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(130/207) 2919873 - Option Panes: Searchable options

It would be nice if the option panes had a search functionality one would locate the option containing the searched string. If the result was clickable like the hyper search such that the clicked option finding would be focussed and highlighted, it would add additional comfort. I think alongside TOAD and attached a screen shot of their solution.

Submitted thiemo - 2009-12-23 - 07:09:55z Assigned nobody
Priority 5 Category None
Status Open Group None
Resolution None Visibility No

Comments

2009-12-23 - 08:41:26z
shlomy
I don't think this is the right way to do this. For options, there is documentation - Help -> jEdit HElp. The documentation is searchable, so you can search for your option there. Once found, it would be nice to click it and have the Options dialog open directly on that option.
2009-12-23 - 19:21:59z
godfall
Just a user (not developer), but here are my thoughts:

Thiemo: I think that would be a good idea. I've never used this TOAD software you speak of, but I've used Eclipse, and it has the same functionality. The implementation is different: the left hand side, with the "tree" of options, becomes filtered, instead of displaying search results at the bottom. Personally, I think that Eclipse's approach is slightly better since it gives you context (i.e., spatially where is the option located). I would attach a screenshot, but I'm not sure how to do that.

schlomy: Your suggestion would also be useful, but I don't think it replaces Thiemo's idea. Often I go to the Global Options dialog box and I know what I want to change (e.g., number of spaces in a tab), but I don't know where its located. It would be a hassle to have to open up jEdit help, search for it, then get taken back to the options dialog.
2009-12-23 - 21:19:18z
thiemo
Shlomy, your idea is good too. However, on my system (dual core laptop) the help search is so slow, it bores me to tears. And as gofall says, often you know what you want already and know at least a part of the term used but not where to find it. By the way, if you relied on the help you needed to make sure the help is complete and that's something you hardly can make come true for all the trillions of plugins there are. And the more plugins there are the more confusing the options will be. To me it allways happens (today the latest time) that I want to toggle the removal of trailing white space when saving. So I first went to the general part of the global option, next to save before remembering that it was an option of some text plugin.

But the code to follow the links in the result of the option search and the help search could be reused, I assume, and I guess that would be the bigger part of the implementation. So, why not have both?
2009-12-24 - 16:59:41z
ezust
I agree that the optionpanes should be searchable.
However, when you go to "global" options, it does not instantiate the plugin option panes at all.
Only the optional plugin instantiates all of the option panes, so therefore, I think it is that plugin that should have this feature.
And I would do it myself if I had the time. But I don't right now. If someone else wants to try, I can help get that person started.

Moving to plugin feature requests.
2011-12-17 - 03:21:25z
ezust
Moving back to feature requests since Optional is being merged into core.
2013-04-30 - 07:39:14z
weberjn
I find it very cumbersome to first have to go to the help browser to find an option. The Eclipse way is much better.

Attachments

2009-12-23 - 07:09:56z
thiemo
toad_options_search.png

Searchable options solution in TOAD