Search++: A work in progress

[astewart77]

Or do you specifically want the search process to bookmark lines, but otherwise think of bookmarks and marked text as independent things?

I make use of bookmarks because they are saved in sessions. Marks and changed line indicators are not. I mark some things with bookmarks, turn mark with bookmarks off, clear marks, do stuff … mark some other things with bookmarks, save session. Then I can use bookmarks later to review the areas I have been looking at.

[guy038]

Hello, @coises, @peterjones, @astewart77 and All,

Of course, regarding my bookmarks’s use, I also, very often use them, as described by @peterjones, to easily reach specific locations, in current file which, indeed, are kept from current session to the next one, as long as you keep this current file opened in the current session and that you close and restart Notepad++, in order to save these bookmarked lines in session.xml file !

In addition, when I marked all the occurrences of a specific search, it’s quite easy to navigate between them, using the F2 and Shift + F2 shortcut to reach the next / previous bookmarked line ! Once again, you’ll need to close and restart N++ => All the bookmarks of the previous search are kept but, of course, the RED Mark style of each occurrence has now disappeared !

BR

guy038

[Coises]

@peterjones, @astewart77, @guy038 and anyone else who cares to comment,

I’m working on an experimental release with a customizable way to handle bookmarks when marking, but I won’t have it ready tonight. In the meantime, another question:

The Mark command cannot mark null matches (regular expressions when they match zero characters, at a particular position).¹ When Bookmark lines when marking text is checked, should lines in which null matches occur still be bookmarked, even though they can’t be marked?

Or is it more important that marks and bookmarks “match”?

Or is this something that needs to be an option?

---

¹ There is no way to mark a position, as opposed to a character, in Scintilla. Show gets around that (with limitations) for null matches by using a second indicator which marks the character following the position using a Scintilla indicator with INDIC_POINT style. I think it would be too problematic to try to make marked text work with a similar second indicator, since marked text is used in other ways than just displaying.

[astewart77]

should lines in which null matches occur still be bookmarked, even though they can’t be marked?

I would say a weak Yes. I probably made a mistake with a null match expression, and a bookmark next to an unmarked line is the flag for me to notice that useless result. The Found xxx matches (zz marked, yy null) would have me wondering where those yy lines are, if not for the bookmark.

[guy038]

Hi, @coises, @peterjones, @astewart77 and All,

As suggested by @astewart77, I also support the idea of adding a bookmark when searching for lines that match regular expressions of form :

• ^
• $
• ^$
• .[0}

or similar ones !

BR

guy038

[Coises]

Search++ version 0.7.0.1 is a test of what is hopefully improved bookmark handling. Help and changelog have not been updated.

@guy038, @peterjones, @astewart77 and anyone else interested, please let me know if this lets you configure bookmark handling to your liking, and anything you would like to be different.

The Bookmark lines when marking text (Shift: configure) item on the Tools menu can be clicked to toggle whether marking adds bookmarks, just like before. Shift-clicking (or Ctrl+Shift+B) opens this dialog (defaults shown selected):

The Bookmark lines when marking text option at the bottom right is identical to the menu setting; it’s just in this dialog so you don’t have to open the menu a second time to see or change it. The other options in this dialog are only relevant when this box is checked; unchecking it, or the equivalent menu setting, keeps Search++ from doing anything with bookmarks, with one exception: the new Synchronize bookmarks to marked text command.

The first pair of radio buttons choose whether you want marking to put a bookmark on every marked line or only on the first line of a match (or of a selection, or of each part of a multiple selection, when you mark selections).

When a Mark command removes existing marks from text, also remove bookmarks applies in two contexts, and only when Bookmark lines when marking text is in effect:

• When Settings | Always unmark all text before Mark command is checked, each Mark command “starts over,” removing any existing marks before it begins marking new matches. If this box is checked (the default), bookmarks are also cleared.

• Regardless of the Always unmark… setting, Mark in Marked Text always removes existing marks before it begins marking new text (otherwise it could not do anything, since all the new marks would be within existing marks). If this box is checked (the default), bookmarks are also cleared.

