[gcmd-dev] multiple selection behavior

[Michael]

Right now, while editing media files, i marked some files and then wanted to 
look up another one (by right-click and 'open with') to see if it should be 
marked as well. It would be rather cool if that would work. Right-clicking a 
file and 'open with' really should work on that file alone, no matter what 
multiple selection there is. I can't see any reason why not handle all right 
mouse menu operations that way, even copy and cut.

There was the closely related question what to do if the file list 'cursor' is 
on another file than the selection, and user do a F5 copy or F6 move. Should 
the highlighted 'cursor' file be included or not ? In other words, shat that 
file be treated as added to the selection automaticly ?
It's a tricky problem. 

I had a large multiple selection in place and scrolled the filelist down to 
look for more to mark, and finally decided there is no more to add. Do i really 
need to scroll back and place the 'cursor' on one of the selected files now, to 
avoid moving something unrelated ? That's a bad idea.

But would that be solved by always *not* adding the cursor file to the 
selection automaticly? 
Basically, yes. However, most average users will be totally unsure about what's 
gonna happen. Even me, though i should know :)

The problem causing confusion here is that the cursor color 'overwrites' the 
selection status. thus, with cursor placed upon a file, one can not see if that 
file is treated as selected or not.

But how can that status be made visible ? Let's have a look at good old 
midnight commander. For selected files, they change the file name characters 
color to yellow, while the cursor only changes the background. Thus, it can be 
seen immediately if a file is selected or not, even with 'cursor' highlighting.
I guess that's the most simple way to do it.