76741 - Separate link addr display from loading messages

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(SeaMonkey :: UI Design, enhancement)

Description

[hebble]

It should be possible to view links' addresses with mouse-over while the page is
still loadingZ; however, the "Transferring data" and other messages overwrite
the link address box.  I have three different ideas on how to fix this:
Suggestion one: display link addresses as tooltips on mouse-over, instead of in
the "Tranferring data" box.
Suggestion two: give links absolute priority, so "Transferring data"-type
messages are not displayed if the mouse is on a link.
Suggestion three: split the current screen area which is shared between them
into two separate fields, so they each have exclusive control over somewhere.

Comment 1

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

option 2 is probably best of those three....

Comment 2

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

Boris is right -- option 2.

Here's what should be happening:

There should be three different status text strings stored at once.
(3) The text which is written to the status bar by a script.
(2) The URL of a link, image map, or form submission button which is moused
    over.
(1) The loading status -- e.g. `Done', or `Connecting to server
    ftp.mozilla.org ...', or `18 K of 32 K at 3 K/s, 4 seconds remaining ...',
    or `A script error has occurred'.

Then, each string is only shown if the string(s) above it are null. For example,
`Done' should only be only shown if you aren't over a link; and mousing over a
link to Bugzilla should only show `http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/' if there isn't
a script on the page doing its own status text.

Now it looks as if this is happening, *except that* loading information is being
put in level (3) when it should be in level (1).

--> XP Apps: GUI Features for starters, though this might actually be a
Networking bug.

Comment 3

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

hey claudius, d'you think this is more of a networking issue, or one for xp apps?

Comment 4

[Blake Ross]

-> jag

Comment 5

[jag (Peter Annema)]

We almost have what mpt suggests in comment 2, except the order is 2, 3, 1 (so
you can see a url's link text even if something else is setting window.status
from js, except when it's done from the url's mouseover handler, in which case
that overrides the url's link text).

WFM.