Wish list for 2.2.1 IDE

Development Tools IDE 2.x
1

Things I'd like to see added to the 2.2.1 IDE:

  1. I have several projects where there are so many source code files, they do not fit on the line above the source code window. I would like to see a way to scroll the tab list left/right. I do know that I can effectively scroll the tabs using the ellipsis and select the file of interest, but I would like to scroll the tabs left or right one file with a simple two-key sequence (e.g., CTRL-LeftArrow or CTRL-RightArrow).

  2. When using the global search, all matches are shown, including those that are in a comment block (/* */) or a single-line comment (//). I'd like to see those matches that are in a comment use a different font color (e.g., GREEN).

  3. My F12 functionality is lost...again... and I did erase the C:/Users/User.arduinoIDE but no help. The source files are all on drive C and the Hover feature does work.

2

Hi @econjack

There is a scrollbar;

sort

It is a bit hard to use due to a UI bug though:

There is a keyboard shortcut for switching tabs. It is the standard shortcut for doing so in any tabbed application: Ctrl+Tab switches to the next tab to the right. Ctrl+Shift+Tab switches to the next tab to the left.

There are also two alternative sets of non-standard shortcuts for doing the same thing:

  • Ctrl+Alt+→ / Ctrl+Alt+←
  • Ctrl+Alt+D / Ctrl+Alt+A

You can customize these shortcuts via the IDE's "Keyboard Shortcuts" feature (File > Advanced > Keyboard Shortcuts). The commands are "View: Show Next Tab" and "View: Show Previous Tab".

I'm sorry about that. It might be useful to start the investigation by performing a simple "smoke test" to check whether the functionality is working at a basic level when the added factors that might be present in a more complex real world usage are removed from the equation.

Please try this experiment and then report back with the results:

:exclamation: This procedure is not intended to solve the problem. The purpose is to gather more information.

  1. Select File > New Sketch from the Arduino IDE menus.
  2. Select Tools > Board > Arduino AVR Boards > Arduino Uno from the Arduino IDE menus.
  3. Replace the contents of the new sketch with the following code:
    void foo() {}
void setup() {}
void loop() {
  foo();
}
  4. You may now see a message at the left side of the Arduino IDE status bar that says something like "Building sketch" or "indexing: n/n". If so, wait for the messages to disappear.
  5. Right click (Control-click for macOS users) on the foo on line 4 of the sketch.
    A context menu will open.
  6. Select "Go to Definition" from the menu.

Now please reply here on the forum thread with the answer to the following question:

  • Did the cursor move to the foo on line 1 of the sketch code after you performed the last step of the instructions?
3

First, thanks for your help...again...ptillisch!

Second, the scroll feature works; I just didn't know it was there.
Third, yes the function definition via the context menu worked. I tried it on my 23 source file project and it worked there, too. However, F12 still does not work,

4

You are welcome.

I'm glad that the IDE provides the tab navigation capabilities you need. The lack of good navigation in projects with many tabs in Arduino IDE 1.x was a common source of complaints/feature requests from the users.

Ah, I missed that you are using F12 alone. The default keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+F12.

If it possible to customize the keyboard shortcut if you prefer F12. I'll provide instructions:

  1. Select File > Advanced > Keyboard Shortcuts (or Arduino IDE > Advanced > Keyboard Shortcuts for macOS users) from the Arduino IDE menus.
    The "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab will open in the Arduino IDE window.
  2. Type editor.action.revealDefinition in the "Search keybindings" field of the "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab.
  3. Hover the mouse pointer over the "editor.action.revealDefinition" row in the search results.
    A pencil icon ("Edit Keybinding") will appear at the left side of the row.
  4. Click the pencil icon.
    The "Edit Keybinding for editor.action.revealDefinition" dialog will open.
  5. Change the text in the field of the "Edit Keybinding for editor.action.revealDefinition" dialog to f12
  6. Click the "OK" button in the dialog.
  7. Click the X icon on the "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab.
5

This worked perfectly. The old key sequence for function definition search was Ctrl-F12. I changed this to just F12 and that fixed it.

Once again, a big thanks for all the help!

6

You are welcome. I'm glad it is working according to your preferences now.

Regards,
Per

7

It would be interesting to change it back to Ctrl-F12 to see whether it worked then

8

Sorry for the delay. I reset the "source search" back to Ctrl+F12 and it worked fine. I then changed it back to just F12 and it works great. The process ptillisch outlined is worth saving!

1 Like
9

Thanks for checking and no need to apologise

10

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.