The three choices under Mark tools apply to most commands on the Tools menu (exceptions noted below):

• Do not add or remove bookmarks means Tools menu commands that mark or unmark text don’t do anything with bookmarks, even if Bookmark lines when marking text is checked.

• Add bookmarks but do not remove them means just what it says: tools commands that mark text also add bookmarks (in accordance with the Bookmark every line or Bookmark only the first policy set in the top section of the dialog), but tools commands never remove them: you decide when to remove bookmarks.

• Keep bookmarks synchronized with marked text means tools commands that mark or unmark text maintain bookmarks so that they are consistent with marked text in accordance with the Bookmark every line or Bookmark only the first policy set in the top section of the dialog.

Special cases:

• Invert marked text does not add new markers if Add bookmarks but do not remove them is in effect (the results would be useless). If Keep bookmarks synchronized with marked text is in effect, the policy in the top section is followed.

• When Bookmark lines when marking text is in effect, the dialog raised in response to Remove marks from multiple documents… contains a checkbox that determines whether or not bookmarks are cleared. The Mark tools setting on the Configure bookmarks dialog is ignored. When Bookmark lines when marking text is not in effect, the dialog does not offer the option to clear bookmarks.

• The new Synchronize bookmarks to marked text command applies the policy selected for Bookmark every line containing marked text or Bookmark only the first line of each match or selection regardless of any other settings, including Bookmark lines when marking text. Since the locations of individual matches or selections before they were marked is unknown, this command treats each contiguous span of marked text as a single match/selection if Bookmark only the first line of each match or selection is in effect.

Also in this test release:

• Some changes to make sure tools commands that would be disabled on the menu don’t do anything when run from a keyboard combination.

• Leave bookmarks alone when converting selection to marks (Settings | Convert selections to marked text when beginning a default stepwise search) and when removing marks on closing the non-docking dialog (Settings | Unmark all text when closing the search dialog), regardless of any settings.

• Make right-click equivalent to Shift+click in menus.

[guy038]

Hi, @coises,

Thanks for this test version, regarding bookmark handling !

However, it’s now a quarter past midnight, in France. So, see you tomorrow !

BR

guy038

[astewart77]

It works well for me. There are so many permutations, it takes a couple of readings. I look forward to your excellent updated help file.

The three choices under Mark tools apply to most commands on the Tools menu

I suggest that the “Mark tools” option group title be “Tools menu” to be clear that they are for menu commands and not Mark commands, but that may be covered in the help file. Otherwise, it looks like it contradicts the Mark option just above it.

[Coises]

@astewart77 said:

It works well for me. There are so many permutations, it takes a couple of readings. I look forward to your excellent updated help file.

Part of the point of this test version is to figure out if I have too many options, or missing options, or if they can be better organized. There are more details and special cases than I’d like. At the moment this might represent more what could be done than what should be done.

I suggest that the “Mark tools” option group title be “Tools menu” to be clear that they are for menu commands and not Mark commands, but that may be covered in the help file. Otherwise, it looks like it contradicts the Mark option just above it.

That’s a good point. Somehow it should be clear that this section applies to commands from the Tools menu (and, of course, to their equivalent keyboard shortcuts), but not to the Mark command itself. And I wonder if it is clear that it doesn’t apply when Bookmark lines when marking text isn’t checked. Making this obvious at first glance is not going so well. (I know most people are never going to read the help.)

Would the top section be better labeled “Bookmark policy,” or is that just more confusing? Or am I silly to even have the top section, and whenever bookmarks are enabled it should just always be bookmark every line (like Notepad++ native Mark)?

I’m similarly unsure if Add bookmarks but do not remove them is pointless. Maybe no one would ever want that.

Another question is whether all this belongs in yet another box in the Settings dialog rather than in its own “Configure bookmarks” dialog. Settings is getting big, but if these are “set once and leave them alone” choices, that’s probably where they belong. (I don’t mean the Bookmark lines when marking text menu option; that stays on the menu.)

[astewart77]

@Coises said:

Part of the point of this test version is to figure out if I have too many options

I can see a use for all of the options you have now.

I’m similarly unsure if Add bookmarks but do not remove them is pointless. Maybe no one would ever want that.

That’s the one option I selected right away. I like to accumulate bookmarks over time.