306376 - File|Exit dialog has default focus on "Close all tabs", not "Cancel"

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(SeaMonkey :: UI Design, defect)

Description

[Jim Vitrano]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.11) Gecko/20050728
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.11) Gecko/20050728

Selecting File|Exit from the Web browser with multiple tabs open brings up a
"Confirm close" dialog with two buttons, "Close all tabs" and "Cancel".  "Close
all tabs" has the initial focus, such that hitting space or enter causes the
window and all its tabs to close.  

Somehow I managed to hit Ctrl-Q while typing a long piece of text, followed by a
few more keypresses, then followed by a space.  I saw the "Confirm close"
dialog, but by the time I quit typing and went for the cancel button, it was too
late - I had typed a space and the browser continued to exit.

Having the default focus on "Cancel" would prevent this scenario.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open Web browser with at least two tabs.
2. Go to some Web page with a text entry field.
3. Start typing a bunch of text into the entry field, inserting a Ctrl-Q in the
middle.
4. Continue typing another word or two.

Actual Results:  
The browser processed the space character and closed a window with a large
number of tabs.

Expected Results:  
The browser should have cancelled the quit operation.

I hate to call this "critical", but it did cause me a data loss.  I consider the
list of Web pages I have open, and pending entries into forms on those pages, to
be "data" that I don't want lost.  Absent the guidelines I would have rated it
"major".

Comment 1

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

seems to me the buttom most used should be focused.
wontfix?

Comment 2

[Jim Vitrano]

In most cases that's a good rule, but when one of the choices in the dialog results in data being thrown away, it seems wise to make the less destructive choice the default.

Comment 3

[Andrew Schultz]

The dialog isn't meant to be a barrier to quitting, but to give you a second chance.  I don't know why you'd get 3 chances.  Even if it weren't the default, you could easily hit ^Q[right arrow][space] and then you'd still lose your data.  Then you'd need 4 chances.  The line has to be drawn somewhere.

It sounds like you really want remove of the option... there are bugs on that.

Comment 4

[scratch]

actually, on my installation, the checkbox is the default option, with is absolutely useless.  however i agree that the non-destructive option needs to be the default option.  this is a dataloss bug.

Comment 6

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

I don't see why you would accidentally "insert a Ctrl-Q in the middle of text" -- after all, these two keys aren't so close by each other... unless you've swapped Ctrl and Caps Lock but in that case I'm tempted to think you've been readying the rope by which to hang you.

When i hit Ctrl-Q it's rarely accidental, and if it is, the one popup is enough. Then I get Enter/Yes/OK/Close all or Esc/No/Cancel/Go back to browsing. That's logical. Making Esc and Enter synonymous, or having Esc mean "Yes, I do want to quit" and Enter mean "Cancel", that's what would feel wrong.

I move this bug be resolved WONTFIX. Neil, are you the right upstairs guy to handle this hot potato or should it go to someone else?

Comment 7

[Jim Vitrano]

In the case that prompted me to file the bug, I was writing a message in a Web mail application, and the "accidental" Ctrl-Q was meant to be a capital letter Q.  When I reached the end of the word I was typing and hit space, the space was treated as the confirmation that I wanted to exit.  So, there's at least one way of bumbling into an accidental Ctrl-Q followed by an accidental confirmation.

At the time I filed the bug, I thought that changing the default action on the confirmation dialog would be a simple change without much controversy.  If there's a good reason for leaving the default alone beyond "the user really has to do something strange to trigger that", then that's fine.  Either way, it would be good to reach a resolution on a bug that's almost ready for preschool.

Comment 8

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

I agree that a decision is overdue on whether this bug is legitimate or WONTFIX; but in my book, Esc == Cancel == Do Nothing, and that cannot be the same as Enter == Yes == OK == Accept, so I would except "Close All Tabs" to remain the default.

Now who's entitled to make that decision? KaiRo, if it isn't you (if, for instance, Sm and Fx must act the same way and someone else has the final word) I don't know who it is but I expect you do.

Comment 9

[Robert Kaiser]

The question of Firefox and SeaMonkey acting the same does not exist because Firefox pops up a dialog defaulting to quitting and saving the session - a functionality we just don't have yet.

I think we should stay defaulting to quit for now, after all, the user _has_ selected "Quit" in some way, and we'll revisit this anyway when we exchange the current dialog with a session (re)store dialog once bug 36810 implements that feature.