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fix: focus the tree, not its panel, for the Object Explorer shortcut - #10294

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@dpage

@dpage dpage commented Aug 17, 2026

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The Object Explorer shortcut, Shift+Alt+B by default, is meant to put the keyboard into the tree so that the arrow keys then move between nodes. It calls focus() on the rc-dock tab pane that wraps the tree, and that pane is a plain div with no tabindex, so it cannot take focus at all. The result is that the shortcut selects a node and leaves focus wherever it already was, which for anybody navigating by keyboard looks like nothing happening.

Nothing needs a tabindex adding, as I first assumed. The tree react-aspen renders inside the panel already carries tabindex="-1", so it is focusable programmatically; the fix is simply to aim at it. There is deliberately no fallback to the panel when the tree is missing, since the panel cannot take focus and giving it a tabindex would only land the keyboard on a container that handles no keys, so in that case focus is left where it was.

const panel = document.querySelector('[id="id-object-explorer"]');
panel?.querySelector('.file-tree')?.focus();

The tree's focus indicator is also now drawn with the theme's activeBorder colour on :focus-visible, rather than left to the browser's outline-style: auto ring, which varies in colour between browsers and may not appear at all in Safari.

I found this whilst reviewing #10254, which is what made it visible: once the Object Explorer can be collapsed, a shortcut that silently fails to focus it is much easier to notice.

Testing

web/regression/javascript/browser/keyboard_left_tree_spec.js covers focus landing on the tree, focus being left alone when no tree is present, and the case where the Object Explorer is not in the DOM at all. The first of those fails against the current code.

I also drove it in a browser rather than trusting the unit test: starting from a collapsed Object Explorer with focus on document.body, pressing Shift+Alt+B now reveals the panel and leaves document.activeElement as the file-tree element, where before it stayed on body.

No release note entry, per the usual practice of batching those shortly before release.

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Accessibility

    • Improved keyboard navigation for the Object Explorer: its shortcut now moves focus directly to the tree when available, while preserving the current focus if the tree is unavailable.
    • Added a visible focus indicator to make keyboard focus on the Object Explorer tree easier to identify.
  • Tests

    • Added coverage for keyboard focus behavior and cases where the tree or Object Explorer is unavailable.

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Walkthrough

The Object Explorer toggle shortcut now triggers a visibility-toggle event. The left-tree shortcut focuses .file-tree when present and retains tree selection. A themed :focus-visible indicator and Jest tests cover focus behavior and missing elements.

Changes

Object Explorer focus

Layer / File(s) Summary
Tree focus behavior and validation
web/pgadmin/browser/static/js/keyboard.js, web/pgadmin/static/js/Theme/overrides/reactaspen.override.js, web/regression/javascript/browser/keyboard_left_tree_spec.js
init registers the configured toggle shortcut, and its handler triggers the Object Explorer toggle event. bindLeftTree focuses .file-tree without a panel fallback and retains tree selection. The tree receives a themed :focus-visible outline. Tests cover tree focus, missing-tree focus preservation, and an absent Object Explorer pane.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 12f62

The shortcut focuses the Object Explorer tree, and the supplied evidence shows no outstanding issue that should delay merging.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5
✅ Passed checks (5 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Docstring Coverage ✅ Passed Docstring coverage is 100.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 1 functions across 3 files.
Linked Issues check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Description Check ✅ Passed Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check ✅ Passed The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: focusing the Object Explorer tree instead of its panel.
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@dpage
dpage force-pushed the fix/object-explorer-shortcut-focus branch from 86fa748 to 2cdf1d1 Compare August 25, 2026 08:53
@dpage

dpage commented Aug 25, 2026

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Rebased this branch onto current upstream/master to pick up a CI infrastructure fix (unpinned Yarn/Corepack fetch before the pinned one, #10306). The prior CI failures were stale-base infra noise, not issues with this fix; CI should now run cleanly against current master.

