bodil / bodil/vscode-file-browser

requires too many keystrokes for the standard use-case

Open
#19 2 comments 3 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
93
Forks
27
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Hi,

I think the use-case number one for most people is to quickly switch between different exisiting files
It's nice to be able to create new files and folders, but I think most people use existing files most of the time

Let's say I'm in a folder with those files
```
foobar1
foobar2
foobaz1
foobaz2
```

What I'd expect, to speed up my workflow, would be that:
- if I type `bar`, only the files/folders containing that string anywhere in their name are shown. The others disappear from the view as I type to narrow down my (fuzzy) search
- if I press `TAB`, whatever file/folder which is selected right now is selected. I open it if it's a file, or I enter it if it's a folder
- if I type the name of something which does not exist, then I press `CTRL A` to open the extra menu allowing me to create a file OR a folder call like that
- if I press `CTRL A` while an item is selected, I get the extra menu allowing me to rename/delete that file or folder, depending on what is selected

Don't you think this would be a more fluid workflow?

Right now, if I want to quickly jump to another existing file, I have to make sure I type **the beginning of the filename**, cause otherwise pressing `TAB` is not going to autocomplete and open the first match.

In my example, I cannot just type `z2` then `TAB` and have the `foobaz2` file opened.
Instead, if I type `z2` I have the option to create a file called `z2` first (Again, I don't think it's the use-case number one to constantly create new files/folders). I then have to go down once, to select my file, and then press ENTER.

The list is reorganised, and the files containing `z2` are at the top of the list, but the others are still there, which I find very confusing. Why not hiding them, as they are no match for `z2`?

would you consider changing the workflow, or to introduce new options to make "fast switching" faster, as well as "hide items that don't match" possible?

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

No file or test paths are provided. Start by tracing the existing file-browser handling for filtering, TAB, ENTER, and CTRL+A, then compare it with the requested workflow; done means matching items are hidden while typing and the requested open, create, rename, and delete actions work consistently.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
developer-experience, tooling
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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