Closing of last tab

[Leo Savernik]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Am Donnerstag, 18. September 2003 15:15 schrieb Thomas Zander:
[...]
> This answer completely ignores that konqueror is much more then a
> webbrowser.

Indeed, but Explorer is also much more than a webbrowser, yet follows 
interoperability.

> Also the statement that its more important to let a user use NN one moment
> and konqueror another and expect them to work the same seems silly; if you

Nope, for power users it is actually quite common that they use more than one 
browser. Especially under Linux where you fire up a page in Mozilla if it 
doesn't work in Konq and vice versa.

Under Windows, for instance, one can quite comfortably switch between Mozilla 
and IE because the common shortcuts are the same.

> let that be the guide there is no way that you can create a usabile KDE,
> many applications will ignore the standard for the sake of being
> consistant.  Where is the logic in that?

The issue with Konqueror is that it is, in fact, a special app. It is not like 
KWrite in which you edit documents, and for which the guidelines in the KDE 
spec apply. I perfectly agree that all editor related apps should adhere to 
the guideline and the shortcuts defined therein. Tabbed editor apps like Kate 
can have their tabs closed by hitting Ctrl+W, and when the last tab is 
closed, an *empty* document shows.

However, Konqueror as such is no editor app, and therefore any editor 
guidelines do not apply. Concerning the user interface guidelines, Konqueror 
should open an empty document when the last tab is closed, which Konq doesn't 
do because it makes no sense. So Konq is already breaking consistency here.

As Konqueror is a viewer app, I don't see any harm in closing the window when 
the document is closed. I'm aware of the fact that one *can* lose data (e. 
g., form data) but this can happen as well when the user has more than one 
tab open, and accidentally presses Ctrl+W.
>
[...]
> Thats not true; when you use Ctrl+Q for close it is and always has been
[...]

Well, that's where the usability issue arises. Ctrl+W means "I want to get rid 
of that document now" (scilicet: in the sense of closing, not deleting), but 
for the last document in a window, it means "Oops, suddenly it doesn't work 
anymore, ah, yes, it's the last document, so I have to resort to Ctrl+Q this 
time".

[...]
> please add this feature on your local version of kde and use that.
Local changes are a nightmare to maintain and update.

[...]
> Why is it important at all to make konqueror work like many existing
> browsers, are you so much different from most users that you use all of
> them? Most users just pick one and use that.

The cause why I'm mentioning other browsers is that they define a precedent 
that can easily be followed, and leads to better interoperability with other 
browsers as a bonus. See above what I said about power users.

I hope I have clarified my point of view enough why I think that Ctrl+W 
closing the window will not break consistency more than it does already, and 
why it improves usability.

mfg
	Leo
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org

iD8DBQE/adREj5jssenUYTsRArOjAKCrUDq/cIphLJ1PE5HOxGtvCUEWjwCgtkMT
awAStlEOQplHOAIDqTExSUM=
=mTBG
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----