[New plugin] Columns++

Lycan Thrope

@Coises ,
Yeah, I tried that, but it didn’t seem to work either.
I’m going to admit, It looks good in the animation, but I really don’t understand what it’s supposed to be doing and how. Like @Alan-Kilborn mentions, I can see value in the sort selection aspect also, but for now, I think I’ll just have to chew on figuring out and reading the documentation…more closely to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing.
:-)

Alan Kilborn

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

I did not know about “marking” blocks of text.

At a user level, the general marking feature is on the Mark tab of the Find family of windows, invoked by Ctrl+m by default. A similar but less powerful user-level feature to get different colors onto literal text is at Search menu > Style …

The Scintilla feature controlling both is called indicators.

Is this something that would interfere with other ways people use this feature (if Notepad++ exposes it at all) if I were to mark the block upon the first search, and leave it marked until either the user makes a new selection, or the dialog is closed?

If I were you, I’d consider allocating a new indicator exclusively for your plugin’s use for this purpose, if you like the general idea. Going that route, you wouldn’t have to be concerned about “interference”.

By the way, I had an admittedly brief look at your source code for the plugin, and it looks excellent; nice job.

Your help html file is also a joy to look at; other programs could use such a concise and well-written help file as a model. I’m curious what tool you might have used to assist in producing this?

Coises

@Alan-Kilborn said in [New plugin] Columns++:

The Scintilla feature controlling both is called indicators.

Thank you. I will study that and see if I can use it. Perhaps it will even help solve the problem of “non-rectangular rectangular selections” that arises in cases like your example with repeated replace where the old and new text lengths differ.

By the way, I had an admittedly brief look at your source code for the plugin, and it looks excellent; nice job.

Your help html file is also a joy to look at; other programs could use such a concise and well-written help file as a model. I’m curious what tool you might have used to assist in producing this?

Thank you, Alan. The HTML/CSS/Javascript is hand-written in Notepad++, proofing in Firefox. I used what I wrote when I re-designed my personal web site about six years ago as a model, so there are probably some left-overs in the CSS that don’t look “purpose-built” only because I didn’t factor out all of the complexity I had needed for more diverse pages.

Coises

@Mark-Olson said in [New plugin] Columns++:

One change I would consider making to the Add Numbers and Average Numbers commands is to make it very clear that the command copies the result to the clipboard. Some users will probably be unhappy that you overwrote their clipboard data without telling them that that’s what you were going to do.

Good point. I’ve been using a clipboard manager for so long, I’d forgotten how upsetting it can be to lose the contents of the clipboard at the wrong time.

OTOH, stating that clearly would result in some more cumbersome verbiage that lacks the nice simplicity of the current command names.

@Alan-Kilborn said in [New plugin] Columns++:

Currently it pops up a box with the result; perhaps having this box have 2 buttons, “OK” and “Copy”, would be an acceptable way around doing an automatic (and perhaps unwanted) copy.

This makes sense. I fussed about with that little pop-up a lot. The one thing I knew I didn’t want was what I’d seen in some other plug-in: the result displayed in a dialog box with no way to put it into the document, or anywhere else, other than to recite the numbers in my head and try to type them before I forget them. I tried just copying, along with inserting the results if space was left at the end of the selection, but it seemed like there had to be some visual indication that something had happened, especially if there was no place to insert results, or if that place was not visible. So I came up with this little pop-up that tells you what happened and then disappears on its own when you click anywhere, without consuming the click unless you click on the pop-up. (I meant for it to do the same with typing, but haven’t yet gotten that to work as intended.)

I will replace that peculiar little pop-up with a more standard dialog box offering options to copy or not copy the results.

Alan Kilborn

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

I will replace that peculiar little pop-up with a more standard dialog box offering options to copy or not copy the results.

Maybe 3 choices: Copy, Insert (if conditions are right), or simply close.

