Bug 178079 - select files with space and cursor keys
Summary: select files with space and cursor keys
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: dolphin
Classification: Applications
Component: general (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 16.12.2
Platform: Compiled Sources Unspecified
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Dolphin Bug Assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2008-12-18 18:11 UTC by Helge Hielscher
Modified: 2021-08-20 02:39 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

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Description Helge Hielscher 2008-12-18 18:11:24 UTC
Version:           1.1.80 (using Devel)
Installed from:    Compiled sources

With Konqueror 3.5 it was possible to select individual files with the cursor keys (move the cursor) and space (select file under cursor).
In Konqueror 4.1.82 / Dolphin 1.1.80 there seems to be no way to select individual files with the keyboard.
Comment 1 Dario Andres 2008-12-18 21:58:01 UTC
Here using:

Qt: 4.4.3
KDE: 4.1.85 (KDE 4.1.85 (KDE 4.2 Beta2))
kdelibs svn rev. 898705 / kdebase svn rev. 898705
on ArchLinux x86_64 - 2.6.27.8

In Dolphin you can select multiple individual files holding the CTRL key, moving the cursor with the cursor keys and select a file pressing the SPACE key (remember that you need to hold the CTRL key all the time until you finish)
Comment 2 Krzysztof Sobolewski 2009-02-07 21:16:59 UTC
The apparent lack of selection via keyboard was a major showstopper for me (I can now consider upgrading permanently, yay! :) ) and I'm glad to see that there is indeed a way to do this. But I'm not really convinced that doing it this is better, because it's too damn easy to lose the selection if you move the cursor by accident. (Not mentioning that it's not obvious, unfamiliar and hard to discover.)
I was also hoping for a selection with the Insert key, which selects an item and moves the cursor down.
Comment 3 Krzysztof Sobolewski 2009-02-10 21:32:15 UTC
> Not mentioning that it's not obvious, unfamiliar and hard to discover.

...And I can't do it with just one hand; the new mode it annoyingly two-handed.

Can you do something about it, pretty please? :)
Comment 4 Jeroen van Meeuwen (Kolab Systems) 2012-08-24 16:21:30 UTC
Resetting assignee to default as per bug #305719
Comment 5 kdebugs 2014-04-12 07:15:39 UTC
(In reply to comment #3)
> ...And I can't do it with just one hand; the new mode it annoyingly
> two-handed.

How can you not do this one-handed?  There's a Ctrl right next to your arrow keys.
Comment 6 Justin Zobel 2021-03-09 02:19:02 UTC
Thank you for the bug report.

As this report hasn't seen any changes in 5 years or more, we ask if you can please confirm that the issue still persists.

If this bug is no longer persisting or relevant please change the status to resolved.
Comment 7 AndyKluger 2021-08-20 02:36:13 UTC
I also am looking for a less fragile keyboard-driven selection, as can be done in Double Commander. 

The key here is that we need a new additional type of selection, "mark."

I'll call the current type of selection, whose behavior need not change, "soft-select."

- KEY1 (e.g. INS or SPACE, needs entry in kb shortcuts) toggles mark of currently soft-selected item
- Toggle option: KEY1 also moves soft-select to next single item
- Toggle option: shift+cursor-key toggles mark of currently soft-selected item and soft-selects "next" (directional) single item
- Need kb shortcut and menu item to unmark all (in current pane)

Then there are questions about which group of files to perform a requested action on when there are both soft-selected items and marked items.

I would say cursor dragging operations, as now, ought to continue operating only on soft-selected items.

I know when I'm moving and copying between panes with keyboard shortcuts, if I've got marked items, that's what I'm trying to operate on.

I can't tell right now if supporting both select styles simultaneously like this is wise, or rather it should be a one-or-the-other choice.

I'd love to hear from any devs that have been thinking about this kind of feature!
Comment 8 AndyKluger 2021-08-20 02:39:38 UTC
Oh it might be worth mentioning this is conceptually related to a "stash" folder, as I *think* a bunch of marked items are essentially a bunch of stashed items. Never actually used a stash folder though . . .