Search results lost after switching apps

[darmok]

Search results don't stay put. They should not vanish without direct user action.

Start with just the Contacts window open. Type a few characters, then wait for the located contacts to be displayed. Click on one to select it. Switch to another app. Switch back to Adium. The Contacts window no longer contains the search results and the contact selected is random.

300-MHz PowerMac G3 B&W w/ 640 MB RAM, OS X 10.4.11, QuickTime Pro 7.5.
1.5-GHz PowerBook G4 w/ 1.25 GB RAM, OS X 10.4.11, QuickTime Pro 7.5.
Accounts: 3 AIM, 2 ICQ, 2 GTalk, 1 MSN, 3 Yahoo (related, two disabled); 200+ contacts.

[jas8522]

I disagree. I think that if you're switching to another application on purpose, then you were probably done searching (otherwise, why switch apps?) If you did it accidentally, then forget you were searching you might be wondering why your list only contains a few people. This is much more likely to happen than people being angry because it didn't save their search when they switched apps - especially considering you can just search it again...

What do others think about this?

Oh, and the person selected isn't random - it's the contact that was selected prior to the start of the search. I *do* think that whichever contact you select following a search should remain selected after a search is completed. Implications for this would be searches that were completed for contacts in collapsed groups - the group would have to remain expanded after the search is complete. Either way, this is for another bug report as it is not the focus of this one.

[darmok]

I switched to another app (Mail) to verify that I was locating the right contact and the correct account for that time of day. I was NOT done searching.

"list only contains a few people" ... but it would still have the search field displayed. A pretty obvious indication of why.

"considering you can just search it again" yes. But why should you have to? It takes TIME to do that. And Adium, by throwing away the search, has wasted the user's time.

[darmok]

Another instance of the search being lost...

I was typing into Adium's contact window, in mid-search, when MT-NewsWatcher threw up a dialog saying it needed attention. Adium immediately threw away the search, even before I had a chance to move the mouse to click the Ok button of the dialog.

[xja]

I think the selected contact is not random.
Adium seems to me being selecting the last position you selected, not the contact.
By the way, I notice the same behaviour, one might expect to hold the search until esc is typed or the x button is clicked.

Bye.

[jas8522]

Yeah, Darmok has given some good examples for situations where it would be handy to have it not clear the search. Plus it would maintain consistency with other apps with search functionality - including other messengers like Skype and Microsoft Messenger.

[zacw]

(In [25397]) Don't forward any events (except for escape when there's no selection) to the find panel from the contact list. To start a filter, you have to command+f it into existence now. Removes the search-ending when the contact list resigns focus. Fixes #10956.

[zacw]

(In [25398]) Merged [25397]: Don't forward any events (except for escape when there's no selection) to the find panel from the contact list. To start a filter, you have to command+f it into existence now. Removes the search-ending when the contact list resigns focus. Fixes #10956.

[rgovostes]

I liked the type-to-search feature; is there another way to solve this problem?

[zacw]

This problem wasn't caused by type to search, that I intentionally disabled. It's confusing and, honestly, downright annoying: try minimizing a group in the contact list quickly, or jumping down to navigate by typing ahead. Cmd+f still applies, and maybe we can add "/" to trigger it like in FF.

[irabinovitch]

Any chance of making this a preference? I'm missing the type to search feature in b1.

Replying to zacw:

This problem wasn't caused by type to search, that I intentionally disabled. It's confusing and, honestly, downright annoying: try minimizing a group in the contact list quickly, or jumping down to navigate by typing ahead. Cmd+f still applies, and maybe we can add "/" to trigger it like in FF.

[skywalker404]

Bumping/agreeing on the request for a preference; this is a feature I use pretty heavily, so I'm not upgrading yet.

Replying to irabinovitch:

Any chance of making this a preference? I'm missing the type to search feature in b1.

[Katt]

Make this a preference please, I liked not having to press cmd-f and the search vanishing. It's not google or something, just a searchbox for a contactlist, I think more users like it to vanish than rather having this quite odd behaviour. I discovered this when I upgraded to beta, guess I'll have to run stable for a while.

[Katt]

Another thing that came to my mind is that the searchbox SHOULD VANISH if the user switches to any other window when using type-to-search and NOT VANISH if the user used Cmd-F, that's the best solution I think.

[smagdali]

I'd like to register another vote for a pref. As a non-mouse user, type-to-search was a great, great, feature. I was so happy when I discovered it, and use it 10s of times a day.

[evands]

(In [25747]) Partially revert [25397], and tweak standard contact list typing as suggested by Katt in #10956. Typing does initiate a search, as Adium 1.3.2 did, and clicking away does clear that search. Hitting cmd-F to initiate a search starts a less transient search, and the search field will remain when clicking away. I think this will please most involved, I hope. :)

Refs #10956. Fixes #11496.

[evands]

(In [25753]) Merged [25747]: Partially revert [25397], and tweak standard contact list typing as suggested by Katt in #10956. Typing does initiate a search, as Adium 1.3.2 did, and clicking away does clear that search. Hitting cmd-F to initiate a search starts a less transient search, and the search field will remain when clicking away. I think this will please most involved, I hope. :) Refs #10956. Fixes #11496.

[darmok]

This was fixed for a while, but now search results are again lost in 1.3.3b4

[evands]

The 1.3.3b4 behavior is intended.

• Type-to-search clears its state when the window switches away
• Press cmd-F to enter persistent search mode. The search field will remain when switching windows.

[darmok]

Replying to darmok:

This was fixed for a while, but now search results are again lost in 1.3.3b4

n/m. Moving aside (most of) my Adium 2.0 folder fixed this. Must be something corrupted in there.