It's all integrated now in the IDE of B4A 6.30. Thank you!
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I use B4A since many years now and I am higly satified with the product, the support and the community.
The IDE 5.80 is feature rich and has many useful functions, but is missing 3 essential Shortcuts.
For sake of my productivity I'm used to do all my PC work the last 20 years almost only by keyboard because the timeloss by using the mouse as an input device is enormously high.
Up until a few weeks ago I did my coding and tests with the IDE 4.30 and then compiled the App with IDE 5.80 just before rollout.
For my actual new project I needed to use IDE 5.80 and was really, really trying hard to learn to work without Bookmarks [Ctl]+[m], GotoLine [Ctl]+[g] and ChangeModule [Ctl]+[PgDn].
But it is a real pain to use the IDE 5.80 if you have many modules with a few thousand lines.
I know the [Ctl]+[f], [Ctl]+[e], [F3], [F7] navigations and tried to cope with them but it is not a practical replacement for the above mentioned "blue" shortcuts.
I'm not complaining because I'm too lazy to learn new things - the lack of those missing shortcuts is really hurting the productivity.
Example a) Navigate with GotToLine [Ctl]+[g]
If I get an error report from the user with the stacktrace info "~e: at ... main.java:40337" I usually look into the file "main.java" with Notepad++
Then I goto the mentioned errorline via [Ctl]+[g] 40337, take the debugLineNum 24832 with [Ctl]+[c], goto IDE 4.30 via [Alt]+[Tab], [Ctl]+[g], [Ctl]+[v], [Enter] and I'm there. All in less than 5 seconds.
In IDE 5.80 this is a nightmare, because I can't go to the sourcecode line directly. I need to use [Ctl]+[f] to search for the string "If Starter.kvsl.ContainsKey(". The result gives me more than 50 lines containing that string, because it's a very common one. Now I have to guess, what line is the best to click on, because there are no line numbers shown. It takes minutes to reach the line in large projects.
A simple [Ctl]+[g] would help to save hours over a workweek.
Example b) Navigate via Bookmarks [Ctl]+[2]
Often there are related functions/ variables seperated a few thousand lines apart, even with careful structured codeblocks. To navigate through those related parts in IDE 4.30 I needed only to hit [Ctl][2] and few times and jumped over the entire workfield in seconds to the desired target.
Now I have to apply my own marks like '#wtd and search for it via [ctl]+[f] then use the mouse to point and click for the right line. Again, the lack of the bookmark shortcut is a huge timeconsumer.
If you work on large nontrivial projects these timelosses are relevant for the output.
Example c) Navigate between Modules [Ctl]+[PgDn]
To select a module via [Ctl]+[e] is easy, since I can select the offered findings via arrowKeys.
But If I want to jump between e.g. main and starter I have to do the [Ctl]+[e] and arrowKey actions over and over. IDE 4.30 gave me that via the very faster [Ctl]+[PgDn].
If you are in a "creative flow" the [Ctl]+[PgDn] is really intuitive, the [Ctl]+[e] need a conscious action.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not whiny or too lazy to learn. I think it would help alot those hundredthousands of developers that are used to work mostly over keyboard.
I love to work with B4X alot, but I think this wonderful product deserves a better navigation.
-------------------------Old text:
I use B4A since many years now and I am higly satified with the product, the support and the community.
The IDE 5.80 is feature rich and has many useful functions, but is missing 3 essential Shortcuts.
For sake of my productivity I'm used to do all my PC work the last 20 years almost only by keyboard because the timeloss by using the mouse as an input device is enormously high.
Up until a few weeks ago I did my coding and tests with the IDE 4.30 and then compiled the App with IDE 5.80 just before rollout.
For my actual new project I needed to use IDE 5.80 and was really, really trying hard to learn to work without Bookmarks [Ctl]+[m], GotoLine [Ctl]+[g] and ChangeModule [Ctl]+[PgDn].
But it is a real pain to use the IDE 5.80 if you have many modules with a few thousand lines.
I know the [Ctl]+[f], [Ctl]+[e], [F3], [F7] navigations and tried to cope with them but it is not a practical replacement for the above mentioned "blue" shortcuts.
I'm not complaining because I'm too lazy to learn new things - the lack of those missing shortcuts is really hurting the productivity.
Example a) Navigate with GotToLine [Ctl]+[g]
If I get an error report from the user with the stacktrace info "~e: at ... main.java:40337" I usually look into the file "main.java" with Notepad++
Then I goto the mentioned errorline via [Ctl]+[g] 40337, take the debugLineNum 24832 with [Ctl]+[c], goto IDE 4.30 via [Alt]+[Tab], [Ctl]+[g], [Ctl]+[v], [Enter] and I'm there. All in less than 5 seconds.
In IDE 5.80 this is a nightmare, because I can't go to the sourcecode line directly. I need to use [Ctl]+[f] to search for the string "If Starter.kvsl.ContainsKey(". The result gives me more than 50 lines containing that string, because it's a very common one. Now I have to guess, what line is the best to click on, because there are no line numbers shown. It takes minutes to reach the line in large projects.
A simple [Ctl]+[g] would help to save hours over a workweek.
Example b) Navigate via Bookmarks [Ctl]+[2]
Often there are related functions/ variables seperated a few thousand lines apart, even with careful structured codeblocks. To navigate through those related parts in IDE 4.30 I needed only to hit [Ctl][2] and few times and jumped over the entire workfield in seconds to the desired target.
Now I have to apply my own marks like '#wtd and search for it via [ctl]+[f] then use the mouse to point and click for the right line. Again, the lack of the bookmark shortcut is a huge timeconsumer.
If you work on large nontrivial projects these timelosses are relevant for the output.
Example c) Navigate between Modules [Ctl]+[PgDn]
To select a module via [Ctl]+[e] is easy, since I can select the offered findings via arrowKeys.
But If I want to jump between e.g. main and starter I have to do the [Ctl]+[e] and arrowKey actions over and over. IDE 4.30 gave me that via the very faster [Ctl]+[PgDn].
If you are in a "creative flow" the [Ctl]+[PgDn] is really intuitive, the [Ctl]+[e] need a conscious action.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not whiny or too lazy to learn. I think it would help alot those hundredthousands of developers that are used to work mostly over keyboard.
I love to work with B4X alot, but I think this wonderful product deserves a better navigation.
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It is present in most IDEs available for programming.
