be ideal.
> > > >
> > > > Tab completion should work in gnome as it does in nearly every other
> > > > directory-oriented typein (i.e. bash, csh?, etc.), which means tab-once
> > > > to complete, tab twice to show further options (perhaps in a modal
> > > > dialog).
> > >
> > > Unfortunately, bash and csh are console apps.  We are dealing with a GUI
> > > here and things are going to change, that's just the way it'll have to be.
> > > I would love to be able to keep the tab key for completion on GNOME, but
> > > unfortunately, in the name of keeping with general GUI standards, tab is
> > > already claimed for manuevering around widgets.  I think the best thing we
> > > can do is make it as close to the console default as possible.  Perhaps we
> > > could define a standard metakey key combo to add to common console
> > > shortcuts in GNOME?
> > >
> > Well, since SHIFT+TAB is already taken for backwards widget switching,
> > and most WM's have ALT+TAB as the default for switching windows, this
> > leaves CTRL+TAB as a comfortable default (But allowing the user to
> > change this is always a good idea).
> 
> I think you all might be missing the glaringly obvious here. Please
> forgive me for suggesting this but has anyone noticed the way IE4 handles
> this issue?
> 
> It will simply put the characters that it has completed AHEAD of where
> the user is typing and these characters are selected. If the user keeps
> on typing then the suggested characters will be typed over.
> 
> This would allow us not to even worry about what to assign the tab key to.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Simon Murcott

While Windows users might find this nice, most long-term Unix users
bemoaned Netscape for doing the same thing in the early 4.x series (This
uppidy program is doing something that I didn't tell it to do!), and
while it might be a nice idea, it should definately be one that is able
to be turned off.

    Jim Cape
    http://www.jcinteractive.com

    "All animals are equal, some animals
     are more equal than others."
         -- George Orwell, Animal Farm