Bug 142931 - Tabbed notebook bar Icon for 'Command Popup HUD' tdf#91874
Summary: Tabbed notebook bar Icon for 'Command Popup HUD' tdf#91874
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: UI (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
7.2.0.0.beta1+
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords: needsDevAdvice
Depends on:
Blocks: HUD
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2021-06-18 12:30 UTC by John Mills
Modified: 2024-08-24 11:12 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Possible icon location for Shortcut to launch the HUD (41.62 KB, image/png)
2021-06-18 12:31 UTC, John Mills
Details

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Description John Mills 2021-06-18 12:30:12 UTC
Description:
Would it be possible to add a shortcut icon to the Tabbed Notebook to Launch the 'Command Popup HUD' that is currently assigned as Ctrl+F1.

With the classic menu interface there is a shortcut that can be navigated to. This does not exist for the Tabbed Notebookbar Interface.

This request was discussed with Andreas Kainz who agreed this would be a good idea.

As there is no shortcut in the Tabbed interface the discoverability of this important feature is practically Zero.

I am attaching a screenshot to this request for a possible location that the icon could be assigned to.

A similar request has been raised on the LibreOffice Sub Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/libreoffice/comments/nbb58n/libreoffice_72_brings_universal_search_commands/


Steps to Reproduce:
1.Switch to the Tabbed Notebookbar interface using 'Tip of the day' or navigate to UI switcher.
2.Attempt to use the new HUD feature that you have heard about through the release notes. 
3. Relaise you have no idea how to use this feature, then give up and feel disappointed.

Actual Results:
Understand that an important usability feature is not available in the Interface paradigm that you choose to use.

Expected Results:
Have an easily discoverable icon that would direct you to the Command HUD Popup interface. 


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: Yes



Additional Info:
This would be a very usefulfeature to aid in the discoverability of this important new functionality in LibreOffice and provide parity with the 'classic' menu.
Comment 1 John Mills 2021-06-18 12:31:06 UTC
Created attachment 173005 [details]
Possible icon location for Shortcut to launch the HUD

Possible icon location for Shortcut to launch the HUD
Comment 2 V Stuart Foote 2021-06-18 13:55:28 UTC
(In reply to John Mills from comment #1)
> Created attachment 173005 [details]
> Possible icon location for Shortcut to launch the HUD
> 

For now, while Tomaž decides how best to complete the feature, the appropriate action is to add the 'Search Co~mmands Ctrl+F1' to each of the MUFFIN NBs 'Help' assemblage buttons. 

On the Tabbed NB that is on the 'File' tab.

The Command popup HUD is not ready for an UNO control for NB/TB button assignment, nor use in keyboard or menu customization.

Alternatively, just toggle the fully functional 'Main' menu exposed and pick from 'Help' there as documented in the feature.
Comment 3 V Stuart Foote 2021-06-18 16:11:19 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #2)
> The Command popup HUD is not ready for an UNO control for NB/TB button
> assignment, nor use in keyboard or menu customization.
> 

Oh wait, Tomaž already provided an UNO control [1] (as .uno:CommandPopup) with customization function name "Search Commands" -- so it can be added where erver with customization of Menus - Toolbars - Context Menus - Keyboard can be applied.

But since NB customization remains marginal, this still requires change to source to provide a button action.

=-ref-=
[1] https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/115380
Comment 4 Pedro 2022-03-08 14:50:25 UTC
I would like to see this made available. Most users on Windows use the Tabbed UI. it would be nice to make the HUD easily visible so that this feature can be more frequently used.
Comment 5 Heiko Tietze 2024-08-16 11:48:51 UTC
But isn't the 'command search' working on the main menu only? Iinm, it iterates over the main menu entries and returns the position where the command is located.
Comment 6 Heiko Tietze 2024-08-23 07:56:35 UTC
No further comment, removing the keyword. 

The command search is not applicable to the Notebookbar but should be - and it needs to return or rather switch to the respective tab.
Comment 7 V Stuart Foote 2024-08-23 12:23:53 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #6)
> 
> The command search is not applicable to the Notebookbar but should be - and
> it needs to return or rather switch to the respective tab.

The HUD 'Search Command' pop-up remains a "menu" UI centric feature. Agree its search results should be expanded/completed to include UNO based button widgets to support the MUFFIN NB modes like the Tabbed NB.

Meanwhile the shortcut for the pop-up was changed to <Shift>+<Esc>, and it still functions while in any of the NB modes. 

But as noted its discoverability for the MUFFIN NB modes is poor.  

For now, if not placed onto a NB button, at the least add the UNO to the 'Help' drop list menus for the MUFFIN modes, e.g. on the Tabbed UIs 'File' tab. Gaining parity with the default Menu & Toolbar UI.
Comment 8 John Mills 2024-08-24 08:01:17 UTC
This is very important functionality that is hardly known about. Why can't we have a text box next to the "shortcut" icons ( open, save, undo etc)? MSO has their equivalent global search function in the header bar,so it absolutely can't be missed,they want it to be that prevalent.It is there for every module and of course always visible.

We hide our search behind obscure and totally unfindable shortcuts. It's like we are ashamed of this.

If we need additional space in the tabbed UI why can't we shift the tabs a little more to the right hand side. Or better yet think of a way we could use the actual header bar for productive use like Microsoft does and put it there.
Comment 9 V Stuart Foote 2024-08-24 11:04:55 UTC
(In reply to John Mills from comment #8)
@John, *--and again we can not compare native client side decoration and app frameworks like the MS Windows Ribbon Framework with what we can achieve crossplatform with the Glade GTK builder as used for the MUFFIN NotebookBar (NB) assemblages.

A refactoring to implement a text entry search box widget (i.e. a mini-find bar) for use on TB or MUFFIN NB might be possible, but would require much more Dev effort. Yes it would visually expose its role as a textual search--but then the 'Search Commands' dialog does that once opened. In addition to needed dev effort a text box would have the "expense" of consuming packing space on each of the NB layouts.

The more direct approach to support NB MUFFIN assemblages would be to make its launcher available as a button widget while expanding its search scope to include the actionable UNO commands relevant to NB. And placing the appropriately iconified button onto each of the NotebookBar UI. Supplemented by inclusion of a Help menu entry of the "Search Commands" entry for the .uno:CommandPopup in each NB .UI assemblage.
Comment 10 V Stuart Foote 2024-08-24 11:12:07 UTC
See also bug 148967 was already linked