Bug 84502 - Add shortcut keys to each Sidebar Tab to open its content panel(s)
Summary: Add shortcut keys to each Sidebar Tab to open its content panel(s)
Status: VERIFIED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: UI (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Jim Raykowski
URL:
Whiteboard: target:7.2.0 target:7.4.0 target:24.2.0
Keywords:
: 93285 99618 119063 135076 141481 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks: Shortcuts-Accelerators Sidebar-Accessibility Sidebar-UI-UX
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2014-09-30 08:30 UTC by Jean-Francois Nifenecker
Modified: 2023-11-14 00:04 UTC (History)
16 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Sidebar decks in 6.3 Writer-Calc-Impress-Draw (25.42 KB, image/png)
2020-08-02 10:10 UTC, Heiko Tietze
Details
write decks demo video (1.11 MB, video/x-matroska)
2020-08-05 02:45 UTC, Jim Raykowski
Details
Screen shots of Calc, Draw, Impress sidebar deck UNOs (305.62 KB, application/zip)
2020-08-05 02:48 UTC, Jim Raykowski
Details
sidebar category for sidebar decks accelerators (943.06 KB, video/x-matroska)
2020-08-10 08:01 UTC, Jim Raykowski
Details
Macro and Styles like Sidebar Deck category for keyboard tab only (933.93 KB, video/x-matroska)
2020-08-11 01:41 UTC, Jim Raykowski
Details

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Description Jean-Francois Nifenecker 2014-09-30 08:30:00 UTC
As the Sidebar is taking more and more importance -- being soon the one-size-fits-all toolbar -- it is important to power users to be able to get to the proper Sidebar pane with as few clicks as possible (to power users, clicking is evil ;).
Thus, it would be very useful to have keyboard shortcuts dedicated to open each Sidebar panel. At least, having a keyboard shortcut to browse the panels would be fine.
Comment 1 V Stuart Foote 2014-09-30 12:20:09 UTC
Direct keyboard accelerator assignments are overdue, <F6> cycling is functional but too cumbersome.

Accelerator key assignment(s) would be to the on-click action for each Tab item in the Sidebar's Tab bar and would result in opening, or shift-to, its corresponding Content panel(s) in the Sidebar Deck.

-=Sidebar lexical aid=-
https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/File:SidebarNames.png
Comment 2 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2015-08-09 18:03:02 UTC
I think it would be good to have a shortcut key combination similar to :-

1) Fn + 1 (properties), Fn + 2 (styles), etc.
   Pros: Easy learning curve and similar to the style used in unity's taskbar
   Cons: Different shortcut due to tab orders will cause confusion between to apps

2) Fn + P (properties), Fn + S (styles), etc.
   Pros: Shortcut sequence works across all apps
   Cons: Learning curve more difficult as icons dont show accelerator key
Comment 3 V Stuart Foote 2015-08-09 21:17:08 UTC
*** Bug 93285 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 4 V Stuart Foote 2015-08-09 21:45:36 UTC
@Jay,

With F5 and F11 assigned to Navigator and Styles & Formatting, would think that using a block of Function keys might make sense.  Of course F5 in Impress is Slide show, and Navigator there is <Ctrl><Shift>+F5

Anyhow, the entire <Atl> + Fn key block is available to use a Shortcuts (rather than mnemonic accelerators).

Idea would be that for direct "dialog" launches" the Fn key alone (except Impress) would launch in dialog mode (even though the underlaying code is GTK UI in the Sidebar Deck widget).  And the <Alt>+Fn would launch into the Sidebar deck content panel.

Default Sidebar Assignments:

So these are obvious...
Alt+F5 Navigator
Alt+F11 Styles & Formatting

Need some thought/discussion
Alt+?? Gallery
Alt+?? Properties
Alt+?? Functions
Alt+?? Master Pages
Alt+?? Custom Animation
Alt+?? Slide Transitions

And, since <Alt> is <Command> on OS X keyboards, would have to deconflict any OS use there.  Also, have to watch out for  OS X and other non-PC keyboard based laptops that have a <Fn> key--mainly to not use a Fn beyond 12.
Comment 5 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2015-08-10 18:56:20 UTC
Some additional ones

Alt+?? Functions (in Calc)
Alt+?? Page (coming soon to Writer and Calc in bug 83830)

Adding our mac team to give their input on what shortcuts would work well there.

