1060878 - Autocomplete for Address Book stops hunting for match on tab out (losing focus) of address field

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1012397

(Thunderbird :: Message Compose Window, defect)

Description

[john]

1) Open a new email, and 
2) in the To field: quickly type the first characters of a commonly used contact's name and then tab out

In the past, the autocomplete would happen with the tab.

Now, the 'tab' appears to halt the search, and the To field is left hanging, with an incomplete address, formed of the characters.

Example:  An email to me, I would type 'john<tab><tab>', and start typing a message.   The address field remains at 'john' and does not do the fill in.

This is / may be an artifact of the slow search, with the new 'contains', but this behavior is sort of annoying.   I don't know if it is corrected with the increased speed of the search in upcoming release; but this use pattern, the typing and tabbing out quickly, should be part of a responsive test regimen.

I don't know the bug number, off hand, that goes with the slow search bugs, otherwise I would connect this bug to that/those....though I note that they may be marked resolved/fixed.   I can't tell, from my perspective, if I am correct, on the relation to the slow search bug; only that it is similar.    

Also: Seems similar to bug 1009469, except the focus does not leave TB, but merely leaves the address field

I am wondering what the default behavior should be if the user skips out of the field before -any- search is returned.   Leave hanging?  Pick most likely?  Leave hanging seems wisest, and may, in fact, be the intended default, but the delay should still be fixed