I am updating creating a new thread for this issue because the previous thread discussing a similar issue https://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=94292 was resolved. That thread addressed a failure to return any main list view after a global search was cancelled. My issue relates to returning to a previous point of edit after a context search is cancelled.
SUMMARY
My specific problem is that there is an ultra-low threshold for invoking the context search, and it leaves you at the line found during the search if the context search is cancelled. There is no way for me to tell the Context Search that it was initiated in error, and there is no immediate way for me to return to the line that I was editing. It took me some time to find acceptable workarounds, and the behaviour remains annoying.
DETAILS
I'm working with a long song/file list in the main panel <screenshot>.
At the moment I am primarily listening to track audio and adding categorization data via direct updates into the fields on the main track list. My search options are set to "ignore diacritics/ search whole words only (faster)" via Options>Library>Search (which I understand is both the default and is recommended) and "Scrolls to match" set via the context search pull-down arrow. I have learned the double click cadence for opening the edit box for a field in the main list. I am also habituated to using tab to move the edit focus to subsequent fields on the same list line.
I'm currently using my touch typing to do a LOT of field updating, and every half hour or so I get to type characters before the edit box is ready. When I beat the edit box the context search is initiated and I generally get several characters in before the screen updates. By then the list has moved to the artist name closest to the typed characters, generally a thousand or so lines away from my edit point. When I click on the close cross for this unintended search, the view stays at the line which has the artist name closest to the entered characters.
At the moment my best way of returning to where I was is to return the focus to the main list and press Alt Enter (my hotkey for "General: Focus tracklist on currently playing item") to go back to where I was, which is generally near where the track is playing. It took me some time to find that solution and was very frustrating in the interim. I have tried invoking the Previous View command, but that does not help because it simply presents me with the previous tree node (eg "Years"), so taking me further away from my specific track in the "All Tracks" view that I usually use.
I want the view to return to the line being edited after I cancel the context search, but there is no way to tell the system to do so. This is a major problem for me because in most cases I had not intended to initiate the context search, and I find myself being regularly sent all over the list and having to scroll back to my starting point. I understand that returning to a previous list location after cancelling a search may not be intended (or even logical) behaviour. But, given that there is an ultra-low threshold for invoking the context search, there should be a way of gracefully backing out of an unintended context search and returning to the point of edit where the search was invoked. As an example, MS Word uses the Shift+F5 key combo to scroll through the last three edit locations. As a suggestion, you could repurpose the Esc key to do the return to edit location I'm looking for while leaving the X close search icon to preserve the current 'stay at found location' behaviour.
The current behaviour is baffling and non-intuitive. As a note to the UI guys, this behavior caused me a LOT of grief when adapting to MM5, and might be behind some of the push back you're getting from long term MM4 users. If I had not found workarounds I would have been back at MM4.
I hope that you can devote some attention to this.
Cheers