So i'm assuming whatever shortcuts are chosen, the shortcut would appear in the tooltip, as presently the currently assigned ones (F5 and F11) dont show up there.
Comment 6 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2015-08-16 17:57:51 UTC
It would be useful to also define a shortcut key to enable/disable the sidebar.

(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #4)
> So these are obvious...
> Alt+F5 Navigator
> Alt+F11 Styles & Formatting

Alt+F11 is used globally for LibreOffice Basic
Alt+F4 is used globally to close LibreOffice
Comment 7 Cor Nouws 2015-11-01 20:04:29 UTC
If one opens say panel Properties (imagine with a short cut). Can the panel then be used (easily) by key board navigation? If not, that needs to be solved too. Or all short cut opening is a but useless.. Not?
Comment 8 V Stuart Foote 2015-11-01 20:32:30 UTC
(In reply to Cor Nouws from comment #7)
> If one opens say panel Properties (imagine with a short cut). Can the panel
> then be used (easily) by key board navigation? If not, that needs to be
> solved too. Or all short cut opening is a but useless.. Not?

Navigation within the Sidebar Deck is pretty consistent with keyboard already <TAB>,<Shift>+<TAB> to move within each Content panel on the Deck. And then <DOWN>/<RIGHT> to go forward or <UP>/<LEFT> to go backward between the content panels and the tab bar elements.

<F10>, <F6> and their <Shift> will cycle between the Main menu, the toolbars, the Sidebar and the document canvas.

Those keyboard navigations have not changed and are pretty stable--also how we support a11y Assistive technology.

The defined global shortcuts would be in addition to these existing keyboard navigation resources.  But because they'd be targeted across the UI--they would be *direct* than the <F6> cyclic shortcuts. Benefiting all keyboard users.
Comment 9 Cor Nouws 2015-11-01 22:11:34 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #8)
> Navigation within the Sidebar Deck is pretty consistent with keyboard
> already <TAB>,<Shift>+<TAB> to move within each Content panel on the Deck.
> And then <DOWN>/<RIGHT> to go forward or <UP>/<LEFT> to go backward between
> the content panels and the tab bar elements.

Thanks Stuart, I missed untill now how to get to various sub panels, but see that the <DOWN>/<RIGHT> or <UP>/<LEFT> work if the focus is on the label. Nice.
Comment 10 Yousuf Philips (jay) (retired) 2016-03-18 08:29:30 UTC
I'd like to suggest we use Ctrl + Alt as the Fn key with the combinations i mentioned in comment 2. Old combinations (e.g. F11) would supplement these sidebar specific shortcuts.
Comment 11 Heiko Tietze 2018-08-03 10:25:29 UTC
*** Bug 119063 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 12 Xisco Faulí 2019-11-29 13:27:09 UTC
Changing priority back to 'medium' since the number of duplicates is lower than 5
Comment 13 Xisco Faulí 2020-03-09 13:28:43 UTC
Please add keyword 'needsUXEval' and CC 'libreoffice-ux-advise@lists.freedesktop.org' if input from UX is needed.
Comment 14 Dieter 2020-07-24 16:26:53 UTC
*** Bug 135076 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 15 V Stuart Foote 2020-07-30 13:28:48 UTC
Jim R. put this up for bug 99618

https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/99760

<quote>
The patch code is a framework that can be used to launch any sidebar deck in any module that has a sidebar. It makes it easier for other UNO commands to be made to launch decks. Deck names are found in officecfg/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/UI/Sidebar.xcu
</quote>

Though it does not currently assign a shortcut to the SB attached instance of the Navigator. And, <F5> remains assigned to the second detached instance.

It seems UX / Design work remains to resolve the sequence of shortcuts to assign to activate each of the Decks represented on the SB's Tabbar.

Jay had suggested <Fn>+1, <Fn>+2...  comment 2, and then amended that to use the <Ctrl>+<Alt>+1, <Ctrl>+<Alt>+2... sequence comment 10. I'd suggested <Alt>+<Fn1>, <Alt>+<F2>... comment 4, but agree that had some serious shortcut conflicts.

