Navigate Backward and Forward

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello David.P,

Our devs asked me to reproduce the issue and show it to them - so I made a short video and added it to the ticket I created on this:
#5361: Unexpected previous view jump in combination with links

So we will be working on this now! I have posted a similar reply in the other related topic:
viewtopic.php?f=62&t=35094#p145903

Kind regards,
Stefan

[David.P]

It is awesome that you managed to capture this issue on video Stefan.

Looking forward to a possible fix on this.

Maybe, when working on it, this somewhat related issue can be fixed as well?
Making view history window-specific:
viewtopic.php?f=62&t=23719#p113536

Thank you
David

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hi, David.P

Regarding making view history window specific, The work item mentioned earlier on that topic is currently assigned to a developer and is under way. While it does not appear it will be ready very soon, there is already progress on the matter.

Kind regards,

[Timur Born]

+1 for getting rid of the delay/timeout.

And I only just noticed the optional switch to not have history navigate though different open documents. Thanks for implementing this, even if it may have been done years ago already.

Unfortunately it gets confused if I duplicate a tab and then navigate to different position in in different tabs of the same document. This even seems to happen when I put the duplicated tab in its own window.

[David.P]

Unfortunately [navigation history] gets confused if I duplicate a tab and then navigate to different position in in different tabs of the same document. This even seems to happen when I put the duplicated tab in its own window.

Yes -- I believe this is the issue we have been discussing above under "Making view history window-specific", described in somewhat more detail here:
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=23719#p113536

[Timur Born]

Soooo +1.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

[David.P]

Hello all,

+1 for getting rid of the delay/timeout.

Amazing that this has been fixed. It is now possible to jump to places using links, bookmarks, thumbnails etc., and when then instantly jumping back (within less than a second) by using the ALT+Left shortcut (or whatever other custom shortcut one might use), you are always taken back exactly where you came from.

Thanks once more to the Tracker Team for fixing this!

However :

Unfortunately it gets confused if I duplicate a tab and then navigate to different position in different tabs of the same document. This even seems to happen when I put the duplicated tab in its own window.

I think Timur is describing the same problem that I am still also seeing. For me, it occurs in Split View, which I use all day long.

This problem really should be fixed please. It is irritating to work in Split View with two different pages of the same document on the left and on the right side of the screen, and when trying to jump back to a previously viewed page for example in the right half of the screen, the right hand side view instead jumps back to some page in the view history of the left hand side view.

This happens to me sometimes hundreds of times a day, and each time I have to manually re-find my way in the two views such that the correct pages are shown again on both sides. This is extremely disruptive, particularly for documents with 1000's of pages.

It is not that easy to reproduce because it doesn't always happen -- indeed, most of the time, the view history seems to be kept separate for the left and right side of the split view. Only every so often, this seems to break, or seems to get confused, as Timur put it.

The issue seems to be even worse when using multiple windows of the same document, see discussion here:
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=23719#p113536
(Multiple windows of one document however is something I haven't used much lately though, so it could be that this part of the problem has already been fixed.)

Thanks very much for looking into the split view history navigation issue!

Best regards
David

[David.P]

Hello Forum and Tracker Team,

Please, this needs to be fixed, because Backward and Forward navigation in split window view now exhibits a serious problem (as already noted above). The problem occurs every time such navigation is used, as I just realized.

While previously, Backward and Forward navigation in split view did work as expected (as long as the now removed 1-second delay was observed) -- i.e. separate view history for both sides of the split view -- now there only seems to be one common view history for both sides.

This is very confusing when for example navigating in the left side of a split view, then changing focus to the right side and hitting the back button there -- and then, on the right side, only to be taken where you just had been on the left side before.

It is even worse with multiple windows (or tabs, respectively) of the same document. In this case, when navigating back in one window or tab of the document (after changing focus over from the other window or tab), the focus jumps back to the other window or tab -- instead of remaining in the active window or tab. This is what also Timur mentioned above:

Unfortunately it gets confused if I duplicate a tab and then navigate to different position in different tabs of the same document. This even seems to happen when I put the duplicated tab in its own window.

Other than the former, new issue with navigation in split view, the latter problem with navigation in multiple windows/tabs however has been noted before (and has not changed recently):

Make view history window-specific
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=23719#p113536

Thank you very much for ideally fixing both issues, but please at least the split view navigation problem.

Kind regards
David

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hi, David.P

Thank you for the details here, I have shown this to our Dev team and created a formal bug report on the matter. as per usual, this is internal only, but you can ask us about it here in the future.

RT#5682: BUG: Navigate forward/backwards in split view or multiple window view.

