Expand/Collapse blocks of text

Ideas for new features

Moderators: AmigoJack, helios, bbadmin, Bob Hansen, MudGuard

How important is this feature for future versions of TextPad?

Important, even if the size/efficiency of TextPad increases/degrades
131
51%
Somewhat important
80
31%
I'm okay either way
24
9%
Somewhat unimportant
13
5%
Unimportant, even if the size/efficiency of TextPad remains unaffected
10
4%
 
Total votes: 258

CJ
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 10:37 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Expand/Collapse blocks of text

Post by CJ »

    This feature is found in a few text editors, especially HTML editors such as Macromedia HomeSite.

    What I suggest is having buttons in the gutter on the left that we can use to collapse the selected block of text and then later expand the block.

    Image

    This little screen capture is from a text editor called Komodo: http://www.activestate.com/Komodo/start892.html.
    foo
    Posts: 1
    Joined: Thu May 01, 2003 9:39 pm

    hide/show text

    Post by foo »

    That a must have for me...
    rpb
    Posts: 3
    Joined: Sat May 24, 2003 5:40 pm
    Location: London, UK
    Contact:

    Post by rpb »

    displaying or excluding all lines that match a regexp/search string would be good. Then being able to refine the currently displayed selection of lines with additional searches.
    User avatar
    diek
    Posts: 20
    Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:35 pm

    Stuff

    Post by diek »

    CJ,
    Greetings from the Canada's other coast. It would be nice. The cost of Komodo is $295.00 for 2.3 Professional Edition,hopefully if Helios decides to implement the feature it will not increase the price that dramatically.
    diek
    daveqr
    Posts: 12
    Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:21 pm

    Post by daveqr »

    How ironic is it that a tool targeted towards users of open source software costs $295?
    zootfroot
    Posts: 1
    Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 8:48 am

    Re: Expand/Collapse blocks of text

    Post by zootfroot »

    CJ wrote:
      This feature is found in a few text editors, especially HTML editors such as Macromedia HomeSite.
      I agree! I was just going to post a new thread on this subject. It would be a GREAT addition to this fine product and would certainly help me work more productively! :)
      JonK
      Posts: 4
      Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2003 9:31 am

      Two observations...

      Post by JonK »

      Firstly, this fits quite nicely alongside the "highligh matching bracket" functionality that's being asked for: if you're already maintaining a stack of "brackets" (be it {} pairs, or <tag> </tag>) internally, you can automagically generate folding points from these.

      However, I'd also like the ability to fold at arbitrary points - it's the one thing I'd need to ditch Word as an outliner. Oh, and I'd like my fold points to be namable and persistent. Off the top of my head, this could be implemented transparently using a second stream in the .txt file (though this would require NTFS).

      Comments?
      MiddleOfNowhere
      Posts: 5
      Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2003 10:07 am

      Post by MiddleOfNowhere »

      As far as I'm concerned, an outlining mode is the only thing still missing from Textpad.

      However, as JonK said, it would be important that it also supports folding at arbitrary points.

      It should have Collapse/Expand Current/All nodes - and keyboard navigation would be important to work effectively. And drag + drop should move everything in a folded branch.

      And if you do it, Helios - please ensure that folding status is stored with the file...
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      MudGuard
      Posts: 1295
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      Location: Munich, Germany
      Contact:

      Post by MudGuard »

      please ensure that folding status is stored with the file...
      Absolutely NOT!

      Textpad is a text editor, not a word processor...
      In the textfile NOTHING must be stored besides the text.

      If folding status were stored within the text file, it would ruin the text files.
      What should a browser do with folding information within a html file?
      Or a perl interpreter with folding information within a perl file?
      ...

      Folding status should be stored in the workspace, NOT in the text file.
      MiddleOfNowhere
      Posts: 5
      Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2003 10:07 am

      Post by MiddleOfNowhere »

      MudGuard wrote:
      In the textfile NOTHING must be stored besides the text. [...] Folding status should be stored in the workspace, NOT in the text file.
      OK, for the sake of, err, ASCII purity - you're right. :)

      And the workspace will do. As long as it is stored *somewhere*.

      I was simply getting carried away ... Thinking of large, complex documents, e.g. in DocBook, where it would be much easier if you could jump exactly to the section where you left off.

      Maybe we could point the Helios team to a few top-notch Outliners, just to give them some inspiration? :) E.g. I used to work with Action Outline, which has a simple and effective GUI. I just didn't want another format to store my files.
      JonK
      Posts: 4
      Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2003 9:31 am

      Post by JonK »

      MudGuard wrote:Textpad is a text editor, not a word processor... In the textfile NOTHING must be stored besides the text.

      If folding status were stored within the text file, it would ruin the text files. What should a browser do with folding information within a html file? Or a perl interpreter with folding information within a perl file?

      Folding status should be stored in the workspace, NOT in the text file.
      See my previous comment about using an additional stream - thereby being completely transparent to your browser/Perl interpreter/Notepad.exe/whatever. Read up on Structured Storage (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us ... frame=true) on the MSDN if you're interested in how this works: if you're not interested in the hows and whys then trust me, it does work transparently.
      SanctimoniousApe
      Posts: 2
      Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2003 7:04 pm

      Post by SanctimoniousApe »

      JonK wrote:See my previous comment about using an additional stream - thereby being completely transparent to your browser/Perl interpreter/Notepad.exe/whatever. Read up on Structured Storage (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us ... frame=true) on the MSDN if you're interested in how this works: if you're not interested in the hows and whys then trust me, it does work transparently.
      Sure, as long as you're using NTFS (as you noted earlier). While this may not be a problem for some, much of my work is stored on NFS and SaMBa shares, so it's useless. The workspace files make much more sense.

      Never mind that hidden data as described smacks of more MS Big Brother techniques. MS would rather hide things from you than have them readily accessible (file streams, the registry, Palladium...). Thanks, but no thanks.
      User avatar
      webmasta
      Posts: 169
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      Location: Toronto

      Post by webmasta »

      This would be a winna!! ... thumbs up for this feature.
      JonK
      Posts: 4
      Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2003 9:31 am

      Nah...

      Post by JonK »

      SanctimoniousApe wrote:... hidden data ... MS Big Brother techniques... rather hide things from you than have them readily accessible ... Palladium...
      Tin-foil hat? Mine's the one over there ----> thanks :-)

      (really, is RegEdit any more difficult to use than vi and the mess that is /etc. And as for these so-called "hidden" streams - tried "type myFile.txt:1"?)

      Problem with workspaces is that you've then tied your text file to both a second file and, by extension, you've baked in a path - which sucks even harder if you want to share the file. Way I see it, if you artificially hobble yourself, then don't complain that you can't get the benefit of advanced features. If you like *nixen then use vi. Making folding require NTFS is like making transparent dialogs require W2K or better.
      Frank Fesevur
      Posts: 16
      Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2003 12:46 pm
      Location: The Netherlands

      Re: Nah...

      Post by Frank Fesevur »

      JonK wrote:Making folding require NTFS is like making transparent dialogs require W2K or better.
      I assume you mean "Making folding remember its state requires NTFS".

      Regards,
      Frank
      Post Reply