1476415 - browser.search.search: open new tab next to active tab

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(WebExtensions :: General, defect, P3)

Description

[kernp25]

This code:
> browser.search.search("Google", "test")
will open a new tab at the end. But i think it should open
the new tab next to the active tab (like with built-in search context menu [1]).

[1] https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/rev/6f86cc3479f80ace97f62634e2c82a483d1ede40/browser/base/content/browser.js#4024

Comment 1

[Mike Conca [:mconca]]

(In reply to kernp25 from comment #0)
> This code:
> > browser.search.search("Google", "test")
> will open a new tab at the end. But i think it should open
> the new tab next to the active tab (like with built-in search context menu
> [1]).
> 
> [1]
> https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/rev/
> 6f86cc3479f80ace97f62634e2c82a483d1ede40/browser/base/content/browser.js#4024

Ideally, the new tab would follow the preference set in browser.search.openintab.

Comment 2

[Mike Kaply [:mkaply]]

> Ideally, the new tab would follow the preference set in browser.search.openintab.

All these things are supposed to be found before I check in :).

I'll take a look

Comment 3

[Mike Kaply [:mkaply]]

I'm not convinced of this one.

The search can be executed in many different places in the UI (popup, sidebar, context menu).

It's up to the extension that implements the search to make sure the tab shows up in the correct place. They can do that by getting the active tab and putting it next to that tab if it's a context menu search.

As far as browser.search.openintab goes, I'm still thinking about that one. That preference was really designed for the search bar, and that's the only place it is used I think.

And that preference is exposed via WebExtension APIs so an extension could query it and do the right thing.

Comment 4

[Mike Conca [:mconca]]

(In reply to Mike Kaply [:mkaply] from comment #3)
> I'm not convinced of this one.
> 
> The search can be executed in many different places in the UI (popup,
> sidebar, context menu).
> 
> It's up to the extension that implements the search to make sure the tab
> shows up in the correct place. They can do that by getting the active tab
> and putting it next to that tab if it's a context menu search.
> 
> As far as browser.search.openintab goes, I'm still thinking about that one.
> That preference was really designed for the search bar, and that's the only
> place it is used I think.
> 
> And that preference is exposed via WebExtension APIs so an extension could
> query it and do the right thing.

Good points, Mike. Given the number of different user actions that can invoke this API, only the extension knows where the appropriate location would be.  And it can use the browserSetting() API to query several prefs to decide what to do.

Comment 5

[Mike Kaply [:mkaply]]

I'm going to mark this WONTFIX. It's up to the extension developer to use the API correctly.

I've provided the ability to pass the tabID.

Comment 6

[Ian Moody [:Kwan] (UTC+1)]

Depends on bug 1477248 for extension developer to be able to do so manually.

Comment 7

[kernp25]

(In reply to Ian Moody [:Kwan] (UTC+0) from comment #6)
> Depends on bug 1477248 for extension developer to be able to do so manually.

But this is WONTFIXED?

Comment 8

[Mike Kaply [:mkaply]]

I'm going to add support for openerTabId

Comment 9

[Firefox Bug Husbandry Bot]

Bulk move of bugs per https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1483958

Comment 10

[kernp25]

(In reply to Mike Kaply [:mkaply] from comment #8)
> I'm going to add support for openerTabId

It should just open the new tab created by browser.search.search api next to the active (selected) tab.
I think, that would be enough for most users.

To fix this bug, just add the relatedToCurrent flag to the options [1].

[1] https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/rev/a0333927deabfe980094a14d0549b589f34cbe49/browser/components/extensions/parent/ext-search.js#71-74

Comment 11

[Mike Kaply [:mkaply]]

In the context menu use case, I agree, but in other use cases, I'm not sure this applies.

If you click a button in UI that opens a search, should it be related to the current tab?

Comment 12

[kernp25]

(In reply to Mike Kaply [:mkaply] from comment #11)
> In the context menu use case, I agree, but in other use cases, I'm not sure
> this applies.
> 
> If you click a button in UI that opens a search, should it be related to the
> current tab?

Why not? Because otherwise you need to navigate between a lot of tabs (if you have a lot of tabs open).

But now, that the bug[1] has been fixed, i think, this bug is no longer needed.

browser.contextMenus.onClicked.addListener(async (info, tab) => {
  let newTab = await browser.tabs.create({
    url: "about:blank",
    index: tab.index + 1
  });
  browser.search.search({
    query: "test",
    tabId: newTab.id
  });
});

Works perfectly :)

[1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1477248

Comment 13

[Mike Kaply [:mkaply]]

I'm glad we could make you happy :)