Re: Implemented - nb 4.1 feature request

Alan Stange wrote:
> Hello All,
> 
> I gave the module a try.
> The blink is OK.  I think some sort of badging of the tab would be 
> better.  For example, not all tabs are visible, and when I use the drop 
> down list on the right side of the display, there's still no 
> identification of which project the three different Test.java tabs are 
> associated with.  At the very least, I think some persistent visual 
> identification of "tabs that are part of the main project" would be a 
> good thing.
> 
> Close unrelated files is great.  Thanks!  It's the best way to avoid 
> confusion without just going and closing other projects.

I had a feeling that was what would really solve the problem - guessing 
that if you're trying to find out what files belong to the same project, 
it's probably because you want to get rid of some stuff...

-Tim

> 
> -- Alan
> 
> 
> Tim Boudreau wrote:
> 
>> Tim Boudreau wrote:
>>
>>> This is a message from the MailScanner E-Mail Virus Protection Service
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>>
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