At this point, I think the <Ctrl>+<Alt> 1 - 9 sequence would work well, but it would need to keep the same deck assignments across each of the LO modules.
Comment 16 Jim Raykowski 2020-08-01 01:48:27 UTC
As discussed in previous posts, tabbar tabs deck order is not consistent across modules. For Impress, the  Navigator tab is 7th in order, Styles is 5th, and Gallery is 6th. These don't match the order in Writer. Calc is different as well. Draw matches Writer for Properties, Styles, Gallery and Navigator. 

Perhaps ctl+alt+<number> accelerator can be used to activate the deck in numeric sequence in the tabbar?
Comment 17 Heiko Tietze 2020-08-02 10:10:07 UTC
Created attachment 163875 [details]
Sidebar decks in 6.3 Writer-Calc-Impress-Draw

We could 
a) harmonize the sequence of decks so the Navigator is always ctrl+alt+5, for example
b) use a dediated character like ctrl+alt+<P> for properties or <N> for the Navigator (this will likely clash with other shortcuts)
c) use functions keys (voting strongly against as it is reserved for system-wide shortcuts like F1, F2 for rename, F3 search etc.), perhaps combined with a modifier key shift/ctrl/alt (this also leads to inconsistencies)

I'm for a) and this modification to the current situation (see screenshot)

1: Properties
2: Styles
3: Gallery
4: Navigator

Writer
5: Page
6: Styles Inspector* (7.0)
7: Manage Changes*
8: Design*

Calc
5: Functions
Impress

5: Animation
6: Slide Transition
7: Master Slides

Draw
5: Shapes
(v6.3 and 7.0 respectively; experimental features enabled, marked with asterisk)
Comment 18 V Stuart Foote 2020-08-02 14:51:27 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #17)
> ...
> We could 
> a) harmonize the sequence of decks so the Navigator is always ctrl+alt+5,
> for example
> ...

> I'm for a) and this modification to the current situation (see screenshot)
> 
> 1: Properties
> 2: Styles
> 3: Gallery
> 4: Navigator
> ...

+1, agree this makes the most sense. But we'd need to plan for eventuality when the SideBar grows beyond 10 Deck tabs (think experimental/new features, but also extensions laying down their own SB Decks). 

We wouldn't want/need to shuffle the actual SB Tabbar OrderIndex [1] sequencing  (unless the user wanted to customize), but could still have consistency in the Shortcut cross modules.

Maybe an enum struct to hold the shortcuts globally in a block of 16 the <Ctrl>+<Alt>+[0-9a-f] -- and assign that slot to the respective SB Deck in the .XCU? 

Likewise allow adjustment via the Customize dialog?

=-ref-=
[]1 https://opengrok.libreoffice.org/xref/core/officecfg/registry/data/org/openoffice/Office/UI/Sidebar.xcu?r=4b8abb3d
Comment 19 Jim Raykowski 2020-08-05 02:45:30 UTC
Created attachment 163954 [details]
write decks demo video

Hi all, 

Here is effort to make UNO's for the launching sidebar decks. Included is a video demo showing use in Writer. A custom menu and custom toolbar was created for demonstration. Accelerators are assigned ctrl+alt+number order seen in the sidebar tabbar. As can be seen in the video and screenshots, the deck order has been changed as suggested by Heiko. Experimental decks are not included in this patch.

https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/100148
Comment 20 Jim Raykowski 2020-08-05 02:48:14 UTC
Created attachment 163955 [details]
Screen shots of Calc, Draw, Impress sidebar deck UNOs
Comment 21 V Stuart Foote 2020-08-05 12:55:50 UTC
@Jim, I have no objections to the shuffled order cross module, but it will annoy some.

As an aside, was there no means to establish UNO commands per deck and still leave the deck order / shortcut sequence user 'customizable'? The deck order and shortcut sequence seems even more rigid now.  Although now there will be keyboard shortcuts, so if need be that was the main requirement.

And, I know it was just for your demo-but I kind of like seeing a 'Sidebar' menu, less so a toolbar of labels.
Comment 22 Heiko Tietze 2020-08-05 13:00:40 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #21)
> As an aside, was there no means to establish UNO commands per deck and still
> leave the deck order / shortcut sequence user 'customizable'? 

