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Auto sort tabs (real-time)

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  • M
    Maxitrol - Mat
    last edited by Dec 6, 2020, 6:51 PM

    I need a plugin that will auto sort tabs A-Z. If a new file is opened, it should not be shown at the end but immediately tabs should get sorted and new file would be placed where it belongs. I don’t know how to code plugins but I am willing to pay $30 to someone if you can do it.

    D 1 Reply Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 6:32 PM Reply Quote 0
    • G
      guy038
      last edited by Dec 6, 2020, 8:15 PM

      Hello, @maxitrol-mat and All,

      No plugin needed !

      • Go to the Window > Windows... menu option ( Alt + W + W )

      • If necessary, click once or twice on one column header ( Name, Path, Type or Size )

      • Then, click on the Sort Tabs button

      => All your tabs should be sorted according to your present list ;-))

      Best Regards

      guy038

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
      • M
        Maxitrol - Mat
        last edited by Dec 6, 2020, 10:39 PM

        That is not auto sort in real-time. I want tabs to get sorted every time I open new file. I don’t want to go through 5 menus just for that. Means if you have files open haha.php test.txt and then you open mali.txt that “mali.txt” should be placed between haha.php and text.txt.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • G
          guy038
          last edited by guy038 Dec 7, 2020, 11:47 AM Dec 7, 2020, 11:44 AM

          Hello, @maxitrol-mat and All,

          Ah… OK. I understand your needs. And, seemingly, your are looking for an alphabetic tab’s names sort ! I think that is, typically, the kind of task that could be achieved with a Python script. But, as my Python skills are near zero, I just hope that one of our Python’s gurus , of our Community, could find out a nice solution !

          Basically, you can call a Python function when events occur in Notepad++ or Scintilla. In a Python script, you may register a function, named, for instance, SortTabs, doing the actions that I described, in my previous post, to be called whenever a specific event occurs ( i.e. when you open a file ), using the notification :

          notepad.callback(SortTabs, [NOTIFICATION.FILEOPENED])

          Not really sure about this notification : it could be NOTIFICATION.BUFFERACTIVATED or even NOTIFICATION.FILEBEFOREOPEN. As I told you, Python language isn’t my cup of tea, yet ;-))

          So, every time, you open a file, it would re-sort, automatically, all your tabs

          So, thank you to be patient for a more enlightened and constructive help.!

          BR

          guy038

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • E
            Ekopalypse
            last edited by Ekopalypse Dec 7, 2020, 11:53 AM Dec 7, 2020, 11:52 AM

            @guy038

            Theoretically yes, the problem is that there is no public API for the tab container, so it is not that simple.
            The simulation of what npp internal does is crucial here, because otherwise npp has a different view on how the buffer list is sorted.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
            • A
              ArkadiuszMichalski
              last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 12:26 PM

              https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/8147 << there is even a bug

              A 1 Reply Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 1:02 PM Reply Quote 1
              • A
                Alan Kilborn @ArkadiuszMichalski
                last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 1:02 PM

                @ArkadiuszMichalski said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                there is even a bug

                No bug. A feature request, yes.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • M
                  Maxitrol - Mat
                  last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 1:51 PM

                  @Ekopalypse said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                  Theoretically yes, the problem is that there is no public API for the tab container, so it is not that simple.
                  The simulation of what npp internal does is crucial here, because otherwise npp has a different view on how the buffer list is sorted.

                  Thank you very much for great answers to all of you! Feature request doesn’t help because I requested it years ago. The author is just not interested to add this - too bad because for him is probably 10 min task and would be extremely useful. I found two editors that does this but are otherwise not good to use.

                  I guess there is nothing we can do.

                  p.s. Who put sort tabs as manual option in menu where you have to click 4 times before tabs get sorted - crazy! LOL

                  Thanks again!

