Type-ahead find in Nautilus
I have a two clear use-cases for the discussed type-ahead search (eg #466 (closed), #590 (closed)), which maybe helps in the debate.
- Clear steps to reproduce / description of the problem
Use-case 1: Class files. While teaching my classes, I have sub-folders for previous years, 2017, 2018, etc. And I have a current folder containing files for the present year. Each year has a marking spreadsheet, 'marks.ods', as well as lots of other files. To quickly open my marks spreadsheet, I would like to type, in Nautilus, the name of the spreadsheet 'marks'. Unfortunately, in current GNOME, I get three apparently identical 'marks.ods' showing up as the results of my search. There is nothing on the screen to show me which files correspond to the sub-folders, and which correspond to the main (current) folder. Obviously if showing search results nested in folders, the location should be part of the displayed result! In this context, nested folder search is clearly NOT something I want by default, and there doesn't seem to be any way to easily disable it.
Use-case 2: Makefiles and SConscript files. When building code in directory trees, it is common to have Makefiles (with GNU make) and/or SConscript files (with SCons, http://www.scons.org). These files normally have the same name in all locations, by convention. But the same problem in Nautilus happens when searching for these files -- there is no way to see the context.
- Expected outcome
For type-ahead search, in these use-cases, I really expect to just see results from the current folder. I rather dislike the fact that all other files are filtered out, as I often used the type-ahead to skip down the list and then move up and down from there to the file that I wanted.
I would settle for search results that clearly indicated the folder name, eg by automatically switching to a multi-column layout. But I would prefer that functionality to be accessed via ctrl-F, and the old type-ahead behaviour to be restored, since I like to use it as a navigation aid within long folder lists. As noted, the current behaviour is not at all useful when there are same-named files in the nested folders. I am trying to use type-ahead to navigate just within what I can see, not to search the known universe ('recursive search' is a different operation, in my mind, and I feel that GNOME designers made a mistake when they tried to merge these two processes. For the latter, I would happily invoke ctrl-F.)
- Actual outcome
When using type-ahead search, the 'new' system HIDES all the OTHER files not matching the search criteria, and additionally brings in and SHOWS files from other folders, with out any visual differentiation to indicate that they come from somewhere else. This BREAKS THE DESIGN PARADIGM of a Nautilus view being a view of a single folder, with navigation 'breadcrumbs' at the top of the window indicating the location of the displayed files. It is useful and powerful, but it shouldn't have displaced the old behaviour, which still needs to be provided to maintain keyboard usability.
- Version information / distro information
I tried this with Nautilus 3.18.4 on Ubuntu 16.04.6, and also on Nautilus 3.26.4 on Ubuntu 18.04.2.