Provide better control of tab order and tab navigation

[julie777]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I have been using Sumatra for years and I really like it. However, there is one issue that is a constant irritation.

I frequently open multiple documents at once by selecting a group of files in File Explorer and pressing <enter>. The files do not show up in the tabs in an obvious order. In addition some tab manipulation does not work in the way that I expect.

This is an example of how it currently works for me. I opened 8 files that are simply named to show how Sumatra opens them and allocates tabs.

You can see that the files are in alphabetical order, but the last file has been put in the first tab. In addition the third tab (second file alphabetically) is selected. It is not always the third tab. After closing all the tabs and closing Sumatra, I opened the same files and now the last tab is selected. Notice that the file order is the same.

I spoke too hastily. I again closed all the tabs, closed Sumatra and then changed the sort order of the files in File Explorer, sorting them by name reversed. I selected the same 8 files and hit <enter> and now Sumatra has them in a different order in the tabs.

I just tried with date sorting. It appears that Sumatra is using the sort order from explorer, which is likely the order it provides the files to the application, but for some reason always moving the last tab/file opened to the first spot in tab order.

<tab> and <shift><tab> work as expected to switch tabs. However, if I close a tab it the last tab that I had selected will be selected instead of the tab to the right of the one closed.
Below I had b_0002.pdf selected, then I selected b_0005 and used <ctrl>w to close it. The result was that tab b_0002.pdf was selected. Most, if not all of the time I would like the tab to the right to be selected, or the tab to the left if there is no tab to the right.

Describe the solution you'd like

1. When a group of files is opened at once order them in a reasonable way, preferably specified by the users.

   • Say that I open a group of documents (a1.pdf, a2.pdf, a3.pdf, a4.pdf). I would like them to be show in tabs shorted by alphabetical order, or even better alph-numeric which would account for a10.pdf and put it at the end.
   • Provide a preference for the user to select the default ordering of tabs. The values could be: alphabetically, alpha-numerically, or in modification order.
   • provide a dropdown sort menu (and keyboard shortcuts) so the user could sort existing tabs
   • provide a preference to allow the user to specify that addition files are opened at the right of the existing tabs, or the tabs are automatically maintained sorted.

2. Always select the first tab of a new group that is opened. It makes no sense to me the way it currently selects the third tab in the example above.

3. When I close a tab I would like the tab to the right to be shown (or the tab to the left if there are none to the right) instead of the last tab I had selected.

   • this could also be a preference like it is in most browsers.

Describe alternatives you've considered
A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions or features you've considered.

Additional context
Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request here.

[GitHubRulesOK]

There is no way to change existing order without edit the settings for next session restore.
And it can be a mix of factors, such as how session is restarted.

HOWEVER the current pre-release has some more recent changes than official release, that may have some effect? Thus have to ask that if the above behaviour is not tested in current pre-release, it needs any further "fix" to be based on the current pre-release behaviour.