Request: option to change default opening tab in workspace

[markf_2748]

In a BC3 workspace, I like to arrange my tabs with most important on the left and tabs of decreasing interest/use towards the right. Therefore, whenever I load the workspace, I would like the leftmost tab to be selected by default.

Currently, the rightmost tab is opened by default and there does not seem to be a way to change this behavior.

Suggestions:

In Tools > Options > Tabs, provide a row with 3 radio buttons for Workspace Startup Tab: leftmost / rightmost / last used.

Alternatively, add "Default" to the RMB context menu for each tab as a means to set any tab to be the opening one.

Thanks.

[Michael Bulgrien]

I agree that the suggested enhancement would be useful, but I would like to carry it a step further... There are numerous times that I have wished that the left-most tab were activated when the current tab was closed. It would be nice if the same three options were available (leftmost/rightmost/topmost tab) as a configurable option for which tab to default to and open when the current in-use tab is closed.

[Erik]

Saved workspaces remember the order in which the tabs were last activated including which is currently active. Just activate the leftmost tab before saving your workspace.

[markf_2748]

Saved workspaces remember the order in which the tabs were last activated including which is currently active.

Thanks for the pointer.

I now see that to update the workspace tab memory feature for the current workspace without having to manually save the workspace every time, one can go to the edit box Session > Load Workspace > Manage Workspaces > On exit, save as: and then enter the name of the current workspace. With this setting, the last active tab becomes the opening active tab the next time this workspace is opened.

If the On exit, save as: edit box is left blank (as was mine), then the opening tab will be the same as the active tab when when the workspace was last saved manually.

So, happily the functionality I requested is all there . Admittedly, "help" is the last place I look for this kind of information, but in retrospect the basic information is actually there if you interpret "configuration" to include which tab is active at startup. It might help to be a little clearer about restoring both the open session tabs as well as the active (=selected) session tab. In fact, just adding the above quoted sentence to the workspace documentation should do the trick.

Thanks again.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Since my comments above seem to have been overlooked (or deemed unimportant), I'll alter my wish list item and start a new thread. I guess I should not have piggy-backed on this thread in the first place.

[markf_2748]

It would be nice if the same three options were available (leftmost/rightmost/topmost tab) as a configurable option for which tab to default to and open when the current in-use tab is closed.

I agree this might be a useful addition, wherein "topmost" tab would revert to the current behavior of remembering an arbitrary tab activation order (backtracking, last-in-next-out), while "leftmost" and "rightmost" would provide a simpler but sometimes desirable behavior whenever an active tab is closed.

I will note, however, that so far I do not find myself closing tabs in a workspace very often. For me, the most important behavior is which tab is active when the workspace is first opened, and that is covered by the current implementation. May be different for others of course.

[Michael Bulgrien]

I do not find myself closing tabs in a workspace very often

That is precisely why I later said that "I should not have piggy-backed on this thread in the first place." My comments regarding closing tabs were not in the context of a workspace...so I introduced confusion by including them in a thread about tab handling within a workspace.

After thinking on it a little longer, I re-worded my request this way.