Dev:Ref/Proposals/UI/lmb select all

PREAMBLE:

The hyperlink title was my attempt to articulate the issue as simply as possible but it actually points to several interconnected issues that I will try to explain clearly here.

I understand that software development is hard and time consuming. but I make this proposal because it is very limited in scope, should be a relatively fast fix and at the same time is EXTREMELY important for new users and users coming from other programs. For me, this small but fundamental bit of inconsistency is so egregious to me, it is THE one thing that prevents me from using blender in my professional work. It is the thing that for most blender newbs, makes them fall on their face the minute they launch the app and makes that initial Blender experience confusing and unpleasant.

====================

THE ISSUE:

Currently, there is an option in PREFERENCES to select using LMB instead of RMB. And it works fine in the 3d viewports.

BUT

The problem is that there are other contexts inside of Blender (such as the node window, graph editor or even file menus) where selection WAS ALREADY LMB! but after using the toggle in PREFERENCES, those are switched now to RMB! And there is no way to modify the keymappings so that this does not happen.

The effect of this is that there is no way to ALWAYS MAKE LMB (or RMB!) SELECT IN ALL CONTEXTS.

Ideally, if i wanted to do, i should be able to make MMB (or even CTRL-MMB if i wanted to) select for every context (3d viewport, graph editor, timeline, file manager, etc).

====================

THE TRICKINESS:

In playing with the keymappings and the PREFERENCES switch, it appears to me that the mouse buttons in blender are currently not ideally or consistently implemented... it's actually confusing for me to think about so software developers more adept at such issues will have to come up with the exact analysis and solution...

But to my layman's eyes, it seems like the mouse buttons are treated differently in the 3d viewports than they are in other contexts and that they are hard coded in some places but abstracted in others.

====================

THE SOLUTION:

imo, if we keep the PREFERENCES toggle for LMB/RMB select, it should not execute a unique, "hard coded" function. It should simply execute a script that flips all the keymappings from LMB to RMB or viceversa. this means that even after implementation, if I set the PREFERENCES switch so that LMB selects and some contexts have been flipped to RMB select, I can actually go into the key mappings for any context and manually set it BACK to LMB select... and that nothing would prevent me from doing that. (as I said before, you cannot currently do this)

This ALSO means then, that the LMB/MMB/RMB keymapping settings are treated the same in EVERY CONTEXT - including and (maybe especially) in the 3d viewports. So if the keymapping settings for the mouse buttons are abstracted in other contexts but hard coded in the 3d viewports, that needs to change so that the mouse buttons are treated the same everywhere and that in the keymappings editor, you can set the mouse buttons in EVERY CONTEXT including the 3d viewports and in the same way.

Also importantly, with this system, people who currently LIKE the way blender has selection sometimes with LMB and other times with RMB can keep blender EXACTLY THE WAY THAT IT IS. It does not IMPOSE a new way of doing things for users who like the status quo. It only allows people the ability to fully customize according to their desires.

====================

CONCLUSION:

Again, this is all analysis from a long time 3d artist but non software developer. If my software architecture analysis and conclusions are wrong, please ignore them. But the issue itself is valid and it would benefit blender greatly to resolve it.