Renaming captures focus, and cancels renaming if focus is lost
Affected version
- Fedora 37, Gnome 43.4, Files
Use cases
When renaming a file, especially when dealing with some kind of archiving, it's often desirable to look up what the filename should be exactly in a different window. Current Files behaviour makes this harder in a number of ways:
- The operation is cancelled if you click on a different application, so that Files loses focus. This means that if you'd typed part of a long filename, then that will be lost. In other words, Files forces you to know the entire new filename before starting to rename.
- Window switching is made harder because the super button doesn't work while the rename field is visible
Available features and workarounds
Write the filename in a text editor and then copy-paste into the rename dialog
Difficulties and insufficiencies
This is cumbersome and unnecessary. For example, when saving a file it's perfectly possible to switch windows without losing the bits of the new filename you've already typed.
Suggested enhancements
- Leave the rename action active until then user explicitly cancels or completes
- Allow focus to be lost, e.g. stop blocking the super button
Edited by Michael Clerx