Coises

@Bas-de-Reuver said in [New plugin] Columns++:

Sounds like an interesting plug-in, but tbh it’s unclear to me how to use it. I assume it only works with tab-separated or fixed width files, so not comma or semicolon separated data?
[…]
It looks promising, but I think the github main page should make clear which type of data files are supported and maybe add a screenshot explaining some of the functions.

I added Purpose and Limitations sections to the main Github page, and a Purpose and limitations section to the help file.

Updating Columns++ to better handle the situation where nothing happens because there is no appropriate rectangular selection will take a little longer, but I will do it.

Thank you again for your observations.

Coises

@Mark-Olson said in [New plugin] Columns++:

One change I would consider making to the Add Numbers and Average Numbers commands is to make it very clear that the command copies the result to the clipboard. Some users will probably be unhappy that you overwrote their clipboard data without telling them that that’s what you were going to do.

OTOH, stating that clearly would result in some more cumbersome verbiage that lacks the nice simplicity of the current command names.

Thank you again for this suggestion. I changed those two commands so that they open a typical dialog box including buttons for a “Yes” or “No” response to “Copy these results to the clipboard?” at the bottom. Also added is some control for formatting with thousands separators and whether or not to insert the results directly into the document. That’s in release 0.0.2.3-alpha.

Mark Olson

@Coises
Nice, looks great!

It looks like you meant to say Copy these results to the clipboard and forgot the word clipboard, though.

Coises

@Mark-Olson said in [New plugin] Columns++:

@Coises
Nice, looks great!

It looks like you meant to say Copy these results to the clipboard and forgot the word clipboard, though.

Thanks! Corrected.

Coises

@Bas-de-Reuver said in [New plugin] Columns++:

At first I clicked Sort ascending (numeric) assuming that it would base the column on the current cursor position, but nothing happened. After a while I figured out that you first have to column-select part of the data file, and then select the “Sort ascending” option from the plugin menu. Maybe add a popup warning message when the user clicks a menu item but no column-selection was made.

Thank you again for your suggestions. I’ve made some changes to address this, which are available in version 0.1.0.5-alpha. Instead of just doing nothing, a dialog box comes up stating that the command requires a rectangular selection, and (depending on what selection, if any, already exists) offering to create one. I hope it’s comprehensible; feedback, as always, is welcome.

Mark Olson

@Coises
Just tried out the new pop-up to make a rectangular selection. The one with 9 images took me a moment to figure out, but only a moment. I think it’s an awesome design, better than I would have thought to ask for.

I thought of raising a feature request in the GitHub repo asking for a GUI that made it easy to create column selections. The 9-image GUI fills that role admirably, and I kinda feel like it should just be accessible as a default plugin command rather than something that people only discover by accident when they try to use a functionality without anything selected.

Coises

@Mark-Olson said in [New plugin] Columns++:

Just tried out the new pop-up to make a rectangular selection. The one with 9 images took me a moment to figure out, but only a moment. I think it’s an awesome design, better than I would have thought to ask for.

Thank you. I’m glad it seems to be working.

I thought of raising a feature request in the GitHub repo asking for a GUI that made it easy to create column selections. The 9-image GUI fills that role admirably, and I kinda feel like it should just be accessible as a default plugin command rather than something that people only discover by accident when they try to use a functionality without anything selected.

I wondered about that: perhaps a Select Rectangle… command that does just that and nothing else? If I did that, would it be better to “click and go” the same way these dialogs do, or should clicking the button “preview” the selection in the document, but wait for you to click OK to apply it or Cancel to revert to the state when you opened the dialog?

Mark Olson

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

If I did that, would it be better to “click and go” the same way these dialogs do, or should clicking the button “preview” the selection in the document, but wait for you to click OK to apply it or Cancel to revert to the state when you opened the dialog?

That would be a good way to go about it!
Probably the best way to go about it, although maybe too technically demanding, would be to preview the selection when you hover the mouse over the option, but only finalize the selection when you click on it.

Coises

@Alan-Kilborn said in [New plugin] Columns++:

And I attempted to “walk through” and replace, using only the Replace button (I pressed nothing else, no did anything else in between presses).

