128124 - edit/new address list dialog should be modal

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Address Book & Contacts, defect)

Description

[sairuh (rarely reading bugmail)]

found using 2002.02.25.08 comm bits on linux rh7.2. unlike the edit/new address
card dialog, the edit/new address list dialog is not modal. because of this, i
could do some interesting things --see recipes below.

recipe A: able to delete list while editing it.

1. create an address list --mine just had 3 entries: i had d'n'd the names from
the directory pane, an advantage of the non-modality, admittedly.
2. edit the list created in step (1) --select it in the dir pane and click the
Properties button.
3. after the edit list dialog appears, go back to the addressbook window and
make sure its name is selected (highlighted) in the dir pane.
4. click the Delete button.

results: the edit list dialog remains up --no warning dlg is issued-- but the
entry for the list in the dir pane goes away.

shouldn't the Delete button be disabled?


recipe B: able to 'delete' cards while editing list. i saw several differing
results here, pls pardon the branching results!

1. repeat steps (1)-(2) from recipe A.
2. go to the dir pane in the addrbk window, and select a card which is included
in the list you're editing.
3. click the Delete button.

result: at one point, i got a crash at this step, but it wasn't reproducible.
talkback report is at
http://climate.netscape.com/reports/SingleIncidentInfo.cfm?dynamicBBID=3440693

4a. if there no crash, the card is no longer listed in the dir pane. return to
the edit list dlg, and click the OK button.

result: after the edit list dlg goes away, the deleted card entry *reappears* in
the dir pane with some differences: its address is still there, but somehow the
fullname ("displayed") and nickname associated with it are now gone. if i reopen
the list, that card entry is still there, but without its fullname.

4b. similar to (4a), but click the Cancel button instead.

result: dataloss! after the edit list dlg goes away, the deleted card entry
*remains* deleted from the dir pane. reopening the list shows that the card has
beed removed as well.

Comment 1

[Ninoschka Baca]

How should this work?

Recipe A: I agree that if the list is open, selecting the list in the directory 
pane should disable the Delete button.

Recipe B: Should a dialog appear warning the user that they are deleting a card 
which also appears in an open list? If the user is able to delete the card then 
shouldn't the entry disappear from the edit list dialog?

Comment 2

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

any reason why we couldn't just make the dialog modal for now, to simplify 
these issues? 

one reason against that is you'd no longer be able to dnd addresses into the 
mailing list dialog.  

but you could still manage your lists with dnd, if you dnd addresses from 
addressbooks into a mailing list in the dir pane.

I'm sure there is a good reason why it is non-modal, I'll wait to hear from 
jglick.

comments?

Comment 3

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

another reason to make this modal, keeps things simple.

the crazy ab code can use all the simplification-of-code help it can get.

Comment 4

[Ninoschka Baca]

4a. 
- I understand why the entry reappears but it should have the Display Name as 
well. This is a general problem when creating a list if I type the pretty name 
followed by the actual address, after you close/reopen the list it does not save 
the Display Name. (i.e. Jane Smith <[e-mail]> becomes [e-mail])

- The problem with the empty entry appearing can be reproduced without the 
mailing list open. 

- Create a list with 3 entries (card1, card2, card3)
- Close the list by selecting the OK button
- With the Address Book selected in the directory pane, select one of the cards 
in the results pane and the card is deleted (i.e. card1 which is the first card 
in the list)

Actual Results:
- Select the list from the directory pane and 3 entries display in the results 
pane but one of them is completely blank, this is the one that was previously 
deleted. Open the list and the first field is blank.
- Exit/restart 
- with the list selected in the directory pane, the results pane still displays 
the 2 valid cards but 1 blank card. 
- open the list and the first field is still blank. 

4b. Since the entry was deleted with the Address Book selected (top level), 
Canceling the mail list dialog should do what with this entry? Should it keep 
the address which means that it would have to add the address into the Address 
Book or should it just remove the entry since the user deleted the card?

I know that making the mail list dialog modal will reduce the number of problems 
that can occur but I'm concerned that the user will be losing alot of 
functionality that they would expect. 

Comment 5

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

taking, I have a fix.

Comment 6

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

Attachment: make it modal, and center it too.

