MySQL Bugs: #72384: Unexpected default behaviour when double-clicking tables in Schema sub-box

Bug #72384	Unexpected default behaviour when double-clicking tables in Schema sub-box
Submitted:	18 Apr 2014 15:58	Modified:	26 Aug 2014 15:05
Reporter:	Alain Forget	Email Updates:
Status:	Closed	Impact on me:	None
Category:	MySQL Workbench	Severity:	S3 (Non-critical)
Version:	6.1.4.11773	OS:	Windows (8.1)
Assigned to:		CPU Architecture:	Any
Tags:	DEFAULT, double click, schema, table, user interface

Description:
When double-clicking on a table in the Schema sub-box in workbench, I would expect the contents/data in the table to be shown. However, unexpectedly, the table's name is inserted into the currently open SQL query statement instead.

This does not fit the default/expected behaviour in Windows (and perhaps all OSes in general), where double-clicking an object usually opens the object.

How to repeat:
1) Open MySQL Workbench
2) Open a database
3) Expand the list of tables in one of the schemas in the Schemas sub-box
4) Double-click on one of the tables

Suggested fix:
The default behaviour when double-clicking on a table should be to display the data contents of the table, which is probably the "Select Rows" context menu item (shown when right-clicking on a table).

Furthermore, if one wants to instead insert the name of the table into their current SQL statement, this should be possible by instead clicking and dragging the desired table into the position in the SQL statement where the table's name should be inserted.

Hello Alain,

Thank you for the bug report.
Verified as described.

Thanks,
Umesh

// This behavior seems to be present in all 6.x releases.. Didn't get a chance to check 5.x series.

This is arguable, some people explicitly wanted the current behaviour.

I was afraid of that, and maybe people who use DBs extensively prefer it this way because of their past experience with similar software. However, in most situations in general computer usage, a double-click/default action on an object is usually to open or run it. In this case, I think double-clicking to "open" the table to look at its contents (like a folder/directory), or double-clicking to "run" it, to run a default SELECT query on the table, makes reasonable sense.

The only way to be more sure of the correct default behaviour would of course be to run a user study with target users of Workbench (who don't have previous experience with it), and see what they try to do first when asked to perform various actions. However, this is probably more time and effort than most are willing to invest to find the answer.

Fixed as of the MySQL Workbench 6.2.0 release, and here's the changelog entry:

The schema navigator now includes new overlay icons for common operations
such as table data view, table edit, and table/schema inspector.

Thank you for the bug report.

The above "fix" doesn't solve the problem. As previously states, the expected behaviour in Windows when double-clicking is for the item to open and display its contents. In this case, it seems the default behaviour when double-clicking on a table will be for the table's contents to be displayed, and thus show what is contained in the table. Adding icons will not fix this.

At the very least, there should be an option to set the double-clicking behaviour, to allow users to choose whatever they are most accustomed to.

Posted by developer:
 
Removed actions on double click in the schema tree (except default schema setting). We now can drag objects to insert their names and have overlay icons for other actions. So, double click only expand/collapse nodes now.

What is so hard about doing the RIGHT thing?

The expected behavior is to: on double click, select 1000 rows from the clicked on table.

Reasoning is already explained previously and I needn't repeat it.

For legacy purposes, would you consider adding this as an option you can toggle between? Have the default be the double click behavior as this is what makes sense to new users. But allow for the 0.5% to have the current behavior if they really want it.

Thanks,
Joao Carlos

+1 wish to update this behavior :( Adding table name polluted my query every time I unintentionally click table name.