                  A M 2 Replies Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 2:01 PM Reply Quote 0
                  • A
                    Alan Kilborn @Maxitrol - Mat
                    last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 2:01 PM

                    @Maxitrol-Mat said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                    Feature request doesn’t help because I requested it years ago. The author is just not interested to add this

                    Here’s your true answer.
                    It’s the author’s product that he lets you use for no cost.
                    As such, he can make such decisions.
                    Be glad for the features that do exist.

                    is probably 10 min task

                    If the author happened to see a comment like that (he won’t BTW), it would totally seal the coffin from such a feature ever happening.
                    How long would it take YOU to add this feature?
                    And while you investigate that, just do it and contribute your change. :-)
                    I can hear the response: “I’m not a programmer”.
                    Well, if that’s the case, then how do you know it takes 10 minutes??

                    Who put sort tabs as manual option in menu where you have to click 4 times before tabs get sorted - crazy

                    Apparently it is something so few people want to do, buried as a subfunction seems an appropriate place.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                    • M
                      Michael Vincent @Maxitrol - Mat
                      last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 2:12 PM

                      @Maxitrol-Mat said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                      p.s. Who put sort tabs as manual option in menu where you have to click 4 times before tabs get sorted - crazy! LOL

                      How about just using the shortcut:

                      Alt+W, W, T

                      That is, press and hold the Alt key while then pressing in succession (while still holding the Alt key through all key presses) W, W, T

                      Cheers.

                      A A 2 Replies Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 3:25 PM Reply Quote 3
                      • A
                        Alan Kilborn @Michael Vincent
                        last edited by Alan Kilborn Dec 7, 2020, 3:26 PM Dec 7, 2020, 3:25 PM

                        @Michael-Vincent said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                        …press and hold the Alt key while then pressing in succession (while still holding the Alt key through all key presses) W, W, T

                        I might be tempted to buy-a-vowel and put an O (the letter “Oh”, not a zero) at the end of that sequence. It closes the extra window that has appeared (from the first W press).

                        M 1 Reply Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 3:34 PM Reply Quote 0
                        • M
                          Michael Vincent @Alan Kilborn
                          last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 3:34 PM

                          @Alan-Kilborn said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                          It closes the extra window that has appeared

                          Indeed it does! I wonder can that be setup as a macro so just need one keypress by shortcutting the Macro? That’s about as close as the OP can get to a plugin that does this automatically - one “keystroke”.

                          Cheers.

                          PeterJonesP 1 Reply Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 3:45 PM Reply Quote 0
                          • PeterJonesP
                            PeterJones @Michael Vincent
                            last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 3:45 PM

                            @Alan-Kilborn ,

                            (from the first W press).

                            Nitpick: the window opens on the second W. ;-)

                            @Michael-Vincent

                            I wonder can that be setup as a macro

                            You cannot record it with the macros.
                            Using type=2 wParam="11001", you can open the Windows dialog with a macro.
                            Hmm, english.xml shows Sort tabs button as 7004… but running 7004 alone as the wParam doesn’t sort the tabs, and if you try a 7004 after the 11001, the 7004 (and anything subsequent) doesn’t try to run until after the Windows dialog is closed.

                            However, knowing that the “Sort tabs” button ID for that dialog is 7004 (and OK is 2), @Ekopalypse could probably figure out the necessary PythonScript to launch the dialog, push “sort tabs”, and push “ok”.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • A
                              astrosofista @Michael Vincent
                              last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 4:10 PM

                              @Michael-Vincent, All:

                              Beware that those shortcuts are language-dependant, for example, Alt-W won’t work in my configuration, instead I need to press Alt-V to open that window.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • E
                                Ekopalypse
                                last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 4:42 PM

                                @PeterJones

                                that, of course, could be a solution but to be honest,
                                it would drive me nuts to see this blinking window all the time.

                                @Maxitrol-Mat
                                are you interested in such a solution?

                                PeterJonesP 1 Reply Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 4:49 PM Reply Quote 1
                                • PeterJonesP
                                  PeterJones @Ekopalypse
                                  last edited by PeterJones Dec 7, 2020, 4:49 PM Dec 7, 2020, 4:49 PM

                                  @Ekopalypse said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                                  it would drive me nuts to see this blinking window all the time.

