DONE: Search Dialog Box Non Modal

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yereverluvinuncleber
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Joined: 20 Apr 2018 09:49

DONE: Search Dialog Box Non Modal

Post by yereverluvinuncleber »

In RJTexEd we have two search forms, the bottom of the screen and a modal search box. This request is referring to the modal search box.

The current Search Dialog Box when defined as a pop-up window is a Modal form and it has to be closed before we can access the main form and touch our code.

I am equally used to the VB6 IDE that has a non-modal pop-up search box, in all manners it is very similar to that displayed in RJTextEd except that it is non-modal. This makes it very usable, you can fire up a search or a replace, select search options but still be able to interact with the main body of your code.

If the developer has made any recent search/replace changes, you can just stop and make a minor change elsewhere, do some manual editing, then return to the search/replace without any interruption in workflow or context. This process seems to work more freely and easily and for me, it allows me to sneak into the code and fix something quickly then return to what I was doing with the search dialog still there, ready to go.

I also find it useful to do a quick scroll up/down of the code just before initiating a search and replace operation, gives me confidence to be able to look at my code whilst doing such an operation. If you can get hold of a copy of VB6 or another language's IDE with a non-modal search dialog then it is worth experimenting to see the benefits.

I think RJTextEd would benefit from similarly operating non-modal search dialogs as per those in the VB6 IDE.
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pjj
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Location: Kraków, Poland

Re: RJTe REQUEST: Search Dialog Box Non Modal

Post by pjj »

The same behaviour is present in MS Word and I find it very useful and valuable, since when looking for foo I stumble upon bar (in the text) I am able to correct it asap, without closing the modal and then opening it again. So +1, though I understand it may be not an easy task to implement this feature.
Alium tibi quaere fratrem; hic, quem tuum putas, meus est. Titus Flāvius Caesar Vespasiānus Augustus
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yereverluvinuncleber
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Re: RJTe REQUEST: Search Dialog Box Non Modal

Post by yereverluvinuncleber »

I still greatly desire this option.

I use this facility all the time in the old, old, old VB6 Visual Studio IDE of 1998-vintage. I can fire up a non modal search box and copy paste anything into the search and replace boxes directly from my accessible code. I'm not locked out of my code during the search operation. I can even make manual changes to the code and dive back into the search box that I have left open - and continue searching.

Do try it yourself in VB6 and you will see how useful the non-modal search box is.

I can do a demo if required.
"Noli pati a scelestis opprimi"... or is it "non lacessit illegitimae te carborundum"?

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Rickard Johansson
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Re: RJTe REQUEST: Search Dialog Box Non Modal

Post by Rickard Johansson »

Added an option to open the search dialog as a non-modal window, in the next release.

I'm still testing and making minor visual changes. But it seems to work fine :)
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yereverluvinuncleber
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Joined: 20 Apr 2018 09:49

Re: DONE: Search Dialog Box Non Modal

Post by yereverluvinuncleber »

That is superb!
"Noli pati a scelestis opprimi"... or is it "non lacessit illegitimae te carborundum"?

You can find me on Deviantart https://www.deviantart.com/yereverluvinuncleber/gallery/
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