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Bug 10722

Summary:	Topic tree should not collapse when clicked on
Product:	[Eclipse Project] Platform	Reporter:	Nick Edgar <n.a.edgar>
Component:	User Assistance	Assignee:	Dorian Birsan <birsan>
Status:	RESOLVED FIXED	QA Contact:
Severity:	critical
Priority:	P2	CC:	khalsted
Version:	2.0	Keywords:	usability
Target Milestone:	2.0 F2
Hardware:	PC
OS:	Windows 2000
Whiteboard:

Description Nick Edgar

2002-03-04 16:34:44 EST

Build 20020228

- choose Help -> Help Contents -> Platform Plug-in Developer Guide -> 
Programmer's Guide -> JFace UI Framework -> Viewers.
- click on JFace UI Framework
- it collapses

The auto-expand is OK, but auto-collapse is usually not what the user wanted.
In this case, I still wanted to see the topics under JFace.
It should use double-click for collapse, or perhaps single click but only if 
the selection is not changing.

Comment 1 Dorian Birsan

2002-03-04 16:52:03 EST

In general, there is a problem with some container nodes having topics, and 
some not. This makes collapsing/expanding of container nodes interfere with 
showing their content when it exists. Personally, I prefer a simple, 
predictable behavior, as opposed to adding rules, but I think it would be 
better to also get Julian's input on this, before making any changes.

Comment 2 Dorian Birsan

2002-03-23 23:59:04 EST

In the new help redesign we also use plus/minus icons.
Perhaps we should collapse only when clicking on the minus icon.

Comment 3 Konrad Kolosowski

2002-05-23 16:54:51 EDT

*** Bug 17283 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 4 Nick Edgar

2002-05-24 08:51:13 EDT

Please bump up priority.  I think this is a major usability problem with Help.
Thanks.

Comment 5 Dorian Birsan

2002-05-24 09:36:04 EDT

Increasing priority as per Nick's comments.

There is still the accessibility issue: what are the keys to expand/collapse 
nodes (currently Enter does the dual job of select/collapse/expand), that does 
not conflict with the user.

Keyboard navigation aside, I had a prototype that worked as follows:
- mouse click on plus/minus expands/collapses the node
- mouse click on label displays the topic
- double click on label exapands/collapses the topic

The issue is really what keys to use, as arrows are out of questions (browser 
uses them) and double click has no keyboard equivalent.

Comment 6 Kari Halsted

2002-05-24 09:56:55 EDT

One of the major problems with V1 navigation was that single-clicking on a node 
would not expand it, so users weren't finding stuff underneath it. I (on behalf 
of the users) would hate to see us go back to that. 

I know it's complicated, but consider the following instead: 
    - single-clicking on a closed node will expand it
    - single-clicking on an open node would NOT collapse it, but would show its 
content
    - double-clicking on an open node would collapse it. Or, if that's 
impossible, only clicking the minus symbol would collapse it; no amount of 
clicking on the label itself would close it.

Comment 7 Dorian Birsan

2002-05-24 10:21:50 EDT

Kari's comment reflects what Nick said when he opened the bug, so I think we 
should try to implement it.
I will need to see how keyboard navigation will work.

Comment 8 Dorian Birsan

2002-05-27 23:54:17 EDT

I implemented a tree behavior as described Kari's comment. one can also use the 
left/right keys to expand a node.