git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

Re: Git Gui - enhancement suggestion - Can a double click on the file name in the “unstaged” area move the item to “staged changes”

From
Pratyush Yadav <me@yadavpratyush.com>
Date
Sep 14, 2019, 21:23 UTC
Message-ID
<20190914212357.cg7t5cufqwd3wj66@yadavpratyush.com>
In-Reply-To
<CAMPXz=pNFpg7B0uYCBWvKwOqG8VZWfOxvf+8mZ9qc7w6DkF=+w@mail.gmail.com>
On 15/09/19 01:57AM, David wrote:
Show 54 quoted lines
> On Sat, 14 Sep 2019 at 08:07, Marc Branchaud <marcnarc@xiplink.com> wrote:
> > On 2019-09-13 10:32 a.m., Pratyush Yadav wrote:
> > > On 13/09/19 12:24PM, Allan Ford wrote:
> 
> > >> Not a bug, but a suggestion consideration for “Git Gui”
> 
> > >> Can a double click on the file name in the “unstaged” area move the
> > >> item to “staged changes” .. (rather than having to click on the small
> > >> icon to the left of the file name?)
> 
> > > It has been something on my radar for some time. Shouldn't be something
> > > too difficult to do.
> 
> > > While I like the idea in general, I have a question that I'd like to ask
> > > other git-gui users:
> 
> Thank you for asking.
> 
> > I've always felt this was a bit of user-experience failure on git-gui's
> > part.  Single-click should not behave differently just because you click
> > the icon.
> 
> > I've seen many new git-gui users find this (mildly) confusing.
> 
> I acknowledge that consistency is an important aspect of GUI design.
> Particularly for new and/or low-competency users. But surely
> efficiency must also be valued too. Repetitive strain injury is not
> nice. I have some days where I have hundreds or possibly even
> thousands of such single clicksto stage and unstage items. Currently
> it is possible to review and accumulate them efficiently due to how
> that pane responds.
> 
> And this seems a very small aspect to learn. if a person is so
> "confused" by such a small thing to learn, I wonder what hope they
> would have to comprehend git itself.
> 
> > I'd be happy if the click behavior was consistent across the entire
> > row: single-click to select,
> > double-click to stage/unstage
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Please, no.
> 
> I can't say it strongly enough. Please do not change stage/unstage
> to require double-click. This would be most unwelcome here, unless it
> comes with a configuration option to preserve the old behaviour.
> 
> Maybe the actual problem is that the present icon (perhaps surprisingly)
> has the behaviour of a blank check-box that relocates. I don't wish for
> any change, but if the desire for change is irresistable then the
> simplest solution is for the icon (that appears to the left of filenames
> in the unstaged pane) to be replaced with blank check box that
> behaves exactly as the current icon does. That is:
> When clicked, it becomes a checked-box alongside the filename in
> the staged area. And if that staged-checked-box is clicked, it reverts to
> an unchecked-box (instead of the icon) in the unstaged pane.

Hmm, I like this idea. But right now the icons also show the state of the file (modified, added, etc.), so if you switch them to a checkbox you lose that information. Are you and other people willing to lose that information.

Though I've personally never been a huge fan of those icons. They never really managed to convey too much meaning to me. So I won't mind changing them to something like the single-letter git-status status flags. This also gives us a bit of consistency with git-status's flags, so people used to the command line will recognize them instantly. Thoughts?

-- 
Regards,
Pratyush Yadav
Previous: DavidNext: David
Message 11 of 13 in “Git Gui - enhancement suggestion - Can a double click on the file name in the “unstaged” area move the item to “staged changes””
  1. Allan FordSep 13, 2019
  2. Pratyush YadavSep 13, 2019
  3. Bert WesargSep 13, 2019
  4. Pratyush YadavSep 13, 2019
  5. DavidSep 14, 2019
  6. Pratyush YadavSep 14, 2019
  7. DavidSep 15, 2019
  8. Pratyush YadavSep 16, 2019
  9. Marc BranchaudSep 13, 2019
  10. DavidSep 14, 2019
  11. Pratyush YadavSep 14, 2019
  12. DavidSep 15, 2019
  13. Johannes SixtSep 14, 2019

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.