2.81 Outliner: using active object as anchor for shift-selection is fragile as it may become hidden in outliner #70852

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Stanislav Blinov · 2019-10-15T20:46:45+02:00

Stanislav Blinov commented

2019-10-15 20:46:45 +02:00

Blender Version
Broken: 2.81

Open a default scene (camera, cube and light).
Add a torus and duplicate it. The goal is to have two objects above "Light" in outliner, and two below.
In outliner, click on "Light", shift+click on the last Torus. "Light" will become active, three objects will be selected.
In outliner filter settings, disable lights.
Shift+click on "Camera".

If we are to indeed base our expectations on how selection behaves in other applications, then the expected result would be 4 selected objects: all geometry and a camera. But instead, everything except the camera is deselected and camera is made active. So not only is this selection approach inconsistent with the rest of Blender, it's inconsistent with itself.

Active object is what Blender's operators and editors act on. It's a very poor candidate for selection anchor.

**Blender Version** Broken: 2.81 1. Open a default scene (camera, cube and light). 2. Add a torus and duplicate it. The goal is to have two objects above "Light" in outliner, and two below. 3. In outliner, click on "Light", shift+click on the last Torus. "Light" will become active, three objects will be selected. 4. In outliner filter settings, disable lights. 5. Shift+click on "Camera". If we are to indeed base our expectations on how selection behaves in other applications, then the expected result would be 4 selected objects: all geometry and a camera. But instead, everything except the camera is deselected and camera is made active. So not only is this selection approach inconsistent with the rest of Blender, it's inconsistent with itself. Active object is what Blender's operators and editors act on. It's a very poor candidate for selection anchor.

Stanislav Blinov commented

2019-10-15 20:46:45 +02:00

Added subscriber: @Stan_Pancakes

Stanislav Blinov commented

2019-10-15 23:03:05 +02:00

In the same vein, using extend selection:
In outliner, click on Camera, ctrl+click on Cube, ctrl+click on Cube again. In 3D viewport, the Cube is still active. In outliner, it isn't. And again, attempting to shift+select from that destroys selection and resets active object.

In the same vein, using extend selection: In outliner, click on Camera, ctrl+click on Cube, ctrl+click on Cube again. In 3D viewport, the Cube is still active. In outliner, it isn't. And again, attempting to shift+select from that destroys selection and resets active object.

Nathan Craddock commented

2019-10-16 00:27:24 +02:00

Added subscriber: @natecraddock

Nathan Craddock commented

2019-10-16 00:27:24 +02:00

This is not a bug. If the light is active, then hidden from the outliner by filtering out light objects, then there is no active object in the outliner. Therefore, trying to do a range select is impossible. In your example, both Torus.001 and Torus are selected, but making a code decision to decide which to begin the range select from would be arbitrary. That is why I decided to only do range select if an active element exists.

You can always do a ctr+click to set a new active object (so insert a step 4.5 to your list where you activate the bottom Torus).

This is not a bug. If the light is active, then hidden from the outliner by filtering out light objects, then there is no active object in the outliner. Therefore, trying to do a range select is impossible. In your example, both Torus.001 and Torus are selected, but making a code decision to decide which to begin the range select from would be arbitrary. That is why I decided to only do range select if an active element exists. You can always do a ctr+click to set a new active object (so insert a step 4.5 to your list where you activate the bottom Torus).

Stanislav Blinov commented

2019-10-16 03:08:39 +02:00

In "other applications", i.e. in a file browser, with situation as presented, a selection would've been made from the bottom torus to the top. Instead, current outliner breaks existing selection and makes a new one. It may well be working as designed, but then that means there's something wrong with the design.

EDIT: Ah, I see why there's confusion, I didn't explain myself very well. This is different fom #70843, that's why I've created this task in the first place. That issue is about making an object active with shift+click, which I understand is not always possible, and the outliner already avoids that (i.e. when modes differ).

This one is about range selection not behaving as one would expect coming from other applications. See e.g. the first comment I've added before your reply.

In "other applications", i.e. in a file browser, with situation as presented, a selection would've been made from the bottom torus to the top. Instead, current outliner **breaks existing selection** and makes a new one. It may well be working as designed, but then that means there's something wrong with the design. EDIT: Ah, I see why there's confusion, I didn't explain myself very well. This is different fom #70843, that's why I've created this task in the first place. That issue is about making an object active with shift+click, which I understand is not always possible, and the outliner already avoids that (i.e. when modes differ). This one is about range selection not behaving as one would expect coming from other applications. See e.g. the first comment I've added before your reply.

Germano Cavalcante commented

2019-10-23 19:33:10 +02:00

Added subscriber: @mano-wii

Germano Cavalcante commented

2019-10-23 19:33:10 +02:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Archived'

Germano Cavalcante closed this issue

2019-10-23 19:33:10 +02:00

Germano Cavalcante self-assigned this 2019-10-23 19:33:10 +02:00

Germano Cavalcante commented

2019-10-23 19:33:10 +02:00

This seems like it belongs in the paper cut thread and not the bug tracker:
https://devtalk.blender.org/c/user-feedback/paper-cuts

For suggestions on how to improve the UI, please use other channels:
https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Communication/Contact#User_Feedback_and_Requests

This seems like it belongs in the paper cut thread and not the bug tracker: https://devtalk.blender.org/c/user-feedback/paper-cuts For suggestions on how to improve the UI, please use other channels: https://wiki.blender.org/wiki/Communication/Contact#User_Feedback_and_Requests

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2.81 Outliner: using active object as anchor for shift-selection is fragile as it may become hidden in outliner #70852