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Idea #17042: Allow ALT+Tab when drag and drop

bug This idea is a duplicate of Idea #151: Drag & drop with Atl + Tab.
Written by math the 4 Jan 09 at 21:00. Related project: Xubuntu. Status: New
Rationale
When I drag and drop a file, then I can't tabulate to other opened windows.

For example, I want to add a file attachment to a new email, so I write a new email, then, I drag the file from my desktop.

I'm using xfce, but if I remember, Gnome is the same.
Tags: (none)

792
votes
closed
Solution #1: Allow Alt+Tab when drag and drop
Written by math the 4 Jan 09 at 21:00.
And then I would like to have the ALT+tab function enabled while dragging, in order to drop the file into the new email window.
128
votes
closed
Solution #2: Hover over the desired window or task or viewport to switch
Written by loonyphoenix the 18 Jan 09 at 07:32.
Make it possible to hover while drag-and-dropping over the desired task in the taskbar or over a window in the background to bring the application to the front; or over a viewport in viewport selector to switch to it. No need for a keyboard!
119
votes
closed
Solution #3: Do both - and expand the functionality to make it easier to use.
Written by jharris1993 the 24 Jan 09 at 22:00.
Both of these solutions have merit.
Being a (eek!) Windoze user, I am used to being able to hover over a window and drop there even if the window doesn't have focus.

What I would like to see:
(a) Allow Alt-Tab as above
(b) Allow Hover as above
(c) Allow "edge awareness" when dragging.
(i.e. If the place you want to drag to is not visible within the window, dragging to the edge where it's hidden should cause the window's viewport to scroll in that direction.)

I have noticed this a number of times - especially when trying to select text by dragging - that the selection process simply STOPS at the edge instead of scrolling the viewpoint.

What say ye?

Jim


Propose your solution

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Comments
ict4ngo wrote on the 5 Jan 09 at 00:10
There's no need to that

here's the trick :

when you drag and drop just drag it over your new email in the bottom panel, don't drop just wait an instant and the new email will pop up now you can drop it.

ushimitsudoki wrote on the 5 Jan 09 at 02:33
+1

Nice idea:
adds functionality
doesn't break any existing functionality
doesn't require a pop-up dialog


coder543 wrote on the 5 Jan 09 at 03:14
YES!!!! That is one of the awesome things about mac is how you can 'tab' through the windows while dragging!!!!!

andruk (Idea reviewer) wrote on the 5 Jan 09 at 05:35
ict4ngo: That is a hack. Dragging something should not prevent Alt+Tabbing.

+1

BetterSense wrote on the 6 Jan 09 at 03:53
"when you drag and drop just drag it over your new email in the bottom panel, don't drop just wait an instant and the new email will pop up now you can drop it. "

What if a user, like me, doesn't like to clutter up his panel with a window-list? I don't have my windows as buttons on my panel, because alt-tab is enough for me. Almost. Great feature request.

vintik wrote on the 6 Jan 09 at 11:05
You might want to suggest it at Xfce's and Gnome's bugtrackers, respectively http://bugzilla.xfce.org/enter_bug.cgi and http://bugzilla.gnome.org/simple-bug-guide.cgi

sayakb (Brainstorm admin) wrote on the 14 Jan 09 at 10:15
Rationale split to RationaleSolution. If you need further changes, please contact the team.

sayakb (Brainstorm admin) wrote on the 14 Jan 09 at 10:16
Plus, Kubuntu 8.10 with KDE 4.2 already does this.

ibabob wrote on the 14 Jan 09 at 14:34
Like LinuxIsInnovation KDE 4.2 does this, and Windows and Mac OS have supported this forever... I use very often and would also welcome this feature.

_sebastian_ wrote on the 17 Jan 09 at 02:35
+1
For a long time I was wondering if there is an option or hack to make this work... apparently not :-(
This is one feature I use quite a lot on my windows machine.

BobCFC wrote on the 18 Jan 09 at 08:57
#2 is already the case, try it mate!

prince_niceguy wrote on the 19 Jan 09 at 18:19
+1

yes this is awesome functionality which is lacking in gnome. KDE 3 and KDE4 does it by default. Not sure what is the difficulty in implementing this. May be code of KDE can be taken here :-)

r0g wrote on the 19 Jan 09 at 23:51
+1 Yes this is much needed.

Solution #1 is best. I don't use gnome's panels so #2 would be no use to me and isn't as elegant anyway.

oliver-joos wrote on the 23 Jan 09 at 11:24
-1 because like BobCFC said, #2 already works with gnome panels.

jharris1993 wrote on the 24 Jan 09 at 22:06
I proposed solution #3, because I believe that both proposed solutions have real merit, I am a firm believer in offering the user choices, and it makes a nice piece of work even nicer.

BobCFC - Thanks! Great pointer!

The problem with this is that not everyone (me, for example), knows that particular trick. (or even the alt-tab trick)

My idea is to make the process as flexible as possible so that when the user does "what comes nacherally!" - he sees the behavior he expects to see. (i.e. dragging to an edge, top, or bottom, should cause the viewpoint to scroll, etc.)

Lightbreeze wrote on the 30 Jan 09 at 04:56
Solution #2 is irrelevant to gnome... workspaces, tasks, and unfocused windows all focus properly when dragging.
In compiz you can drag windows to workspaces by moving to an edge - but this is against gnome design principles I think.
Alt+tab is a good idea, perfectly intuitive and there is no bad side so go for it!

vexorian wrote on the 1 Feb 09 at 16:20
I agree with lightbreeze. I actually think this is easier than using hot-keys at the same time you are doing the drag and drop.

nbenitezl wrote on the 20 Mar 09 at 08:48
For people interested with this idea, there's much info about this in the upstream metacity bug: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=135056


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