(from [73b9a48bfcafd1ca8e5e13b35f39af9a02b705d6]) Give TabGroup the windowSoftInputMode property that windows also enjoy, so that pan/resize behavior can be more predictable. [#3142] https://github.com/appcelerator/titanium_mobile/commit/73b9a48bfcafd1ca8e5e13b35f39af9a02b705d6"> https://github.com/appcelerator/titanium_mobile/commit/73b9a48bfcaf...

(from [0adfd459e883edf0661d4ff259b18c3151f06d51]) Add windowSoftInput property to TabGroup documentation [#3142] https://github.com/appcelerator/titanium_mobile/commit/0adfd459e883edf0661d4ff259b18c3151f06d51"> https://github.com/appcelerator/titanium_mobile/commit/0adfd459e883...

(from [064abfdece16638592e2a60d2d527b4e39a3e2ec]) Fix Ti.UI.Window documentation which erroneously refers to property "softInputMode" -- it's actually "windowSoftInputMode" [#3142] https://github.com/appcelerator/titanium_mobile/commit/064abfdece16638592e2a60d2d527b4e39a3e2ec"> https://github.com/appcelerator/titanium_mobile/commit/064abfdece16...

What you're seeing is Android's non-specific behavior when the windowSoftInputMode is not explicitly set. See Android's doc re http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/WindowManager.LayoutParams.html#SOFT_INPUT_ADJUST_UNSPECIFIED"> the unspecified setting, which states "if neither of these [PAN vs RESIZE] are set, then the system will try to pick one or the other depending on the contents of the window".

In step 1 of the sample code, Android (for whatever reason) is choosing the "Pan" mode -- the window moves up slightly to (just barely) accomodate the text field when the soft keyboard appears. In step 3, Android decides to use the "Resize" mode -- again, for whatever reason.

Android's pan-and/or-resize stuff gets particularly strange and ornery when a scrollable view -- such as a ListView, which is the native control of the TableView -- is on the Window. You see this in a video I made (no sound):

http://screencast.com/t/PlRIxPUMseei">http://screencast.com/t/PlRIxPUMseei

The video shows a native (non-Titanium) Android application. The blue part near the top of the tabbed window is just a "layout", which is like a "View" in titanium -- it can hold children. Inside it, the grey part is a ListView, which is what Titanium's TableView is based on. When I touch into the text field, the non-specific pan-or-resize that Android does (or doesn't do) totally mucks up, as you see. If I just take out that child ListView, then everything works okay.

Anyway, the point here is that we want to be able to predict how Android will behave, rather than the non-specified behavior. So I've added the windowSoftInputMode property to TabGroup, just like we have it for Window. Because "behind" the TabGroup is an Android Window which is responsible for the panning/resizing. So you can think of it as there being 3 windows in play here: the "outside" window which contains the TabGroup (and which you do not specify in Titanium code -- it's just there already when you create the TabGroup), and then the two windows that you created, one each per tab.

It's that outside window -- the one holding the entire TabGroup -- that is responsible for resizing/panning. But until just now, Titanium did not have a way for you to tell that outside window which pan/resize mode you want Android to use for the TabGroup.

Now you can specify that. I've added the windowSoftInputMode property to TabGroup. So if I modify your code, it will look like this:

   // create our main window, which is a table with a text field
   var mainWindow = Titanium.UI.createWindow({
       backgroundColor:'yellow',
       title:'Touch Me 3rd'
   });
   
   // add a table view -- note that if you comment out this line, the resize issue will disappear!
   mainWindow.add(Ti.UI.createTableView());
   
   // add a text field
   mainWindow.add(Titanium.UI.createTextField({
       width:300,
       height:50,
       value: 'Touch Me 1st',
       backgroundColor:'white'
   }));
   
   // add a footer view
   mainWindow.add(Ti.UI.createView({
       backgroundColor:'#3b5d7c',
       bottom: 0,
       height: 45
   }));
   
   // add our main window to a tab group
   var tabGroup = Titanium.UI.createTabGroup({
       windowSoftInputMode: Ti.UI.Android.SOFT_INPUT_ADJUST_RESIZE  // <--- THAT'S NEW!!!
   });
   tabGroup.addTab(Titanium.UI.createTab({
       window: mainWindow,
       title: 'Touch Me 3rd'
   }));
   tabGroup.addTab(Titanium.UI.createTab({
       window:Titanium.UI.createWindow({
           backgroundColor: 'cyan',
           title: 'Touch Me 2nd'
       }),
       title: 'Touch Me 2nd'
   }));
   tabGroup.open();
   

If you run that, you'll get the "resize" mode right away when you click into the text field.

NOTA BENA: I discovered while working on this that our current, live, production documentation is wrong: It shows - in Ti.UI.Window - that the property name is softInputMode, when in fact it is windowSoftInputMode.

QE Testing:

Take the code from my just-previous comment and run it as your app.js. When you click in the text field, the window should "resize", giving the impression that it compresses and moves the text field up and away from the soft keyboard.