[Geany] Discussion with Zhenech, list of suggestions for geany

[Andrei Kopats]

Hi, Zhenech

You said in IRC, that Geany is the best and I should terminate my project.
I can't stand and will troll you back ...   ;)

I found few problems while have been using Geany:

1. I tried to hide tabs and use list of files. But, when I switch files
with Ctrl+Up/Down, focus in the list is moved not Up/Down but in some
random order.It is terrible. I hate tabs, but, without it I can't switch
files(((
2. After file has been changed on disk, Geany does not show it with icon. I
don't know, that file has been changed, until activated it.
3. When I activate file, changed on disk, Geany interrupts me with modal
dialogue, even if now I just want to move to next file after changed one.
4. How do I make case sensetive incremental search? Reg exp incremental
search?
5. Main menu are the most easy way for new user to discover features and
shortcuts, but F4, F2, ... shortcuts are not discoverable in the main menu
6. When searching in directory, mksv3 shows tree with matches, highlighted
with yellow. It is much more readable, than dumped grep output in Geany
7. Jump to console and open files with "geany /file/path" command is cool.
It what I was missing in all GUI editors I've used before. But, mksv3
Locator with Tab completion is even better, because it effectively uses
modern GUI to show more useful information
8. When cursor is just before highlighted bracket, and I type symbol,
highlighting disappears and appears again. This flickering is verry
annoying. QScintilla doesn't have such problem.
9. MkS also was having a toolbar with buttons. Than I understood, that it
just wastes space on the screen, All experienced users use shortcuts. It
seems, I can remove all buttons from the toolbar and append incremental
search lineedit to menu line. But, software should be configured as well as
possible out of the box
10. MkS also was using Fx buttons for move focus to additional widgets,
than I understood, that Alt+{first letter of widget name} is easier for
remembering and quicker for pressing
I type "#include <bla" in the top of file, white Symbols tree is replaced
with "Not tags found" message on dark background. When I swith to empty
file, also "No tags found". This white/black background flickering makes me
crazy
11. Geany uses main menu to switch current file indentation mode. IMHO it
is better to use status bar button, which is both indicator and switcher. I
spend about 1 min to find item in the main menu and now don't remember,
where it is located.

Probably, I listed some problems here, because I don't know something. I
haven't read the manual, and have little experience with Geany. But, even
if it is so, anyway it is Geany problem, because software must be intuitive
and simple. People don't like reading docs.

All problems, I listed here, are quite easy to fix.
Some of it are controversial. What is habitual for me might be not habitual
for other people.
Probably, Geany developers will fix some problems after reading this email.
I would join the project and fix it themselves, if it hadn't 1 really
critical problem:

    Coding in C is very slow. Scintilla and Geany can't make progress
quickly

I like Geany. It is probably the best editor I've ever used. Now it is
better than mksv3, because it has much more features.
But, all features, which are implemented in mksv3, are implemented better,
than in Geany. And, mksv3 makes progress quicker.

geany is the best - TRUE
I should terminate mksv3 - FALSE

Andrei
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