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Note that all scrolling operations should be smooth and not jumpy to avoid loosing sense of where in the list you currently are.
Open and close folder items
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While navigating a list if similar to navigating a tree, handling folder items is actually similar to handling folder items in grids. The difficulty with folder items in lists in Magnolia is that they are actual items, which can also be edited. Since the two primary gestures of mouse and touch are already used to select an item (see Focusing, selecting and opening items#Select a single item) and to open it for editing or inspection (see Focusing, selecting and opening items#Open an item for editing or further inspection), opening a folder item requires using a modifier key for keyboard and mouse input, or the usage of a toolbar or context menu. |
Since opening a folder item in a list view can't be done using an intuitive manner easily, Magnolia supports several options. Please refer to the Commands overview in the usage summary for a comprehensive list of navigation commands.
On opening a folder item, the content of the list view is then replaced by the list of items contained in the folder item. If data about items has to be loaded first, the list view is replaced by a visual indicator asking the user for patience. To return to the parent item of a currently shown sub grid of items, the list view provides an "up" button - clicking or tapping it returns you to the list view containing the parent folder item.
A list is not a very convenient way to quickly navigate a hierarchical set of items, but has the advantage of visualising the type of a file or even showing thumbnail previews of an item's content.
Optional behaviour
Magnolia should offer an index, e.g. located next to the scrollbar as we know from current touch devices, for large, sorted lists to allow to quickly jump to a certain position in the list.
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