Re: Implemented - nb 4.1 feature request

Tim Boudreau wrote:
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GROWF!  Let's try that again.  I'd attached a small module I implemented 
to in response to Alan Stange's feature request, but apparently GMane 
doesn't like zip attachments...

So instead it'll be available at
http://contrib.netbeans.org/servlets/ProjectDownloadList
as soon as someone approves it, and hopefully on the update center in a 
few days.

--

Original message below:

Alan Stange wrote:

 > Tim Boudreau wrote:
 >
 >> Alan Stange wrote:
 >>
 >>> Hello all,
 >>>
 >>> I've been using the 4.1 Q build.  Works great.   I have 2 requests:
 >>>
 >>> 1)  it would be great if somehow one could color the editor tabs in 
some way that correlated with the project.  So, when I'm editing File F 
from  Release X of my project, all the tabs might have a red underline 
on the file name, while File F from Release Y would have a blue 
underline.  Of course, Release X is in Netbeans project X and Release Y 
is in project Y.
 >>>
 >>> The underline color could default to "invisible" and a user could 
set the color in the project properties.
 >>>
 >>> There are some obvious extensions to this as well.  For example, in 
the projects and files explorers, the left margin of the screen could 
have this color in it.  For large projects, it's way too see only a list 
of file names and not the project context.  Cut/Copy/Paste are tricky to 
use when one can't easily see from where one is cutting, or to where one 
is pasting, etc.
 >>>
 >>> Right now, it's way too easy to clobber a file from the wrong 
project as the only hint in the UI for the project name is in the window 
title bar.
 >>
 >>
 >>
 >>
 >> It wouldn't be hard to do something like this, but I could easily 
imagine it getting more confusing than having nothing there at all; 
also, I use a mac most of the time, which has the ability to set the 
background color of the title of files in the Finder (equivalent of 
Windows Explorer).  I've never actually used this - typically I've found 
that with things which require some setup to use, like this, I'll use it 
the first time, and then never get around to doing it again.
 >>
 >> Here's a possible alternative that would solve the problem:  Though 
it's not currently used in NetBeans, there is functionality in 4.1 to 
allow tabs to "blink" - basically they just flash a few times.
 >>
 >> What if there were a shortcut that would blink all the files that 
share the same project with the one currently showing in the editor? 
That would probably be relatively trivial to implement - would it solve 
the problem?
 >
 > Sending this from my Mac as well...
 >
 >
 > I think what you describe, some method to visually separate "these" 
from "those" instead of having to mark every package, would be 
sufficient and better than what I was thinking.   I'm somewhat partial 
to a more persistent visual cue like an underlined or bold file name or 
even an extra red dot in the corner of the tab.
 > I have nothing against the blink as I think it's a move in the right 
direction, I'm just more partial to something that is always there.


Since it seemed like something that would take about ten minutes to 
implement (it did), I just implemented this feature so you can try it 
out.  It's done as a separate module - it adds an action to the Tools 
menu and a shortcut ALT-SHIFT-P (on mac, CTRL-SHIFT-P).  When invoked, 
all the tabs that share the same project as the currently selected 
editor tab will blink.

It also adds an action "Close Unrelated Files" - CTRL-ALT-P (any 
platform), which will close all files that are not part of the project 
that the currently selected file belongs to.

Let me know if that does the trick.  The sources are in 
contrib/whichproject and an nbm of the module is attached - at 6.4k, 
it's small enough that it shouldn't be too much of a hassle on the list. 
Just use the update center's "install manually downloaded nbms" to install.

The Close Unrelated Files option seems likely to be pretty useful.

[Minor nit:  It only looks in the default editor area - if you have 
dragged one editor pane to some other part of the main window, or in SDI 
mode, docked it into a separate frame, it will be skipped].

Hope you find it useful.

-Tim