Skip Journal when switching activities with alt-tab

[mtd]

Since you can switch directly to the journal with the search key (and other shortcuts), it can get in the way when switching activities with alt-tab.

Summary of the opposing view:

Anti-skip: The journal MUST be visible below the central XO
# on first boot; and
# if no other activity is started?

As long as the Journal appears where it does and as it does, we need to continue to treat it as an activity. If another proposal arises which meaningfully differentiates the Journal in a manner consistent with the system and its use, we can reconsider how it's portrayed.

Counterpoint:

The journal gets in the way when switching activities and is already meaningfully different from other activities:

# it has its own key
# it has its own zoom level position in the frame (it always appears immediately to the right of the "Home" zoom level icon)

This was originally reported at  http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/6251 .

[mtd]

I haven't tried it out, but I suspect something like this might do the trick:

diff --git a/src/jarabe/view/tabbinghandler.py b/src/jarabe/view/tabbinghandler.py
index c268684..b6a6a76 100644
--- a/src/jarabe/view/tabbinghandler.py
+++ b/src/jarabe/view/tabbinghandler.py
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@ class TabbingHandler(object):
                 activity = shell_model.get_tabbing_activity()
                 activity = shell_model.get_next_activity(current=activity)

+                # skip the journal (only once, to avoid looping forever)
+                if activity.get_bundle_id() == "org.laptop.JournalActivity":
+                    activity = shell_model.get_next_activity(current=activity)
+
             shell_model.set_tabbing_activity(activity)
             self._start_timeout(event_time)
         else:

[walter]

Not convinced this is a good idea, especially on non-OLPC XO hardware, where there is no dedicated Journal key. We are trying to make it easier rather than harder to get to the Journal.

[mikus]

Back at the beginning of 2008 I added two definitions to keyhandler.py on my systems, so that F5 activated the frame and F8 activated the Journal. [Single-key presses are simpler than what is in there for emulate support.] Those additions have enabled me to easily use external keyboards with the OLPC, and would be equally applicable to getting to the Journal on non-XO hardware.

As far as I can tell, these addidtions I've made to the keyboard function of F5 and F8 have NEVER interfered with any Sugar version to date.

[mtd]

Replying to walter:

Not convinced this is a good idea, especially on non-OLPC XO hardware, where there is no dedicated Journal key. We are trying to make it easier rather than harder to get to the Journal.

I don't object to making the Journal easy/easier to get to, but that's hardly the opposite of making Alt-Tab behave sanely. We don't Alt-Tab to the Neighborhood view or any other zoom level. Eben's argument has always been that the Journal is more like an activity than a Zoom level, and I can argue in the alternative about that:

a) the journal is a way of zooming in to the laptop, so treat it like a zoom level and not like an activity, so don't Alt-Tab to it along with the activities; or

b) the [ http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Human_Interface_Guidelines/The_Laptop_Experience/The_Journal|HIG] describes the journal's purpose as "The Journal's primary function as a time- based view of a child's activities ...", so we should treat it differently to an activity for Alt-Tab purposes; or

c) "the journal should have its own key on non-XO-hardware" is a different bug than "the journal should not be in the alt-tab list", so we should treat the journal differently to an activity for Alt-Tab purposes for the original reasons in this bug report.

I don't care about this as much as this reply seems, but there is plenty of support for this proposal on [ http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/6251|dlo#6251]: garycmartin, hoboprimate, mikus, auser . So let's just either close this as WONTFIX and recognise we're not going to change this, or apply the patch and see who complains, or approve the design conditional on ensuring a non-XO-compatible Journal shortcut exists (e.g., mikus' suggestions).

Isn't there a

[mtd]

Replying to walter:

Not convinced this is a good idea, especially on non-OLPC XO hardware, where there is no dedicated Journal key. We are trying to make it easier rather than harder to get to the Journal.

I don't object to making the Journal easy/easier to get to, but that's hardly the opposite of making Alt-Tab behave sanely. We don't Alt-Tab to the Neighborhood view or any other zoom level. Eben's argument has always been that the Journal is more like an activity than a Zoom level, and I can argue in the alternative about that:

a) the journal is a way of zooming in to the laptop, so treat it like a zoom level and not like an activity, so don't Alt-Tab to it along with the activities; or

b) the  HIG describes the journal's purpose as "The Journal's primary function as a time- based view of a child's activities ...", so we should treat it differently to an activity for Alt-Tab purposes; or

c) "the journal should have its own key on non-XO-hardware" is a different bug than "the journal should not be in the alt-tab list", so we should treat the journal differently to an activity for Alt-Tab purposes for the original reasons in this bug report.

I don't care about this as much as this reply seems, but there is plenty of support for this proposal on  dlo#6251: garycmartin, hoboprimate, mikus, auser . So let's just either close this as WONTFIX and recognise we're not going to change this, or apply the patch and see who complains, or approve the design conditional on ensuring a non-XO-compatible Journal shortcut exists (e.g., mikus' suggestions).

[mtd]

I'm going to submit a patch to the ML to see if we can close this issue (either as WONTFIX or as I have argued for).