Spacebar global hotkey should be ignored while typing

[ajaberi]

When the **Space** key is set as a global hotkey (for example, to open a new tab), Everything treats this hotkey as active everywhere, even when the focus is on the search box.

As a result, when I try to type a multi-word query in the search box, pressing the Space key opens a new tab instead of inserting a space between words.

This makes it practically impossible to perform multi-word searches while using Space as a hotkey.

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### Steps to reproduce:

1. Go to *Tools → Options → Keyboard* and assign the **Space** key as a global hotkey for an action such as “Open new tab.”
2. Create a new tab or focus on an existing one.
3. Type `new file name` in the search box.
4. Notice that pressing Space opens a new tab instead of inserting a space.

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### Expected behavior:

When the focus is on the search box or any text field, the Space key should work as a normal space character and should not trigger the hotkey action.

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### Suggested solution:

The program could be adjusted so that when the focus is on the search box or the rename box, the Space key hotkey is temporarily disabled.

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[void]

Thank you for the issue report ajaberi,

It's too hard to know which keys the edit control accepts and which ones it doesn't.
I will consider support for eating common keys when the search box has focus, like space instead of letting them go to the Everything keyboard shortcut handler.



To set spacebar to open a new tab from the result list:

• In Everything 1.5, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Keyboard tab on the left.
• To the right of Show commands containing, search for:
  tab
• Select: File | New Tab
• Click Add....
• Change use shortcut in to: Result List.
• Press
  Space
  .
• Click OK.

[ajaberi]

Hi David,

Thank you for your reply. I understand that hotkeys are global by design.

I would like to clarify my suggestion:

* The exception should apply **only to the Spacebar hotkey**.
* When the focus is on the search box, **the Spacebar global hotkey should be ignored**, allowing spaces to be typed normally.
* **All other hotkeys**, even if set as global (e.g., Ctrl + T, Ctrl + Space, etc.), should continue to work normally and **should not be ignored in the search box**.

This change would solve the Spacebar conflict without affecting any other global shortcuts.

Thank you for considering this improvement.

[void]

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I thought you were referring to hotkeys, not normal keyboard shortcuts within Everything.

The search box will always eat space in the next alpha update.

For now, set the open new tab to space in the result list only. (not global)

The preview pane, folder sidebar and other sidebars have hard coded keyboard shortcuts.
I will consider support for customizing these sidebars in a future release.

[NotNull]

Warning: incoming opinionated rant!

The search box will always eat space in the next alpha update.

<space> should NOT be a keyboard shortcut! Not just in Everything .. nowhere.

Supporting this adds unneeded extra work which - my prediction - will add more complications in the future.
Virtually no one (me included) can grasp the full complexity of Everything anymore. Exception on exception on exception ...
What happened to "clean lines" (a phrase used in architecture)?


Another recent example (and there are many, many more):

Everything currently doesn't have a way to select a random file.

I will add a ways to do this and make a post here once I have something ready for testing.

Why? Just why?


Reminded me of something I posted long ago:

I recently got a free life-lesson when reading a post by the Listary developer who let Listary "drift away", abandoned development and started again with new focus:

I have too many ideas, but hard to classify and drop any. As a result, I was stuck in the puzzle of product design - pile of features. What features might be useful? Provide it. What functions do related products serve? Provide it. What requirements did the users express? Provide it.
[...]
My experience [...] in both product design and development. This long and brief withdrawal also allowed me to reconsider what kind of product Listary is, what kind of product it will be, what is its weakness, and more importantly, what is its strengths.

The lesson here - to me - was to reconsider what I was doing and start focusing on the things that are important to me and just say "No" to lots of 'noise'.

I am not the gatekeeper of Everything features, but I don't like what I see. It's ugly.

End of rant. Feel 5 <units of weight> lighter now. There is more to say on this, but I already reached my target weight



Counter-suggestion: exclude (at least) all ASCII characters from being used as a keyboard shortcut to prevent people from hurting themself.
Tomorrow someone wants <shift + f> ( = "F" ) to open the Folders sidebar ...

[ajaberi]

I understand your concern about complexity and using the Space key as a shortcut, but I think using the Space key as a shortcut to activate editing in the search box is very intuitive and easy to understand. As you know, users frequently need to activate the search box, so having the simplest and most understandable shortcut for this action seems logical.

Currently, Everything allows this shortcut for various tasks, but there is one issue: when typing in the search box, you cannot enter a space because pressing the Space key triggers the shortcut and exits the editing mode.

What is the problem with allowing the Space key shortcut while making it inactive when editing in the search box?