Issues with search and groups and associated feature request (floating mode)

[AEgit]

Fixes #9073

JabRef 5.0-dev--snapshot--2018-07-25--master--077fdacc2
Windows 10 10.0 amd64
Java 1.8.0_181

Steps to reproduce:

1. Select the group "All entries" in the groups panel
2. Use the article search (not the groups search/filter!) to find an article
3. Articles that match the search term are found
4. Select another group in the groups panel, that does not contain any of the articles that match the search term of (2)
5. Carry out another search using the search term of (2)
6. No articles at all are displayed in the maintable, despite the fact we know, that they exist (they just don't belong to the selected group)

This behaviour is probably not intended and is probably related to the fact that the floating mode was removed in newer JabRef versions.
To find an article I will now always have to select either "All entries" or the group that contains the article. If I have selected another group, the respective article will not be shown in maintable view. Especially in large databases with many groups this can be very inconvenient.

Therefore I propose to enable the floating mode again for the maintable. This way, if an article matches the search terms it will be always shown. If it belongs to the group, that has been selected, it is shown in the usual colours in the maintable. If it does not belong to the selected group, it should appear darker in the maintable like in previous JabRef versions.

[Siedlerchr]

In addition there's a toggle button for group union and intersection. I just don't know if it has influence. The floating mode is on the bucket list but as far as I remember some technical problems need to be solved before

[AEgit]

JabRef 5.0-dev--snapshot--2018-10-28--master--05047f32a
Windows 10 10.0 amd64
Java 1.8.0_191

I have seen that the current development snapshot contains a "Groups"-specific preference (Options -> Preferences -> Groups), which should address this problem. The following options are given:

"Hide non-hits" vs. "Gray our non-hits"

"Display only entries belonging to all selected groups" vs.
"Display all entries belonging to one or more of the selected groups"

However, changes made to these options do not change the behaviour of JabRef. I just wanted to let you know about this, since I was not sure, whether these options are currently just not implemented (i. e. the preferences are just place holder) or whether this is a bug.

Also note, that it is currently possible to set preferences that are mutually exclusive, i. e. you can select both "Hide non-hits" and "Gray out non-hits".

[tobiasdiez]

Thanks @AEgit for going through the bugs related to groups and check if they still apply to the most recent dev version. This is a huge help!

[AEgit]

Yes, sorry, for not having been active in a while - I was just so busy (and I am right now for the next couple of months), that I could not test and help more.

Thanks again for developing this amazing piece of software!

[AEgit]

Note, that the floating mode is still missing in:

JabRef 5.0-dev--snapshot--2019-03-15--master--7ed15bc4a
Windows 10 10.0 amd64
Java 1.8.0_201

So this issue is still relevant with the current development version.

[AEgit]

Links to information on how to implement the float mode using JavaFX (which I heavily rely on - one of the reasons I currently still have to stick to version 3.8.2) are found here:
#3621 (comment)

[AEgit]

As far as I can tell one of the reasons as to why the floating mode still has not been implemented is due to this issue:

https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8091326

The last comment in that report is from 2014 (!). Is there a way to speed up that feature requirement and/or can JabRef maybe get around this problem in JavaFX, e. g., by using this approach:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37768326/group-by-function-in-javafx-table
(mentioned in #3621 (comment)).

I would really like to see the floating mode. To be honest, I am not sure, how people can use the current version of JabRef without the floating mode IF their database also contains groups and IF they use the search feature. This is not meant as a criticism but as a genuine question: Maybe I misunderstand the current JabRef implementation and there is a different way of using it, that does not required the floating mode (?). But I am lost, as to how to circumvent the problem described in initial post of this thread with the current version of JabRef. Am I really the only one that has this problem? You would think there is someone else using the current JabRef version whose database contains groups and who uses the article search feature (?).

[AEgit]

Trying to push this issue again. I would really like to see the return of the floating mode. Based on questions in the JabRef forum (https://discourse.jabref.org/t/maintain-entry-selection-when-switching-groups/1932) I do not seem to be the only one, that needs the floating mode.

Edit: Could this link maybe help with the implementation?
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/56267183/can-i-group-rows-in-a-javafx-tableview