Vista Windows Explorer Keyboard Navigation Query

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cdd
Posts: 2610
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.05

Hi,

I like to navigate Windows quite a lot using the keyboard, howver in Vista I have noticed an annoying inconvenience here.

When you first enter a folder, the list looks something like this:
newfolder.jpg
Notice Folder 1 has a dotted border around it (also note that the dotted border only appears for folders that were ENTERED using the keyboard, i.e. highlighting the folder in the parent directory and pressing the enter key - mouse-opened folders don't have the stupid dotted border, 'though the below-described effect is the same). More on that weird dotted border in a moment.

Now my question is, how do you access Folder 1 using the keyboard?

Press the down arrow key? That moves the highlight to Folder 2.

Press Enter? Nope, turns out the dotted border doesn't mean Folder 1 is selected at all.

Press "F"? Nope, that focuses the second folder (and then the third, and then the first).

Turns out the dotted border (rather than the light blue highlight) means that item is selected for the purposes of where the highlight goes next, but doesn't actaully let you interact with that object.

Obviously you can highlight Folder 1 by pressing down and then up - but I'm not very impressed with that.

So, my question is: how the hell do I activate Folder 1 in Details view in one keypress? I don't view this as an unreasonable request, what with it being the top item and all.

Also, a weird discovery: using the Ctrl key while pressing up/down moves the weird and useless dotted border around other items. If only I know what the stupid dotted border was apart from being a bloody annoyance.
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Sput
Posts: 7544
Joined: Wed 20 Aug, 2003 19.57

This may be dumb, but have you just tried tabbing across?
Knight knight
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cdd
Posts: 2610
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.05

Sput wrote:This may be dumb, but have you just tried tabbing across?
Yes... Tabbing in Explorer goes to each different pane, much like the F6 key. :?

Thanks anyway though!
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Nini
Banned
Posts: 1617
Joined: Fri 19 Oct, 2007 17.14

Hmm, maybe your dotted box is our glowy blue outline, tried tapping the spacebar maybe?
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cdd
Posts: 2610
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.05

The spacebar! The SPACEBAR!!!

That's it!

Thanks :)
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Sput
Posts: 7544
Joined: Wed 20 Aug, 2003 19.57

Aha! So you're saying that before you press spacebar it's in the equivalent state to when you've clicked on it then deselected it?
Knight knight
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cdd
Posts: 2610
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.05

Weird and crazy, isn't it?

Maybe I should get a Mac.
When hell freezes over.
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Nini
Banned
Posts: 1617
Joined: Fri 19 Oct, 2007 17.14

Well no cdd, that'd make you right and then what? Do you want to rip the universe asunder?
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dosxuk
Posts: 674
Joined: Thu 07 Feb, 2008 21.37
Location: Sheffield

The dotted box is the focus rectangle, which shows where keyboard input will be directed. The blue highlight is the selection. Obviously, you can have more than one item selected at once (shift+arrow will extend the selection, ctrl+arrow will move the focus, allowing you to select other items with shift+space or ctrl+space), but only one item can recieve keyboard input (otherwise it'd be pot luck which object reacted to the keyboard).

Both of these features have been in windows since version 1.0 and are present throughout the OS.
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