Editor usability suggestion

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by Kevin Luck >> Thu, 3 Feb 2000 22:35:29 GMT

In the Jade editor I find that, more often than not, when I press the home key I actually want the cursor to go to the start of the text rather than the start of the line. How about having the first press of the home key take the cursor to the start of the text on the current line, with a second key press sending the cursor to the far left.

This behaviour should probably be optional - set on the Jade options form, editor tab.

Cheers,
Kevin
--
K.R. Luck
Consultant - Cardinal Healthcare

mailto: kluck@cardinal.co.nz
website: http://www.jadecare.com
tel: +64 (9) 277 7961 DDI: +64 (9) 373 7890 fax: +64 (9) 277 7971 mobile: +64 (9) 280 9893

[ConvertFromOldNGs]

by Carl Ranson >> Thu, 3 Feb 2000 23:01:03 GMT

I would go further and say that the indenting should be under jades control. ie it's implied by the block structure of the code.

At varsity I used a pascal editor that was smart enough to indent and format code on the fly - as you typed. This was a decade ago, so I don't see why a product like Jade couldn't do it.

Think about it - how much time do you waste after you cut and paste text reformatting the code so that the indenting is correct.

The algorithm for indenting in Jade would be fairly simple as it has a nice simple block structure.

I acknowledge that this feautre would not be to everyones taste, and would therefore need to be selectable at a user profile level.

CR

[ConvertFromOldNGs]

by Gregory Tolhurst >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 0:05:08 GMT

I hope this won't sound patronising (usually means it will...).

Kevin - you can get to the start of text on a line by pressing home then Ctrl-right-arrow. It's an extra keystroke, but it does the trick.

Carl - you can fix your indenting for pasted code quickly using Shift-Ctrl-i (indent) or Shift-Ctrl-u (un-indent) while the block of code is selected.

If either or both of you already knew that, or if that wasn't your point, then I'll retire back into my cave.

Along the lines of the indentation features mentioned above, I've always thought it would be nice to be able to select a block of code and comment it with one hit in the editor (Shift-Ctrl-c?). Perhaps the same keystroke would toggle commenting on and off for a block.

In case you wondered, I really don't like my mouse...

[ConvertFromOldNGs]

by Carl Ranson >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 0:16:26 GMT

Yes, quite aware of the indenting feature in Jade. I seem to come across a lot of code that has been indented with spaces or inconsistently indented.
The usual case for such code is to Ctrl-Shift-U repeatedly until all leading whitespace is gone then Shift-Ctrl-i all of the code. I usually then have to further indent some lines of code.

Doesn't this strike you as a waste of time for the developer, when the computer could do it in a few milliseconds? Yes, it normally only takes only 20 seconds or so but it also makes me shift my focus from the problem I'm trying to solve - thats the bigger issue.

Along the lines of the indentation features mentioned above, I've always thought it would be nice to be able to select a block of code and comment it with one hit in the editor (Shift-Ctrl-c?). Perhaps the same keystroke would toggle commenting on and off for a block.

I agree, it could just add a double slash to each line in turn - makes it easy to undo.

CR

[ConvertFromOldNGs]

by Craig Shearer >> Fri, 4 Feb 2000 3:01:16 GMT

One of the bigger problems with the editor that I personally encounter is its implementation of the ctrl-right arrow, ctrl-left arrow moves. It should be more intelligent in where it moves in your code, taking into account JADE syntax.

As an example, say I have the following line of code:

fEQWD := eqwd;


If I position my cursor at the end of the line, then hit ctrl-left arrow I get to the start of "eqwd" which is fine. Then, another ctrl-left arrow takes me to the start of fEQWD. It would be much more useful if it took me to the start of the := instead.

If you use the VB editor, it's much more intelligent as to where these keys take you in the code.

Craig.