Vector35 / Vector35/binaryninja-api

Changing variable name vs type can be confusing

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#3,273 8 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Component: UI Effort: Medium Impact: Medium UI: Dialogs
Dominant language
C++
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Modal dialogs for change type and change name are not a great solution because once the dialog is up the user looses context of what they triggered the dialog on. Additionally users frequently hit "N" to rename instead of "Y" which allows them to set the type AND name.

Suggestion on how to fix:

  1. Implement a non-modal edit box which appears below the variable/function being renamed/re-typed. This will make it impossible for the user to loose the context of the item they're changing.
  2. Combine the rename and retype features into a single solution. 'N' and 'Y' would both show the name and type. 'N' would have the name selected. 'Y' would have the type selected. But both name and type could be changed.
  3. The thing being changed should be very obvious.

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points. Begin by locating the existing modal change-type and change-name UI, then assess the requested inline combined editor; done means the edited variable or function remains obvious and both its name and type can be changed from either shortcut.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
design
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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