Bug 700981 - Window switching shortcut does not work with any other combination than Alt+Tab
Summary: Window switching shortcut does not work with any other combination than Alt+Tab
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED CURRENTRELEASE
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: gnome-shell
Version: 15
Hardware: x86_64
OS: Linux
unspecified
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Owen Taylor
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2011-04-30 09:14 UTC by Kaare Fiedler Christiansen
Modified: 2012-08-08 05:48 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2012-08-07 17:39:31 UTC
Type: ---


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System ID Private Priority Status Summary Last Updated
GNOME Bugzilla 645200 0 None None None Never

Description Kaare Fiedler Christiansen 2011-04-30 09:14:01 UTC
Description of problem:

If you try to change the keyboard shortcut for "Switch applications" or "Switch windows of an application" to a and other combination than Alt+Tab, window switching will not work properly. It seems that the window switcher is hardcoded to check if Alt has been pressed, and Tab for selecting next window. The practical result is that you can only change one step, effectively leaving you with the option of changing between the last two windows and nothing else.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

gnome-shell-3.0.1-1.fc15.x86_64

How reproducible:

Always.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open the "Keyboard" settings. 
2. Select the "Shortcuts" tab
3. Select "Navigation"
4. Click on the shortcut for "Switch applications"
5. Press Ctrl+X
  
Actual results:

Holding Ctrl and pressing X will cycle between the last two open applications, and the windows switcher will not show.

Expected results:

Holding Ctrl and pressing X will cycle between all open applications, and the application switcher will show. (Like with alt tab)

Additional info:

The same is true for switching windows of an application, except it uses the button above Tab.

If you're really quick, you can quickly press and hold Alt after pressing Ctrl-X, the window switcher will open, and you can cycle with the Tab key.

Comment 1 Teer Sandal 2011-06-26 17:09:32 UTC
Kaare have given the excellent description of the problem.
I have exactly the same one.

I'v got gnome-shell-3.0.2-4.fc15.x86_64 installed.

By the way, shortcut "Switch windows directly" works fine on Mod4+` (and Ctrl+X, too) for me.

Comment 2 Michal Ambroz 2011-07-02 12:14:40 UTC
It is possible that the gconf settings you have from older version of gnome takes precedence.
Please can you check the command:
gconftool-2 -g /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/switch_windows

Is the result <Alt>Tab?
Can you try to modify/delete the value with gconf-editor or 
gconftool-2 -u /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/switch_windows

Try to change now? Does it work?

Comment 3 Kaare Fiedler Christiansen 2011-07-02 14:51:49 UTC
Thank you for the suggestion.

I tested, and a sI suspected, it doesn't make any difference whatsoever. Actually the GConf value you refer to is updated when I change the keyboard settings, so it doesn't seem to be a legacy setting.

Actually, given that the upstream bug I have linked to confirms that the code explicitly depends on Alt as the modifier, I would have been very surprised if it worked.

I just looked through /usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/altTab.js, and although I hardly understand any of the code, it still explicitly tests if MOD1 (that is: TAB) is released.

Half the bug is fixed though: It no longer explicitly depends on "Tab". 

It turns out it has a few other hardcoded keys within the application switcher: You can moce around with the arrow keys, and SHIFT is hardcoded for switching backwards. That's okay, though, since these keys aren't redefinable in the system settings. It could lead to trouble, of course, if SHIFT or an arrow key was used already in the key bindings for window switching.

Comment 4 Fedora End Of Life 2012-08-07 17:39:33 UTC
This message is a notice that Fedora 15 is now at end of life. Fedora
has stopped maintaining and issuing updates for Fedora 15. It is
Fedora's policy to close all bug reports from releases that are no
longer maintained. At this time, all open bugs with a Fedora 'version'
of '15' have been closed as WONTFIX.

(Please note: Our normal process is to give advanced warning of this
occurring, but we forgot to do that. A thousand apologies.)

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Comment 5 Kaare Fiedler Christiansen 2012-08-08 05:48:57 UTC
This bug was actually fixed upstream a while a ago (although new hardcoded keys emerged in gnome 3.4). Sorry for not reporting this.


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