I thought due to [this comment](https://github.com/geany/geany/pull/2695#issuecomment-748722240) the request for an option was dropped? I think all this started over not closing #2693 as a duplicate of #758 and not reading the discussion there.
Key points (duplicated across issues): 1) The goal of #758 and #2693 is to update the search text in the Find and Replace dialogs __whenever <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>f</kbd> is pressed, rather than only the first time the dialogs are shown__. This seems like a totally reasonable behaviour that most applications that have a Find feature do. 2) There was a misunderstanding in both issues where it was believed that the goal was to update the search text in the Find and Replace dialogs __whenever the selection was changed__ (which would indeed be weird), thus prompting for a request about needing an option to turn this feature off. 3) It was clarified that the intention is **1** and not **2** so __no option is needed__.
I assume this issue is a duplicate of #2695 because a PR is bound the branch on which it was created, and it [was suggested](https://github.com/geany/geany/pull/2695#issuecomment-748728322) to not use `master` branch for the PR (a good suggestion for future PRs but not really essential/required).
If the above summary is accurate, then all that's needed is a patch like this:
```diff diff --git a/src/search.c b/src/search.c index 82682ae33..f45d7b477 100644 --- a/src/search.c +++ b/src/search.c @@ -575,14 +575,16 @@ void search_show_find_dialog(void) } else { - /* only set selection if the dialog is not already visible */ - if (! gtk_widget_get_visible(find_dlg.dialog) && sel) + if (sel != NULL) + { + /* update the search text from current selection */ gtk_entry_set_text(GTK_ENTRY(find_dlg.entry), sel); + /* reset the entry widget's background colour */ + ui_set_search_entry_background(find_dlg.entry, TRUE); + } gtk_widget_grab_focus(find_dlg.entry); set_dialog_position(find_dlg.dialog, find_dlg.position); gtk_widget_show(find_dlg.dialog); - if (sel != NULL) /* when we have a selection, reset the entry widget's background colour */ - ui_set_search_entry_background(find_dlg.entry, TRUE); /* bring the dialog back in the foreground in case it is already open but the focus is away */ gtk_window_present(GTK_WINDOW(find_dlg.dialog)); } @@ -751,11 +753,13 @@ void search_show_replace_dialog(void) } else { - /* only set selection if the dialog is not already visible */ - if (! gtk_widget_get_visible(replace_dlg.dialog) && sel) + if (sel != NULL) + { + /* update the search text from current selection */ gtk_entry_set_text(GTK_ENTRY(replace_dlg.find_entry), sel); - if (sel != NULL) /* when we have a selection, reset the entry widget's background colour */ + /* reset the entry widget's background colour */ ui_set_search_entry_background(replace_dlg.find_entry, TRUE); + } gtk_widget_grab_focus(replace_dlg.find_entry); set_dialog_position(replace_dlg.dialog, replace_dlg.position); gtk_widget_show(replace_dlg.dialog); @@ -1059,10 +1063,8 @@ void search_show_find_in_files_dialog_full(const gchar *text, const gchar *dir)
if (!text) { - /* only set selection if the dialog is not already visible, or has just been created */ - if (doc && ! sel && ! gtk_widget_get_visible(fif_dlg.dialog)) + if (doc && ! sel) sel = editor_get_default_selection(doc->editor, search_prefs.use_current_word, NULL); - text = sel; } entry = gtk_bin_get_child(GTK_BIN(fif_dlg.search_combo)); ```
If that's the case, I propose to update the title and description of this PR and to force push a commit similar to above patch. I'm currently on vacation and will have time to merge this in the next days. @etkaar your work on this is appreciated!