Nemo: Mouse lasso selection list view

[orschiro]

With nemo 2.0 it is not yet possible to select multiple files with a mouse lasso in list view mode. If I press and hold the left mouse button and try to drag a lasso around the files, nothing actually happens. Is the implementation of that feature something you foresee for the future?

[ManIVIctorious]

+1

[leesei]

:+1:

[Garibaldo]

This would be a really useful feature. "Lasso selection" is one of the reasons I'm still using Dolphin. Currently Nemo has "lasso selection" in "icon view" and "compact view", but doesn't have it in "List view", which is the mode I mostly use. So I strongly support "lasso selection" for List view".

[ilcavero]

+1

[wunderlich]

+1

[TKOF]

+10.000.000.000² ;)

[anandrkris]

:+1: Although looks bit complex to implement...

[jensb]

Where exactly is the complexity? The functionality is already in icon and compact view.
(This is not rethoric, I really want to understand. Perhaps you can describe what would have to be done, so that a junior coder can attempt to fix it.)

[anandrkris]

@jensb - Am not a developer, just a noob comment made without reading the thread fully. I prolly didn't notice that it already implemented in other views when I posted.

[Jo-X]

+1
this would be a really handy feature and I am missing it since switching from pcmanfm (lxde)

[Arnopello]

FWIW... +1
I even thought I broke something in Nemo :p

[Kosyne]

+1 as well. Doing the ole' shift+click, ctrl+shift+click, etc, is not fun when you have only a touchpad available. Only thing forcing me to use other views as my primary.

[schlegel11]

+1

[jf99]

+1

[andrew160]

+1

[kmkom]

+1 (Please)

[VinnyFonseca]

+1

[guzzard]

+1

[jensb]

Can one of the developers please comment on what is holding this issue back? There are two solutions "out there", both work fine and one of them could be duplicated:

• either make only the "Name" column selectable and treat all other columns as "free space" when dragging the mouse to create a select rectangle (Windows)
• Or just select every file the mouse is being dragged over without displaying a rectangle at all (Mac)

Both solutions make sense for touch enabled usage too.

[ghost]

+1

[redspyder]

+1 Windows > Linux in this regard.

[Fopedush]

+1

absurd that this feature is missing

[jensb]

Still not there. What is the issue? Please, at least tell us what is holding this issue back. Can the feature be ported from Thunar to Nemo?

[JosephMcc]

What is the issue? Please, at least tell us what is holding this issue back.

Yeah, no one has decided to pick it up and work on it. I have a feeling it's probably not simple to get working and, more importantly, working correctly and without issues. In addition, the end result this would provide is already easily accomplished by use of Ctrl+Click. That means a lot of work vs. small gain, so not a huge priority.

[jensb]

MAybe, but "small gain" * 100.000 users is still a lot. Ctrl-Click for 20 files means 20 times the effort plus having to reach the keyboard. All other file managers, especially (!) the commercial ones, can do it, so it's an expected feature, not something that people will ignore if it isn't there.
Maybe somebody will dive in if there's a rough explanation of what would have to be done.

[JosephMcc]

Ctrl-Click for 20 files means 20 times the effort plus having to reach the keyboard.

Do you even know how Ctrl+Click works in the list view? Click where you want the selection to start and Ctrl+Click where you want it to end. That's hardly 20 clicks.

[jensb]

No(t here). You probably meant Shift+Click. True, and I can also understand that developers don't need this feature often since they do most of their work on the keyboard anyway, but that doesn't apply to non-developers. Just look at the number of votes for this issue.
So what would have to be done? Maybe I'll dive into the code myself.

[JosephMcc]

Sorry you're right. I did mean shift click.

[cschreib]

Related to this. Reducing the "selectable" area to the name of the file only (rather than the entire row) would also make it easier to reach the right-click context menu for the current folder (this menu is really useful, for example to "Create new folder" or "Open in terminal" or what have you).

Right now, this almost works: if you right click on a file's name (note: the name, not the row) it brings this file's context menu. If you right click outside of the name (in the blank space of the "name" column, or in any other column) then the context menu of the current folder pops up... except if you did the right-click on the row of the currently selected file! For this file, and this file only, right-clicking anywhere on the entire row will bring the file's context menu, and never that of the current folder. This is quite confusing, and it took me some time to find that I had to right click on another file's row for it to work.

[qoaa]

this would be awesome... i was trying to do this earlier with a huge collection of music to organize each album into subdirectories by album name.

i would love to see lasso selection with mouse. I'm use to it in every other filemanager ive seen personally but i love mint too much hehe

[jonpovey]

+1 another suprised user coming from Windows, disappointed that this feature doesn't exist. Yes I can use shift and ctrl and sometimes do (in Windows as well) but it feels clunky and awkward that lasso doesn't work here.

[JosephMcc]

Many thanks for contributing to Nemo. Your suggestion was reviewed.

For more information on our workflow and feature requests, read https://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html.

[jensb]

OK thank you. With this new workflow referenced in the FAQ, how do all of us find out whether (and when (and how)) this feature will be implemented?

[guzzard]

@jensb, it says right here what you can expect.. https://linuxmint-troubleshooting-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html.

[jensb]

It says nothing about further tracking of this issue, however. (I just edited my comment..)

[schlegel11]

This is a good question. What does it mean to close the issue?
For me this method is a little bit non transparent.
So can we see the future roadmap or something like that ?

Furthermore it sounds a little bit senseless from the FAQ.
Why should I open an issue when I can expect perhaps nothing?

[JosephMcc]

We are making an effort to clean up our issue trackers. Closed doesn't really mean it will be implemented or not but there is no reason for these to sit here opened for years. We are well aware that this is a requested feature but I wouldn't get my hopes since it's been here for nearly 5 years without being done.

[schlegel11]

Ah ok this sounds a little clearer. For me it might be a good idea or a more transparent one if the issue is labeled with something like "No implementation expected" due to some reasons or so.

[VinnyFonseca]

This is shameful. No feedback, no acknowledgement of the issue, no further discussion, no reasons for not implementing, and now a link to the FAQ saying "Thank you for reporting, your job is done, it doesn't mean much and you cannot track what issues have already been submitted".

For the record, I'm fine with not implementing the feature and I absolutely understand not all features are implemented. All I ask for is a transparent update, when what we got was "use ctrl + click" as if it solved the problem.

Various other feature requests I was subscribed to were closed in the same manner. I'll move to another file explorer. I won't contribute to a team that does not respect its users and the best practices of the open source community. https://trello.com/b/lsBmkzPY/ubuntu-desktop-1804-cycle to see how it's done.

[mtwebster]

Implemented and will be in 3.8 - unlocked thread as long as it remains constructive for feedback

[kmkom]

Great, that sounds good!
Maybe a rework of the lasso selection also solves the problem in bug #1261?