91622 - http links appear to be targeted at a named window

Status: VERIFIED WORKSFORME

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Message Display, defect)

Description

[Not interested in Mozilla any more]

The first time you click a http link contained within a mail window mozilla will
open a new browser window, even if other browser windows are open. Any following
clicked links from mail use this same window. It appears as if the links created
in mail messages are targeted to a named window. Maybe this is intentional
behaviour but it's not what happens in NS 4.x etc.

Comment 1

[Dwayne]

Ian, please read http://www.mozilla.org/quality/bug-writing-guidelines.html for
help in writing bugs.  This will help the developers find and fix your bug in
less time.  Or, alternately, you can use
http://www.mozilla.org/quality/help/bugzilla-helper.html to help write a "good" bug.

I have some questions for you that will assist us:  What build were you running?
 How often can you reproduce this bug?  Does it seem to change from build to
build or has it always been there?  Can you reproduce this on any other platforms?

The more information you can provide in future reports, the easier it will be
for us to reproduce the problem and diagnose.  And thanks for being a part of
Bugzilla and taking the time to file bugs.

Comment 2

[Not interested in Mozilla any more]

Sorry, forgot to add these details, I've done a few bugs this morning and missed
it from this one:

Build 0.9.2 and 17-9-2001 nightly build of 0.9.2 on MacOS 9.1 both show this issue.

Steps to recreate:

1) Open mozilla
2) Open a browser window and the mail window.
3) Find a mail message that contains a link
4) Click the link, at this point a new window will open, rather than the link
   being opened in the pre existing browser window.
5) Now return to the mail window and click any other link. This will open in
   the window opened by the first link.

This has all the characteristics of a link with a named target. For example
if I make a webpage with the following link:

<a href="any.html" target="mytarget">

If you click this link a new window will popup. Once it is open any link also
targeted to "mytarget" will also use this window to display it's pages. In
effect the window is named 'mytarget' and it's correct behaviour for targeted
links to work this way. However, what's new about this bug is links from the
mail window appear to be targeted to their own window.

Comment 3

[Nathan]

Build 2001071803 on Win2k

Clicking a link in mail client will open page in the oldest window. Subsequent
links open in the same window (the oldest one). If no windows are open, it
creates one and uses it for all links. This sounds like the reporter's expected
behavior.

I presume this is NS 4.x behavior but I find it extremely annoying--it usually
changes a page I'm browsing in. I would prefer each link to have target _blank
(open in its own new window)

Comment 4

[Not interested in Mozilla any more]

No, this is different on the Mac. A fresh window is opened the first time you
click a link in mail. This window is then used for all subsequent links from
mail. The new window, opened by the first click, is opened even if other windows
are already open. That is not quite what you are describing on Win32.

Neither of our descriptions fits the behaviour of NS 4.x, which goes as
follows:

1) If no browser window is open, open one and use it for this link.
2) If a browser windows are open, use the front-most one for the link.

This is the pattern whether you are clinking on a link in mail for the first
time or not. The front most of the browser windows is the one that gets the
link. I would disagree with targeting _blank, if I want a new window I can
always choose 'open link in new window' from the context menu, whereas I
can't do the opposite if this is the default behaviour.

I would suggest that as the NS 4.x behaviour is the established one
it should be maintained. It's what users have come to expect.

Comment 5

[Greg K.]

Sorry, this isn't the behavior I see under Mac/2001071903. I launch Mozilla and a browser 
window is spawned. Opening Mail, I select a mail message, then click a link contained 
therein. The link is opened in the already open browser window...a new window is not 
opened.

Reporter, I'm going to mark this WORKSFORME for now. Please try a newer build and 
try the specific sequence I detail above. If you experience something different, please 
reopen the bug and let us know the details.

Thanks.

Comment 6

[Not interested in Mozilla any more]

Just tried 0.9.3 release (build 2001080214) and you are correct it is no longer
opening it's own window. However, it is not using the frontmost browser window
but rather the oldest window. This is not what communicator used to do and means
you loose what you where browsing there. added 4xp keyword.

To summarise the remaining problem:
- NC 4.x would use the frontmost browser window to open links from mail,
  whatever window that was at the time the link was clicked.
- Mozilla 0.9.3 always uses the oldest browser window, ignoring the 
  stacking order.

To demonstrate the issue try the following:

1) open moz and start a browser window.
2) start a second browser window.
3) open mail and click on a link.

The link will open in the first of the browser windows to be opened,
ie. the one currently at the back of the stacking order.

Comment 7

[[e-mail] (gone - use [e-mail] instead)]

Ian, that's a different bug, already logged.