As the decks are UNO command it will be fully customizable. Advantage of the rigid sequence is that you not have to remember whether the Navigator is on 4 or 5 depending on deck position. It's always #4.
Comment 23 Jim Raykowski 2020-08-10 08:01:59 UTC
Created attachment 164089 [details]
sidebar category for sidebar decks accelerators

Patch set 5 adds a Sidebar category to group sidebar commands.
Comment 24 V Stuart Foote 2020-08-10 13:35:19 UTC
(In reply to Jim Raykowski from comment #23)
> Created attachment 164089 [details]
> sidebar category for sidebar decks accelerators
> 
> Patch set 5 adds a Sidebar category to group sidebar commands.

Oh, I like that.  1-4 for global LibreOfficeDev assignments (Properties, Styles, Gallery, Navigator respectively). And then per-module (demo is with Writer with Page assigned to 5).  Done this way is fully customizable to user profile.

Nice!
Comment 25 Jim Raykowski 2020-08-10 17:05:12 UTC
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #24)
> (In reply to Jim Raykowski from comment #23)
> > Created attachment 164089 [details]
> > sidebar category for sidebar decks accelerators
> > 
> > Patch set 5 adds a Sidebar category to group sidebar commands.
> 
> Oh, I like that.  1-4 for global LibreOfficeDev assignments (Properties,
> Styles, Gallery, Navigator respectively). And then per-module (demo is with
> Writer with Page assigned to 5).  Done this way is fully customizable to
> user profile.
> 
> Nice!

It is configured so that when bug 112620 is fixed it will only be available for  accelerators.
Comment 26 Jim Raykowski 2020-08-11 01:41:07 UTC
Created attachment 164142 [details]
Macro and Styles like Sidebar Deck category for keyboard tab only

This is a bit different approach to providing access to user keyboard assignments for toggling sidebar decks. Here the Sidebar Decks category only shows in the Keyboard tab page Category list box.

https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/100455
Comment 27 andreas_k 2020-10-01 14:49:27 UTC
(In reply to Jim Raykowski from comment #26)
> Created attachment 164142 [details]
> Macro and Styles like Sidebar Deck category for keyboard tab only
> 
> This is a bit different approach to providing access to user keyboard
> assignments for toggling sidebar decks. Here the Sidebar Decks category only
> shows in the Keyboard tab page Category list box.
> 
> https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/100455

look good to me
Comment 28 Xisco Faulí 2021-02-09 14:04:50 UTC
Patch restored
Comment 29 V Stuart Foote 2021-04-18 13:47:47 UTC
*** Bug 141481 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 30 V Stuart Foote 2021-04-18 13:49:46 UTC
*** Bug 99618 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 31 Commit Notification 2021-05-11 04:54:20 UTC
Jim Raykowski committed a patch related to this issue.
It has been pushed to "master":

https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/a80eefb7413245f81692c443b06f7d3a6a92f28c

tdf#84502 CuiConfigGroupListBox Macros,Styles like category for Sidebar

It will be available in 7.2.0.

The patch should be included in the daily builds available at
https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More
information about daily builds can be found at:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds

Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Comment 32 BogdanB 2021-05-19 08:25:02 UTC
Tested in Writer and Calc. Working. Verified.
Ctrl + Alt + 1/2/3/4/5 etc brings the right sidebar option.

Version: 7.2.0.0.alpha1+ / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: b238522ca121ca8f863fe4d3394ade088a65ad01
CPU threads: 4; OS: Linux 5.8; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: en-US (ro_RO.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded
Comment 33 Commit Notification 2022-05-22 01:14:26 UTC
Jim Raykowski committed a patch related to this issue.
It has been pushed to "master":

https://git.libreoffice.org/core/commit/bb1d48498c9fdedf8e78344765f6c6eda6f4707c

tdf#84502 related: Show keyboard shortcut in sidebar tab bar tab button

It will be available in 7.4.0.

The patch should be included in the daily builds available at
https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/ in the next 24-48 hours. More
information about daily builds can be found at:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Testing_Daily_Builds

Affected users are encouraged to test the fix and report feedback.
Comment 34 V Stuart Foote 2023-10-04 20:13:37 UTC
for bug 151059 Caolán has dropped the Sidebar Deck shortcuts from <Ctrl><Alt>+[1-9] for simply <Alt>+[1-9]

Adjusted for 24.2.0 release

https://gerrit.libreoffice.org/c/core/+/155831