Wish EASY to use bookmarks (and fast)

[JohnC]

It is VERY frustrating and a huge waste of productivity that I can't simply bookmark a line of code that I need to jump back, and then EASILY be able to jump back to it when needed.

There is greater then 80% chance that I need to jump between files, so the current B4A limit of only being able to jump between bookmarks on the same page is completely useless.

Yeah, I could use the recommendation of creating remark lines to act like bookmarks by typing something like 'b_1 to set a bookmark, but there are numerous problems with this method:

1. Just to create that type of bookmark takes FOUR keystrokes!
2. When I need to access a bookmark, I need to switch to the quick search tab, then click in the search textbox, then delete anything already present in the search textbox, then type 'b to get a list of bookmarks - that is about TEN clicks/keystrokes that I have to do EVERYTIME I want to jump to a bookmark! Talk about a waste of time.

B4X is suppose to be a RAPID development tool - how is the above method "rapid" in any sense of the word?

What would really help a lot is to display a list of all the bookmarks (and the name of the subs they are in to better describe each bookmark) so I can simply click in the list and have the code window jump to that bookmark. Or is that too easy?

I previously suggested adding a dedicated tab in the bottom right of the IDE, where the "Quick Search". "Logs", "Find all References" tabs are (or maybe on a second row), and have it list all the bookmarks in the project.

Having a dedicated tab would allow me to navigate to ANY bookmark in JUST TWO mouse clicks! (one to display the dedicated tab of the list of bookmarks, and the second click to jump to the desired bookmark)

Erel, please, please consider adding this concept, which should be VERY easy to implement.

 

[AnandGupta]

I for the one is accustom to using UltraEdit (paid ware) in which I develop all my apps in different languages (Xbase++, AutoHotkey, Harbour etc.)
I have the habit of using keystroke to do a job in UltraEdit, which are not same in B4A.

So to solve my problem of habit, I open B4A and also the required .b4a, bas etc. files in UltraEdit. I make changes in UltraEdit quickly and then switch to B4A to compile or check logs etc. This way I am able to develop fast. Bookmark list is one of the feature I use in UltraEdit.

This is not to say the solution for your requirement, but it helps me. Other members may be using similar methods.

Regards,

Anand

 

[JohnC]

But by using another editor you loose a lot of the other RAD features of the B4A editor like Intellisense, etc.

EVERY developer needs to jump around to different sections of a project during development. But the current methods to jump around in B4X actually slow down productivity because it takes so many keystrokes/clicks to do the jumping.

My suggestion requires only TWO CLICKS to jump anywhere in a project (and maybe even just ONE CLICK if the "bookmark list" tab is already being displayed on the right)

So, since every developer needs to jump around, why not have a FAST way to do it?

 

[Erel]

This is your fifth post about this request today. I understand that it is very important for you. However you need to be more patient...

 

[Erel]

You are also breaking the forum guidelines. This is not good.

See the point about making duplicate requests: https://www.b4x.com/android/forum/threads/forum-guidelines.55632/

 

[sorex]

I work with classes to seperate things a bit.

When working in the main code class (mostly game/ui related) I just put a bookmark at the top where the variables are (if the routine I'm working on even uses global ones),
a bookmark at the sub, and a bookmark where I place the call to the sub.

so that's only 3 bookmarks for the things I really need at that time. No need for more so it's quick accessible. (and so is alt-b to add/remove them)

you can also use that split screen feature or undocked documents if your screen resolution is big enough maybe that helps in your case as it might require less presses or clicks.

 

[JohnC]

That might work when you only need to jump around in the same document. However, I need to jump around between 2-4 files, so that wouldn't work so well.