Kind regards,

[Timur Born]

I am working with multiple tabs/windows of the same document(s) all the time, specifically because I need to jump back and forth a lot in them (so more duplicates = less jumping). So any improvement in this areas is always welcome.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

[Timur Born]

Just did a short test. With two (duplicate) tabs of the same document open Editor still jumps between tabs when using backward/forward, even when the corresponding option is disabled in Editor settings.

[David.P]

I see the same result when having two tabs of the same document open, and kindly ask to fix this issue soon.

I am considering going back to an earlier version of PDF-XChange Editor because this problem makes it next to impossible for me to effectively work with two simultaneous views of the same document -- which is my default view mode:

Split View.png

Thank you,
Kind regards
David

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hi, David and Timur

I should mention that the option you are both speaking of, namely "forward/back commands navigate through all opened documents" will only change how the view's are stored on a document level, it is not intended to make any difference with a split view of the same document, as it is still the same file, and this only has a single list of previous views.

Though I created the ticket above and listed it as a bug, it may be considered a feature request by the Dev team as the issue described is "technically" the intended handling, as undesirable as it is. I have personally showcased the issues with it, and prompted the team for action to make each split view retain its own view history, but do know that it may be a while longer in coming.

David, if you do roll back and find a version which works to retain separate view history for a single split view document, please do let us know which build that was. I cannot think of a specific instance where split view of a single file has worked differently to the current handling, but if it exists, it would be a very useful example to bring to the Dev teams attention (as well as a useful reference for other users who want this handling in the meantime).

Kind regards,

[MedBooster]

I got brought here by chance, but did we ever get an option to enable/disable the reopening of closed tabs?

The thread was never set to "solved", and I was wondering about multi monitor focusing as well... You see this would be a great way to switch between focusing on two PDFs in two separate windows for example.

So you've got a +1 from me as well if these things have not yet been fixed.

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

I am afraid not.

The thread was never set to "solved", and I was wondering about multi monitor focusing as well... You see this would be a great way to switch between focusing on two PDFs in two separate windows for example.

We will see what can be done about this.

Regards.

[MedBooster]

edit: sorry, I did not mean to comment

[Dimitar - PDF-XChange]

That's what this forum is for.

Thanks for the input.

Our developers are working on all FRs and bugs but some of them are not so easy to solve.

Regards.

[Timur Born]

What's the current status of this? I did a quick test with multiple documents open in one window (tabs) and had back and saw *both* behaviors at the same time: back and forward being restricted to a single document/tab and at the same time switching between two other documents, based on which document I put focus on before hitting back/forward. Seems rather confusing?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, Timur Born

At this time, there should not have been any changes, so forward/back still operate on an application wide list.

Kind regards,

[Mathew]

I'm still seeing this in build 401 when working with two views of the same document (as David pointed out above viewtopic.php?p=113536#p113536 ). The split views of the same document are extremely useful, but one misplaced bookmark click and it's a real pain to get back to where I was.

+1 from me to have this as view-specific history that it's navigating through.
Thanks!

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi Mathew,

Thanks - the development team are working through a long list of feature requests, but they will get to this in due course.

Kind regards,

[David.P]

Hello all,

Since rakunavi mentioned the present thread in a recent discussion, I'd like to briefly touch on the connection between the two topics.

After posting, I realized a related topic already existed.

Navigate Backward and Forward
I might have reported the same issue covered in RT#5361 and others.

RT#5361: Unexpected previous view jump in combination with links
However, that topic has been ongoing for far too long and covers such a broad range of topics that I cannot be certain it includes the exact issue I reported this time. If you were already aware of it, please forgive me for inadvertently creating another topic on the same theme.

Rakunavi is correct that the topic of his linked thread shares some similarities with this one. However, his thread seems to focus on a specific behavior when using links. In contrast, the current thread is primarily concerned with the window/pane/tab/split-view specific view history, which has been discussed and requested to be fixed for nearly a decade.

The issue was most recently highlighted by Matthew above:

+1 from me to have this as view-specific history that it's navigating through.

A few examples of threads or posts where this has been brought up over almost 10 years:

2017: Please make the view history window-specific
2018: View history is shared between different windows of the same document
2021: Editor jumps between tabs when using backward/forward
2021: Unexpected jumping between different windows extremely irritating
2023: Navigate backward/forward only in current document and/or current frame

It would be great to see some progress on resolving this issue after so many years.

Thanks and keep up the great work.
Kind regards
David

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi David,

Thanks for posting this clarification - we have taken it on board. These issues will be addressed in due course, but please note there is of course a huge list of feature requests/bug reports that our development team are working through, in addition to performing their regular duties.

Kind regards,