1113105 - Autocomplete issues introduced in version 31.3.0

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1042561

(Thunderbird :: Message Compose Window, defect)

Description

[Lou LaRocca]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:34.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/34.0
Build ID: 20141125180439

Steps to reproduce:

These problems occur whenever addressing an email to recipients.


Actual results:

Since upgrading to version 31.3 this week I have noticed several steps backward in the way email addressing and autocomplete work.  First, instead of the white background they used to have, the "To" and "Cc" fields are bluish gray like the surrounding area, which is a very minor quibble but to me a step in the wrong direction.  It makes these fields appear to be read-only.

More importantly, autocomplete is not working very well at all any more.  In previous versions I was accustomed to typing the first couple of letters of a common recipient's name and quickly moving on with the enter or tab key.  Even if there was a slight lag as it thought about it, Thunderbird would always catch up and correctly complete the name.  Now, it's very hit-or-miss.  I am very frequently (50% or more of the time?) seeing no autocompletion at all, and needing to go back and type in the name again.  (For example, I will type "mic" for my friend Mickey and hit tab, and Thunderbird will leave the address as simply "mic" until I go back and do it over.)  This is really slowing me down.

Also, something that I used to see a little in prior versions but seems more prevalent in this version ... frequently an autocompleted addressee will display in red for no apparent reason. This is a very confusing visual cue that makes you think there is something wrong when there clearly isn't.

I'm hoping (expecting?) that these problems are affecting enough of your users, and that the fixes are simple enough, that we'll see them corrected quickly.  I send enough emails that a breakdown in the autocomplete feature really disrupts my work.  I wouldn't be able to continue using Thunderbird for very long like this.


Expected results:

Autocomplete should work the first time.  Addresses should not appear in red unless something is actually wrong with them.

I would also humbly request that you bring back the white background, but that's obviously less important.

Comment 1

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

Please just discuss one bug per issue.
Anyway, see bug 1042561 for the red, bug 970456 fixes the "first letter" issue, and there's a bug for the theming stuff as well.

Comment 2

[Lou LaRocca]

I agree that bug 1042561 seems to capture what I've observed about the red text.

However, bug 970456 is not the same issue I am reporting.  This isn't about finding a sub-optimal match, it's about finding no match at all.  As I've used TB 31 more, I am seeing that if you type quickly and hit the tab key before the autocomplete occurs, you are left with no autocomplete at all.  If you wait patiently for the autocomplete before hitting tab, it seems to work.

This behavior is a noticeable step backward from the previous version, and I'm hoping it can be corrected quickly/easily.  Thanks!

Comment 3

[Magnus Melin [:mkmelin]]

Yes, that's bug 1012397.

Comment 4

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(picking one to dupe)