Comment 7

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

moving this into 1.0, I think we need to make this modal, to prevent all the 
nasty edge cases (that come from being non modal) that we won't be able to get 
too any time soon.

nbaca writes:  

"I know that making the mail list dialog modal will reduce the number of 
problems that can occur but I'm concerned that the user will be losing alot of 
functionality that they would expect."

besides dnd (which is a big one), what functionality do the lose? 

Comment 8

[David :Bienvenu]

Comment on attachment 71953 [details] [diff] [review]
make it modal, and center it too.

sr=bienvenu

Comment 9

[Ninoschka Baca]

Besides the inability to dnd into an open mail list dialog I don't see any other
loss of functionality. 

Comment 10

[jglick]

Bug 115904 (Address-Card should not be modal) is similar but about the Card 
dialog. Both individual cards and Mailing Lists should prob have the same 
behavior (modal/nonmodal to the AB window).

Comment 11

[racham]

Comment on attachment 71953 [details] [diff] [review]
make it modal, and center it too.

r=bhuvan

Comment 12

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

in addition to #115904 (for new / edit card) there is #128169 (for new / edit 
mailing list.)

the goal is to make those windows modal to just the addressbook.

on win2k, that's already the case.  (maybe there is a toolkit issue for other 
platforms)

Comment 13

[Asa Dotzler [:asa]]

Comment on attachment 71953 [details] [diff] [review]
make it modal, and center it too.

a=asa (on behalf of drivers) for checkin to the 1.0 trunk

Comment 14

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

fixed.

Comment 15

[James Rome]

This breaks the mailing list dialog!!!

It is impossible to drag names or even to scroll the address book to find the
addresses to type in. The main address book page just beeps.

This fix made it impossible to use a mailing list!!!!!!!!

Comment 16

[James Rome]

Hey guys, this broke mailing lists. Reopen this bug!!!!

Comment 17

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

if you want to use dnd to add cards to your list, here's the way to do it:

don't open the mailing list dialog, use the addressbook window and drag cards 
from the results pane (the upper right) to the mailing list icon in the 
directory tree pane (the left).

the reason it is no longer modal is because of all the nasty edge cases, see 
previous comments in this bug.

Comment 18

[James Rome]

Well, the address list edit window says to drag or type in names. It should NOT
be modal.

The problem with your method is that you cannot see the names on the list to
know which are there and which are not there. It is also impossible now to
delete names from mailing lists. If you have the list open in the main window,
delete (icon or key) does not work, nor do any deletions in the edit window stick.

Maintaining a big list is impossible.

Not being to use the list editor is a big step backwards.

Mailing lists are now totally broken in my opinion.

Comment 19

[Ninoschka Baca]

James, what OS are you running? I know there is a problem deleting cards/lists
from the results pane (right pane) in OS X (bug# 122320).

Comment 20

[James Rome]

win2k. Build 2002030508.

I can delete regular cards but not list entries. Anywhere.

We need the list editor, and it shouldn't be modal. Why eliminate a good thing??

Comment 21

[Ninoschka Baca]

We tried this on a Win2k system using build 2002-03-14-03 and we are able to
remove entries from a list.

Comment 22

[James Rome]

How, pray tell did you do this?

I still do not understand why you decided to break the list box editor.

Comment 23

[Ninoschka Baca]

Trunk build 2002-04-01: WinMe, Linux RH 7.1, Mac 10.1.3
Verified Fixed

Comment 24

[(not reading, please use [e-mail] instead)]

one of the reasons we made the mailing list dialog modal is for bugs like this:

edit mailing list, make changes, before hitting ok,
go to the addressbook dialog, edit the mailing list (adding cards, deleting 
cards).  now hit OK on the mailing list dialog.

right now, I feel its better to leave this mailing list as modal and avoid 
these scenarios.  

Give the overall quality of the mailing list and addressbook code, I think 
resources are better spent fixing bugs like #96877 and #130732 and addressbook 
performance.  That will affect more users that this bug.

as I've said before, you can still do dnd management of mailing lists, if you 
manage from the addressbook dialog.

Comment 25

[James Rome]

I tried doing it your way, but there is NO way to see both the list contents and
the address book contents at the same time. As far as I can see, its the only
way to make a big list. In your scenario, turn off the ability o edit the list
without the dialog box and it is solved in a better manner.

I challenge you to make a list with, say 100 names in some random order.

The original Netscape did lists very nicely. Why do we need to regress?

Comment 26

[Mike Cowperthwaite]

*** Bug 143355 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***