[Users] Keyboard Navigation in Message View

[Dustin Miller]

On Wed, 19 Aug 2020 08:28:49 +0600
Dustin Miller <dustbiz at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Aug 2020 17:09:38 +0600
> Dustin Miller <dustbiz at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Linux Mint 20 XFCE (based on Ubuntu 20.04)
> > Claws Mail (CM) 3.17.6
> >   
> > The following is a list of things that I wish could be changed (in
> > the code or by a setting) in relation to how the keyboard
> > navigation works when viewing an email in the message pane of the
> > primary CM interface:
> > 
> > * 1. Pressing the 'Space' key moves you down one screen view (i.e.
> >   'page'). If you are already at the bottom, it attempts to move you
> > to the next unread message in the same folder, and if there are none
> > in that folder, it will attempt to move you to an unread message in
> > a different folder. I wish that it would do nothing when you are at
> >   the bottom of the message. (I think this behavior has been present
> >   for a good number of versions, at least since I started using CM.)
> >
DM: As a workaround for this issue, I tried to go to 'View' - 'Message
Scroll' - 'Next Page' and assign the 'Space' key to it by pressing
'Space', but that simply closes the menu w/o assigning it. Is the
inability to do this a bug or a feature?
> > 
> > * 2. Pressing 'Shift + Space' is meant to move you up one screen
> > view (i.e. 'page'). If you are already at the top, it attempts to
> > move you to the next unread message in the same folder; if there
> > are none in that folder, it will NOT attempt to move you to an
> > unread message in a different folder. I wish that it would do
> > nothing when you are at the top of the message.
> > 
DM: As a successful workaround for this issue as well as for #3 below, I
was able to go to 'View' - 'Message Scroll' - 'Previous Page' and assign
the 'Shift + Space' key sequence to it. I wasn't sure if this would
override the default, but it appears that it has.
> > 
> > * 3. Also, pressing 'Shift + Space' actually causes the action to be
> >   executed twice; thus, it either moves you up two screen views, or
> >   else moves you to the top and then tries to go to the next unread
> >   message. (Pretty sure this one's a bug, and it seems pretty
> > recent; perhaps introduced during the process of adding keyboard
> > navigation for the LiteHTML viewer?)
> >   
> > I've tested these with several different types of message parts, and
> > the behavior seems consistent. I haven't tested these for a message
> > that's opened in a separate window. I've also confirmed that
> > 'Return' and 'Shift + Return' (i.e. for moving up and down by only
> > a line or two) do not show behavior similar to any of the above
> > issues. I've looked through 'Configuration / Preferences' and was
> > not able to find a setting to control this. I'm pretty sure there
> > isn't already a hidden advanced setting to control this, but I
> > didn't actually confirm it by reviewing the list to see if anything
> > new had been added.
> > 
DM: I've now looked through the 'menurc' and 'clawsrc' files to see if
there's anything that might be relevant. In clawsrc there are the
following two entries that I thought might be related to hotkeys:
* gtk_can_change_accels=1
* gtk_enable_accels=1
Not sure if these are connected to the two hotkey-related settings in
Preferences (likely?) or whether they are hidden preferences (I
couldn't find them in the list in the User Manual). If anyone knows
more details on these and whether they might be relevant in solving
these issues, let me know. Thanks, ---Dustin