[syslinux] Arrow key feature request

[Ady]

> Since keystrokes were brought up, this seems like a reasonable time to 
> make the following seemingly simple-to-implement feature request:
> 
> Navigating a multi-level menu structure seems to require use of 
> UP/DOWN/ENTER/ESC. It would be easier to quickly search/navigate if it 
> could be done with fingers stationed on the arrow keys so that the eyes 
> can stay focused on the screen.
> 
> Current (disliked-by-me) behavior:
>    LEFT ARROW: Jump to top menu entry (same as HOME and PAGE UP)
>    RIGHT ARROW: Jump to bottom menu entry (same as END and PAGE DOWN)
 
 
A minor correction. In a boot menu, [Home] and [End] move to the 
respective first and last items. In a "short" (less than one screen) 
menu, the [Page Up] and [Page Down] keys seem to obtain the same 
result. But in a "larger" menu,  the [Page Up] and [Page Down] keys 
will move the selection one page up/down, respectively.
 
 
> 
> Preferred (requested) behavior:
>    LEFT ARROW: Return to previous menu (same as ESC on a submenu)
>    RIGHT ARROW: Enter submenu (or no action if not on a submenu entry)
> 
> Thanks,
> Alex
 
 
Some comments, FWIW...

The behavior you are proposing for the [Right] arrow key seems to be 
relevant only on very specific cases, and it would be the same as 
[Enter]. IMHO, the current usage of [Right] and [Left] arrow keys 
seems relevant (useful) in more situations. We should not forget that 
the [Home] and [End] keys are sometimes located in different 
positions in some keyboards, so using the [Right] and [Left] arrow 
keys as alternatives is useful for some users / hardware.

In certain cases, the user doesn't even know that there is a "parent" 
menu, as the START MENU may not be the upper one.

Recovering from pressing the wrong arrow key (by mistake) would be 
"easy" since "recent" changes (in _some_ cases, it would be as simple 
as pressing {Enter] so to go back to the submenu). But this statement 
("easy to recover") is valid for users that already know about the 
menu and its (keyboard) usage. Pressing the wrong arrow key (by 
mistake) could be confusing for some users if the result is "moving 
to the parent menu". Or at least more confusing than just "moving 
within the same (sub)menu", as the current behavior.

I think that [Esc] is an adequate key to "move to the parent menu 
from a submenu" (one if its current behaviors), both because of its 
meaning and because its location on a typical keyboard. Yet, there 
are cases in which this behavior is less than ideal (to go to the CLI 
from a submenu, use [Tab] first and then [Esc]).

As a workaround (specially when users might not know about the [Esc] 
behavior or when they don't know about the parent menu existence), I 
frequently use MENU EXIT as first or last item in each submenu. 
Pressing [Home] (or some other key according to the location of the 
entry) and then [Enter] would be equivalent to going up to the 
immediate parent menu.

Considering that there is no "new" proposed action, breaking the 
current behavior would be questionable for users that are already 
taking advantage of it.

As a reminder, these behaviors are relevant in a boot menu, and they 
can change depending on the directives included and/or depending on 
the menu level. The Syslinux command line interface has its own 
(different) behavior for (these and other) keys. See 
http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/Cli#Keystrokes .

I am not against changing behaviors (sometimes, it is worth), but 
IMHO breaking a current behavior has to bring a very _clear_ gain, 
while such change should be as less traumatic as possible for current 
users.

Regards,
Ady.