Sadly this turned out to be much more difficult to fix than I expected.

There is no clear way to ask the style if focus indicators are enabled or not: This is something baked into Breeze style, so we would have
to check the breeze configuration for it. But this then would not of course work in other styles that have similar setting.

As far as I know, we also can't make primitives into objects, only draw them. In this case `PE_FrameFocusRect`, which is what the Breeze settings toggle on or off. When it's off, it draws nothing.
So we would need to figure out if `style()->drawPrimitive(QStyle::PE_FrameFocusRect, &focusOption, painter);` actually draws anything or not, then use that information to draw the focus. For now I could not figure out a sane way to do that.

Help from anyone with more insight into QPainter and QStyle would be appreciated with this.

This change brings only problems. Can't it be just reverted? Please?

(In reply to kaminata from comment #2)
> This change brings only problems. Can't it be just reverted? Please?

The main reason this change was implemented was for accessibility. For instance, it helps folks who have vision issues more easily see which item has focus. You're essentially asking if we could just make things harder for a group of our users.

You haven't been told no, just that it will take thought to implement. Have patience.

(In reply to TraceyC from comment #3)
> (In reply to kaminata from comment #2)
> > This change brings only problems. Can't it be just reverted? Please?
> 
> The main reason this change was implemented was for accessibility. For
> instance, it helps folks who have vision issues more easily see which item
> has focus. You're essentially asking if we could just make things harder for
> a group of our users.
> 
> You haven't been told no, just that it will take thought to implement. Have
> patience.

Any of this folks with such wish? A single person? For I know hundreds against it. How Dolphin survived without this ugly square for years?

If the focus is for keyboard users, would it be better to hide it until there is a key press? 

Currently, when any cursor key is pressed, it fully highlight the item. How about drawing a focus border when any key is pressed?

It's a good solution!

> The main reason this change was implemented was for accessibility. For instance, it helps folks who have vision issues more easily see which item has focus. You're essentially asking if we could just make things harder for a group of our users.

Accessibility isn't monolithic. What assists one group, can sometimes hinder another. In such cases, the change should be optional.

For people with ADHD and/or autism, certain visuals can be distracting, or feel incredibly noisy - uncomfortably so - while certain other visual ques can help to keep focus, or make it easier to keep your bearings. I can only speak for myself, but Dolphin has become somewhat less accessible to me with 25.08, as a result of this change, and the change to the location bar.

While the effect might "objectively" look quite nice, rounded edges and transparency effects are distracting and unpleasant to me in practice. The previous effect was themeable, while this one doesn't seem to be (or maybe application styles or kvantum themes needs to be updated for it, but many probably never will be). Theming, to be sure, is not just about sensibilities regarding style. You can achieve real accessibility gains, such as through managing contrast levels - and with the fine control over colour that was available to me, I was able to get applications to use one colour for selections, and a very opposite colour for things in focus, which helps to bring clarity.

The greatest negative impact, however, comes from what I'll call "dirty, lying whitespace". Before, there was this very neat, intuitive clarity about the spatial extents of a file in a folder. It was always exactly equal to what visually represented it - namely icon and text field. That's completely thrown out the window now, with a large amount of whitespace now belying its functionality, since there is now no clear visual border between space that represents a file, and space that doesn't, until *after* you have already crossed the threshold into represents-a-file territory, revealing it through selection or cursor hovering. This part trips my brain up.

Besides how it doesn't jive with my brain, it also just feels too difficult to select whitespace now, even if I could easily see the extents of the fields around each file. I never had much trouble selecting files, but now, selecting whitespace has become difficult enough to make me conscious of it, and I do fail at it sometimes, especially in a crowded folder.

I welcome this new effect, if it can make a great file manager more accessible to some, but I will bemoan if it has to come at an accessibility cost to others. I am only left thinking, "¿Por qué no los dos?".

Respectfully, the discussion about different accessibility needs of different groups, while valid, I think deserves it's own thread on the KDE Discuss forum rather than to be held here in a bug discussion.

(In reply to AdamKafei from comment #8)
> Respectfully, the discussion about different accessibility needs of
> different groups, while valid, I think deserves it's own thread on the KDE
> Discuss forum rather than to be held here in a bug discussion.

There is such thread:
https://discuss.kde.org/t/the-the-new-outline-thing-in-dolphin-why-it-has-to-be-so-irritating-intrusive-and-always-there/38761

> I am only left thinking, "¿Por qué no los dos?".

I agree with you and I wish to resolve the issue, but we need to figure good way to do it.

The only way currently I can think of is Breeze dependent, unless we just add a setting inside Dolphin. But adding new settings should not be done lightly either.

The points have been noted, we just ask for patience. Now lets keep this bug report from any offtopic chatter.

(In reply to AdamKafei from comment #8)
> Respectfully, the discussion about different accessibility needs of
> different groups, while valid, I think deserves it's own thread on the KDE
> Discuss forum rather than to be held here in a bug discussion.

You're right. While tickets here on KDE's Bugzilla -are- intended for more than just bug reports, the scope of this ticket is narrow (focused, if you will!), and I see now how my diatribe was off-topic, derailing the matter at hand. I apologise for that!

The thread linked by kaminata seems to be gone (or private). The closest equivalent thread seems to be this one: https://discuss.kde.org/t/i-dont-believe-that-the-new-dolphin-highlight-is-an-improvement/38590 started by Roke, but it seems to also be narrow in scope, rather than a general discussion of the new focus indicator. I'll wait a bit before posting my thoughts on the forum, and see if an appropriate thread (re)surfaces.

> I agree with you and I wish to resolve the issue, but we need to figure good way to do it.
> 
> The points have been noted, we just ask for patience.
> Now lets keep this bug report from any offtopic chatter.

I appreciate that, and I understand.
I'm sorry if I've somehow come across as impatient. Anyone who contributes to Plasma, or any of the other KDE projects, has my thanks, and my patience. :)

(In reply to skaffi from comment #11)

> The thread linked by kaminata seems to be gone (or private). 

They deleted it. This topic is their sore spot. They ban, delete threads, sad story.