Auto wrap opinions wanted

[AngelsHolocaust 0]

Hi again *!

 

this is for everyone that uses the auto wrapping feature of NDN:

 

the current NDN starts to wrap a line when it is longer than the right margin

(in auto wrap mode), and then checks how many characters it needs to take to the next/new line

 

at the moment, following characters are used (not all listed): space , . : ; ? (etc...)

 

this means, that sentences like (\ is the line wrap)

is this the end?

can become

is this the end\?

 

now, this is not nice of course, it should do "\end?"

 

i have implemented a line into the editor defaults where you can select the characters that you want to use for this wrapping, BUT, i am wondering if we can always use only SPACE for wrapping

 

example: is this the\end?

 

does anyone know a good reason/example not to wrap until a space?

i would like to use the most simple solution to this

 

Stefan / AH

[dandv 0]

OK, I work in software localization and we also do a lot of DTP.

 

As a general rule, punctuation is always stuck to the word before it and you only wrap on spaces, except on words longer than the line length, which are nor broken.

 

As a more official opinion, I would recommend that NDN conforms to the wrapping standards of today. One very good standard is the W3C HTML 4.0 specification, which states:

 

"In Western scripts, for example, text should only be wrapped at white space."

http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/text.html#h-9.3.5

 

I have also attached a sample HTML (home.arcor.de/dandv/wrap.html) that lets you test wrapping.

Opera 8.51: wraps according to the HTML 4.0 specification

IE6.0: can wrap before the following characters: ( [ { -

Firefox 1.5.0.1: no wrapping (!??)

 

Finally, I would like NDN to "virtually wrap", that is, not insert actual CR/LFs when wrapping. It should only display the text as wrapped, and keep the CR/LFs that it found in the file.

wrap.html

[dandv 0]

On a related note, even if NDN wraps at spaces only, I think Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right should stop at any punctuation. Consider the example below (the underscore represents the cursor):

sub _my_subroutine_with_arguments($) {
    ...
    return;
}

 

If I press Ctrl+Shift+Right_Arrow, I expect only the word "my_subroutine_with_arguments" to be selected, but NDN will select until "return".

 

What do others think?

[AngelsHolocaust 0]

hi again!!

 

ok, so, wrap on space only should do fine? that's great

 

i will do that then :)

 

Stefan / AH

[haman 0]

HI all,

 

there is similar Wish topic about this: http://forums.muxe.com/index.php?showtopic=550 .

 

dandv: about Shift+Ctrl+left/rightArrow (and Ctrl+left/rightArrow), it should stop after serie consisting only of {[a-z],[A-Z],[0-9],_} characters. maybe user could define which he wants (cfg or option)

 

AH: I don't use auto wrap for editing, but dandv and Basil/2 (and maybe others) are talking about keeping CR/LFs untouched. I suggest to make this as an option (milions of options ;) :

AutoReformat On/OFF in Editor/Options.

 

AutoReformat ON - as now. after Save, CR/LFs on all lines are saved.

 

AutoReformat OFF should keep the CR/LFs from file, but the user should be able to Add or Delete CR/LFs somehow:

 

to Add CR/LF - Shift+Enter (does this combination something else than simple Enter?)

to Remove CR/LF - Shift+Backspace on the start of line (does this combination something else than simple Backspace?)

 

and the CR/LFs should be somehow highlighted/marked to differ them from wrapped virtual CR/LFs.

 

--

and i vote for wrapping only on space. if user needs different approach, he should consider serious text editor.

 

/haman

[AngelsHolocaust 0]

hi again haman!

 

wrapping on space only is now done.

 

the problem with the virtual wrapping is the conversion between display and actual editing code

it could ruin a lot of existing editor code

but, maybe it's not very hard to do, i will know more when i try to do it someday

 

i will keep it in mind, but this is not happening soon

(esp. as there are so many other bugs and glitches open to do)

 

i have to be in the right mood, but in theory it could already happen tomorrow :P

 

ctrl-left/right+shift: i will add it to the todo list

 

Stefan / AH

[dandv 0]

If NDN had virtual wrapping and 2Gb line length, it will be the best text editor on the planet, period!