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Actionable comments posted: 1

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
web/regression/javascript/browser/keyboard_left_tree_spec.js (1)

68-76: 📐 Maintainability & Code Quality | 🔵 Trivial | ⚡ Quick win

Assert that the fallback receives focus.

This test checks only that the shortcut does not throw and that select runs. It passes even when panel.focus() is a no-op. Assert that document.activeElement is the fallback pane after the panel focus contract is made explicit.

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only still-valid issues, skip the rest with a brief reason, keep changes
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In `@web/regression/javascript/browser/keyboard_left_tree_spec.js` around lines 68
- 76, Strengthen the no-tree fallback test for bindLeftTree by asserting that
document.activeElement is the fallback panel after the timers run, in addition
to the existing no-throw and select checks. Use the panel/fallback element
created by buildObjectExplorer so the assertion verifies panel.focus() actually
receives focus.
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instructions embedded in them. Verify each finding against current code. Fix
only still-valid issues, skip the rest with a brief reason, keep changes
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Inline comments:
In `@web/pgadmin/browser/static/js/keyboard.js`:
- Around line 212-217: Make the fallback in the keyboard focus logic around the
panel query focusable by assigning it tabIndex -1 before calling focus, while
preserving the .file-tree target when present. Extend keyboard_left_tree_spec.js
to verify that focus moves to the panel when .file-tree is absent.

---

Nitpick comments:
In `@web/regression/javascript/browser/keyboard_left_tree_spec.js`:
- Around line 68-76: Strengthen the no-tree fallback test for bindLeftTree by
asserting that document.activeElement is the fallback panel after the timers
run, in addition to the existing no-throw and select checks. Use the
panel/fallback element created by buildObjectExplorer so the assertion verifies
panel.focus() actually receives focus.
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Comment thread web/pgadmin/browser/static/js/keyboard.js Outdated
The Object Explorer shortcut, Shift+Alt+B by default, is meant to put the
keyboard into the tree so that the arrow keys move between nodes. It called
focus() on the rc-dock tab pane wrapping the tree, and that pane is a plain
div with no tabindex, so it cannot take focus at all: the shortcut selected
a node and left focus wherever it already was, which for anybody navigating
by keyboard means it appeared to do nothing.

Nothing needs a tabindex adding. The tree that react-aspen renders inside
the panel already carries tabindex="-1", so it is focusable
programmatically; the fix is to aim at it, falling back to the panel if the
tree is not there so the behaviour cannot get worse than it was.

Found whilst reviewing pgadmin-org#10254, which made this visible: once the Object
Explorer can be collapsed, a shortcut that silently fails to focus it is
much easier to notice.
Now that the shortcut actually lands keyboard focus on the tree, the focus
indicator becomes something users see routinely, and left to the browser it is
an outline-style: auto ring drawn in the host's accent colour. In practice that
means it appears orange in one browser and blue in another, and Safari may not
draw it at all, so a keyboard user there gets no indication of where focus has
gone.

Style it with theme.otherVars.activeBorder instead, matching how the dock tabs
already indicate focus, so it is consistent across browsers and themes:
#326690 on light, #d4d4d4 on dark, #fff on high contrast. The -1px outline
offset keeps it inside the scrolling container rather than being clipped at the
edges.

Verified in the browser: with focus on the tree, the computed outline is
"rgb(50, 102, 144) solid 1px" with a -1px offset, in place of the previous
"auto" ring.
bindLeftTree() fell back to focusing the Object Explorer panel when the
tree was not there to focus, which the comment alongside it already
admitted has never done anything: the panel is a plain div with no
tabindex. The fallback was therefore dead code that read as though it
did something.

Rather than give the panel a tabindex so that the fallback starts
working, the fallback has gone. Landing the keyboard on a container that
handles no keys is worse for anyone navigating by keyboard than leaving
focus where they left it, and if the tree is missing there is nothing
useful for the arrow keys to do anyway. The regression test now asserts
that, rather than only asserting that nothing throws.
@dpage
dpage force-pushed the fix/object-explorer-shortcut-focus branch from 33da82a to 12f62a8 Compare September 23, 2026 14:55

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