                                  Me too. But would it really need to be “all the time”? The only time you would need to re-sort tabs would be when a new tab is added (if you close/remove a tab, the rest are still sorted properly), so wouldn’t you just hook onto the file-opened notification (which I believe triggers for both opening an existing file and for creating a new file tab)?

                                  But yes, no need to do further work if @Maxitrol-Mat isn’t willing to use PythonScript for the solution. ;-)

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                  • D
                                    dinkumoil @Maxitrol - Mat
                                    last edited by dinkumoil Dec 12, 2020, 4:27 PM Dec 7, 2020, 6:32 PM

                                    @Maxitrol-Mat and all

                                    Instead of using the built-in dialog, tab sorting can be done very easily using the Move Tab Forward / Backward commands from the View -> Tab menu.

                                    In the following I provide a solution in NppExec plugin script language. It uses a slightly optimized version of the Bubble Sort algorithm and sorts the tabs case-insensitive per view. The active tabs of the views are restored after sorting.

                                    ::SortTabs
                                    npp_console keep
                                    
                                    // Retrieve values of some constants
                                    set local $(PrimaryViewId) ~ MAIN_VIEW
                                    set local $(SecondViewId) ~ SUB_VIEW
                                    set local $(PrimaryView) ~ PRIMARY_VIEW
                                    set local $(SecondView) ~ SECOND_VIEW
                                    
                                    // Get id of active buffer's view
                                    npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETCURRENTVIEW
                                    set local $(CurViewId) = $(MSG_RESULT)
                                    
                                    // Init variables for view switching
                                    if $(CurViewId) == $(PrimaryViewId) then
                                      set local $(ActiveView) = $(PrimaryView)
                                      set local $(ActiveViewId) = $(PrimaryViewId)
                                      set local $(InactiveView) = $(SecondView)
                                      set local $(InactiveViewId) = $(SecondViewId)
                                    else if $(CurViewId) == $(SecondViewId) then
                                      set local $(ActiveView) = $(SecondView)
                                      set local $(ActiveViewId) = $(SecondViewId)
                                      set local $(InactiveView) = $(PrimaryView)
                                      set local $(InactiveViewId) = $(PrimaryViewId)
                                    else
                                      exit
                                    endif
                                    
                                    // Remember buffer id of active tab in active view
                                    npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETCURRENTDOCINDEX 0 $(ActiveViewId)
                                    npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETBUFFERIDFROMPOS $(MSG_RESULT) $(ActiveViewId)
                                    set local $(ActiveViewCurBufferId) = $(MSG_RESULT)
                                    
                                    // Remember buffer id of active tab in inactive view if this view is visible
                                    npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETCURRENTDOCINDEX 0 $(InactiveViewId)
                                    
                                    if $(MSG_RESULT) == -1 then
                                      set local $(ProcessInactiveView) = 0
                                    else
                                      npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETBUFFERIDFROMPOS $(MSG_RESULT) $(InactiveViewId)
                                      set local $(InactiveViewCurBufferId) = $(MSG_RESULT)
                                      set local $(ProcessInactiveView) = 1
                                    endif
                                    
                                    // Start tab sorting in active view
                                    set local $(CurView) = $(ActiveView)
                                    
                                    :IterateAllViews
                                      // Retrieve number of open tabs in current view
                                      npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETNBOPENFILES 0 $(CurView)
                                      set local $(MaxTabIdx) ~ $(MSG_RESULT) - 1
                                      set local $(MinTabIdx) = 0
                                    
                                      // Sort tabs using optimized version of Bubble Sort
                                      // and "Move Tab xxx" commands from menu "View -> Tab"
                                      :DoLoopStart
                                        set local $(Swapped) = 0
                                        set local $(CurTabIdx) = $(MaxTabIdx)
                                    
                                        npp_sendmsg NPPM_ACTIVATEDOC $(CurViewId) $(CurTabIdx)
                                        set local $(LeftFileName) ~ strupper $(FILE_NAME)
                                    
                                        :ForLoopStart
                                          if $(CurTabIdx) <= $(MinTabIdx) goto :ForLoopEnd
                                    
