Bug 410625

Summary: Feature request: sticky thumbnail selection
Product: [Applications] digikam Reporter: kunirraj
Component: Thumbs-ImageAssignee: Digikam Developers <digikam-bugs-null>
Status: REPORTED ---    
Severity: wishlist CC: kunirraj, metzpinguin
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 5.9.0   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Debian stable   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description kunirraj 2019-08-05 19:56:31 UTC
When mouse hovers on a thumbnail in the image area, a selector icon (circled plus) appears in top-left corner of the thumbnail. Clicking on it selects the thumbnail, similar to shift + left mouse click. Once a thumbnail is selected selector icon changes into de-selector (become circled minus) and if clicked deselects that thumbnail. So far so good.

If one clicks the empty area between thumbnails or any thumbnail (except any icon in it), the selection is cleared and only that thumbnail remains selected.

This behaver, although consistent across all other application (not just Digikam) is not very helpful. It made sense when relatively new feature of (de)selector icon did not exist, but not any more.

The next logical step, in evolution of selector icon, is to make selections (made with/without selector icon) sticky. What I mean by it is that selection should not clear when click occurs in non-selector (or non-icon) part of thumbnail or the empty spaces between thumbnails. (Current behaver is the most annoying and frustrating, I end up clearing selections, by mistake, all the time thanks to it).

Also, logically, as long as any selection exists, click (any "non-icon" area) on unselected thumbnail should result in it getting selected and click (any "non-icon" area) on already selected thumbnail should result in it getting unselected.

Also as long as any selection exists, click in album heading (group heading?) should not extend selection to include all thumbnails.

Also there should be some means to clear selection (unselect all), maybe there can be another icon that appear only on mouse over on thumbnail, that does just this.

PS. This applies to thumbnails in image area, but may also be applicable else where.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: Debian 10
KDE Frameworks 5.54.0
Qt 5.11.3 (built against 5.11.3)
The xcb windowing system
Comment 1 Maik Qualmann 2019-08-06 12:01:16 UTC
You can also select images with the Ctrl key pressed and then you can even directly click into the thumbnail. I do not really like the tablet-aware selection mode, because it always needs a kind of abort.

Maik
Comment 2 kunirraj 2019-08-06 19:27:45 UTC
(In reply to Maik Qualmann from comment #1)
> You can also select images with the Ctrl key pressed and then you can even
> directly click into the thumbnail. 
Sure enough.

> I do not really like the tablet-aware
> selection mode, because it always needs a kind of abort.
Me neither.

However selection must be sticky, there is no point in optimizing for clear selection function when selection exists; when selecting the most likely next operation is of extending the selection, not clearing it.
Comment 3 Maik Qualmann 2019-08-06 20:40:40 UTC
Dolphin as an example has exactly the same behavior as digiKam.

Maik
Comment 4 kunirraj 2019-08-07 12:18:20 UTC
(In reply to Maik Qualmann from comment #3)
> Dolphin as an example has exactly the same behavior as digiKam.

Yes. It too has same issues.

File manager has little use for previews, I rarely use it, most of the time it is off and only icons are displayed. With simple icon view, icon size is set relatively smaller than in thumbnail view, so selection icon gets less prominence, I think that is the reason I hardly ever make use of it in dolphin.
 
In current form selector icon handling has major short comings from user interaction point of view. For instance: when something is already selected and mouse hovers over an unselected thumbnail, selector icon shows plus (+), which indicates that thumbnail would get added to selection, but if click happens outside selector icon (but inside thumbnail), instead every thing else gets deselected. You see why it is confusing as it is. Icon should instead indicate "deselect followed by select this", which is not easy to convey clearly using icons. VLC android app has one icon that come close, which is play this and then stop, it is basically a play icon followed by a box icon, but it too is accompanied by text description.

By logic, default (left) click action should the most obvious one, when selection exists it is a) to select current (under the mouse) thumbnail, if it is not already selected or b) to deselect current thumbnail, if it is already selected. It is not, clear selection and select current thumbnail. Period.
Comment 5 kunirraj 2019-08-07 12:25:32 UTC
(In reply to kunirraj from comment #4)
> In current form selector icon handling has major short comings from user
> interaction point of view. For instance: when something is already selected
> and mouse hovers over an unselected thumbnail ...

Similarly user get even more confusing result when click happens on an already selected thumbnail, selector icon shows minus (-), which indicate that thumbnail would get deselected, however if click is outside selector icon, everything else gets deselected, but current thumbnail remains selected !! It is exactly opposite of what is indicated.