And…it didn’t hit all of my e characters from the starting column block selection. Maybe try my example and see what you think.

@Alan-Kilborn said in [New plugin] Columns++:

Also, I felt a bit “uncomfortable” doing a bunch of Find Next s through a column-block that I could no longer see.

I made some significant changes to the way the search function works.

I followed the path on which you started me by mentioning indicators. Search now uses an indicator, rather than a selection, to define the region to be searched. You can (and usually would) still start with a rectangular selection, which is used to define the indicated region.

I could not find any way to know what indicators other plugins might be using (DSpellCheck, for example, just hard-codes 19); there does not seem to be any protocol for negotiating this between plugins. Consequently, I made it a user option; you can choose an indicator number to use (18 is default) or you can use the Find Mark indicator or one of the five Styles. Others’ experience will have to tell me whether this is a choice that mostly stays out of the way. Options for the “custom” indicator number and color are on the Options dialog.

The downside of all this is that it’s harder to explain. I think it makes sense once you use it, but I’m not quite sure folks are going to understand what is happening right off the bat.

The new stuff is in Pre-release 0.2.0.6-alpha.

By the way, was the issue you posted about stale text on the Search dialog resolved in subsequent releases?

Alan Kilborn

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

I could not find any way to know what indicators other plugins might be using

You are not alone; see HERE.

was the issue you posted about stale text on the Search dialog resolved in subsequent releases?

I have not seen it recur.

The new stuff is in Pre-release 0.2.0.6-alpha.

I will try it.

EDIT: I gave it a spin, and I feel much more at ease about find-nexting through a column-block, now that I can see the block while the search is on-going. Nice job!

Something new:

I noticed when I try these links from the about box, nothing happens on my system:

Coises

@Alan-Kilborn said in [New plugin] Columns++:

I noticed when I try these links from the about box, nothing happens on my system:

Did you copy all the files from ColumnsPlusPlus-0.2.0.6-x86.zip or ColumnsPlusPlus-0.2.0.6-x64.zip into plugins/ColumnsPlusPlus, or just the dll?

If the files aren’t there, that’s the reason. If they are there, then I’m not sure what to think would be the cause.

Oh… if you built from source using my Visual Studio solution, the post-build steps only copy the dll, not the supporting files.

Coises

@Alan-Kilborn said in [New plugin] Columns++:

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

was the issue you posted about stale text on the Search dialog resolved in subsequent releases?

I have not seen it recur.

That’s good. I’ll close the issue.

The new stuff is in Pre-release 0.2.0.6-alpha.

EDIT: I gave it a spin, and I feel much more at ease about find-nexting through a column-block, now that I can see the block while the search is on-going. Nice job!

Thank you, Alan. Hopefully this also fixes the problem you first noted of successive Replace actions not catching all the originally selected instances of the text to be replaced.

Alan Kilborn

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

If the files aren’t there, that’s the reason

Yea, that’s probably it. I was building from source and I just took the .dll file. I’ll add the supporting files; it will probably solve it.

Alan Kilborn

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

Hopefully this also fixes the problem you first noted of successive Replace actions not catching all the originally selected instances of the text to be replaced.

Yes, but I noticed something new. Unlike N++'s replace, the plugin’s doesn’t do the replacement and auto-find the next match; it leaves the replacement text selected (and waits for further user action). This is okay, but it isn’t how N++ does it, so users may have concerns.

Also, something like this will keep it from ever advancing to the next match:

Continuing to press Replace in this situation merely keeps replacing the same T.

Coises

@Alan-Kilborn said in [New plugin] Columns++:

@Coises said in [New plugin] Columns++:

I could not find any way to know what indicators other plugins might be using

You are not alone; see HERE.

I added a comment to that issue… and only afterward noticed that the feature request was made in 2019.

The short version of my comment is that it’s a good idea, but what about all the plugins already out there that won’t necessarily be updated to use the new system? Encouraging new plugin authors to think there’s a reliable system for allocating indicators when there won’t be until existing plugins either are updated or become obsolete for other, unrelated reasons might be worse than no system at all.