                                          set local $(RightFileName) = $(LeftFileName)
                                          set local $(NextTabIdx) ~ $(CurTabIdx) - 1
                                    
                                          npp_sendmsg NPPM_ACTIVATEDOC $(CurViewId) $(NextTabIdx)
                                          set local $(LeftFileName) ~ strupper $(FILE_NAME)
                                    
                                          if "$(LeftFileName)" > "$(RightFileName)" then
                                            npp_sendmsg WM_COMMAND IDM_VIEW_TAB_MOVEFORWARD
                                            set local $(LeftFileName) = $(RightFileName)
                                            set local $(Swapped) = 1
                                          endif
                                    
                                          set local $(CurTabIdx) ~ $(CurTabIdx) - 1
                                        goto :ForLoopStart
                                    
                                        :ForLoopEnd
                                        set local $(MinTabIdx) ~ $(MinTabIdx) + 1
                                      if $(Swapped) == 1 goto :DoLoopStart
                                    
                                    // As long as the inactive view is visible ...
                                    if $(ProcessInactiveView) == 1 then
                                      // ... and we didn't process all views ...
                                      if $(CurView) != $(InactiveView) then
                                        // ... advance to next view and repeat tab sorting
                                        set local $(CurView) = $(InactiveView)
                                        set local $(CurViewId) = $(InactiveViewId)
                                        goto :IterateAllViews
                                      endif
                                    endif
                                    
                                    // If inactive view is visible restore its active tab
                                    if $(ProcessInactiveView) == 1 then
                                      npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETPOSFROMBUFFERID $(InactiveViewCurBufferId) $(InactiveViewId)
                                      set local $(InactiveViewActiveTabIdx) ~ $(MSG_RESULT) & 0x3FFFFFFF
                                      npp_sendmsg NPPM_ACTIVATEDOC $(InactiveViewId) $(InactiveViewActiveTabIdx)
                                    endif
                                    
                                    // Restore active tab of active view
                                    npp_sendmsg NPPM_GETPOSFROMBUFFERID $(ActiveViewCurBufferId) $(ActiveViewId)
                                    set local $(ActiveViewActiveTabIdx) ~ $(MSG_RESULT) & 0x3FFFFFFF
                                    npp_sendmsg NPPM_ACTIVATEDOC $(ActiveViewId) $(ActiveViewActiveTabIdx)
                                    

                                    I have to admit that it produces lots of screen flickering (depending on the number of open tabs), but as tab sorting normally is not a frequently executed task it should be OK.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                                    • M
                                      Maxitrol - Mat
                                      last edited by Dec 7, 2020, 7:53 PM

                                      @dinkumoil said in Auto sort tabs (real-time):

                                      f screen flickering (depending on the number of open tabs), but as tab sorting normally is not a frequently executed task it should be

                                      I don’t mind flickering if it will auto-sort each time I add a new file.

                                      If the author happened to see a comment like that (he won’t BTW), it would totally seal the coffin from such a feature ever happening.

                                      That would make such an author an idiot. Have you done any business, ever?

                                      D 1 Reply Last reply Dec 7, 2020, 7:59 PM Reply Quote -3
                                      • D
                                        dinkumoil @Maxitrol - Mat
                                        last edited by dinkumoil Dec 7, 2020, 8:03 PM Dec 7, 2020, 7:59 PM

                                        @Maxitrol-Mat

                                        Have you done any business, ever?

                                        Notepad++ is not a business, it’s a completely free product. Thus, business rules don’t fit for Npp project.

                                        I don’t mind flickering if it will auto-sort each time I add a new file.

                                        My script will not auto-sort. The script has to be assigned to a keyboard shortcut. Another way would be to install the NppEventExec plugin as well. This plugin is intended to work together with NppExec and can call NppExec scripts when an event is fired.

                                        That would make such an author an idiot.

                                        Because you were insulting, go figure out the solution which is perfect for you by yourself.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                                        • A
                                          Alan Kilborn
                                          last edited by Dec 20, 2020, 12:01 PM

                                          Same poster, same topic, DIFFERENT thread.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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