Selection after Isolate

[Michael Bulgrien]

Current functionality:

If I right-click on a line and choose Isolate from the context menu, Cirrus dynamically recompares the sides and puts the isolated line in a section that includes the null space opposite the isolated line on the other side:



This is okay... but when the user is isolating a line for the purpose of copying or merging it into another pane, it can result in users like me accidentally overlaying the other side instead of merging the values since I often forget to do the gutter click after the isolate, and end up having to undo and redo the whole thing.

I would like to propose that when a user isolates a line, have Cirrus programmatically "gutter select" that line on the side where the isolation was initiated:



This would allow the user interact with (copy) the isolated line without the additional step of having to gutter select. An auto gutter select also seems to be appropriate since the word "isolate" means to single out or to separate from a group. The gutter select just takes it one step further.

[Tim]

Thanks for the suggestion, Michael. We'll discuss it here. It would need to work with multi-line isolates as well.

[Michael Bulgrien]

It has been a while since I made this suggestion. I still think this would be a nice-to-have... even if only implemented as a "tweak". Was this discussed internally as planned? If so, was there a compelling reason not to implement this change?

[Aaron]

Thanks for the reminder. We've discussed this in office and were thinking of a new set of commands.

They would be a Copy Before or Copy After, which would do the isolate and then copy in one step, and you could put them above or below the aligned section.

How would these work for you?

[Michael Bulgrien]

Well, I doubt that I would like or use that solution. Part of the reason I "isolate" is to give me another chance to view the data when it is not aligned. If I select/specify line(s) to isolate, I simply want those isolated line(s) to remain in a selection when the operation is complete. This would allow me to keep my focus on the line(s) I've isolated and perform further activity on them if I so desire without the risk of accidentally doing something to a larger section as the result of the context of the isolate operation being lost.

[Aaron]

Thanks for the feedback. Our suggestion may be easier to implement, but we'll certainly look into both possibilities.