[TxMt] repeat command? Is there/can there be one?

[William D.Neumann]

On Jan 21, 2005, at 7:31 AM, Allan Odgaard wrote:

> I do like the concept of the vim optional count argument, but I'm not 
> sure it's very handy in a mode-less editor like TextMate and/or where 
> you perform sort of gestures to invoke actions rather than have a 
> single letter for each command (some with modifiers/arguments etc).
>
> How do you envision this added to TextMate? Do you want e.g. a dialog 
> to be triggered on a key where one could enter the count argument, and 
> do you then want only the next action (e.g. option-forward delete) to 
> be the single action that gets repeated?

That's pretty much how I envisioned it.  Hit the appropriate hot-key 
which brings up a dialog where you type a number and hit enter, tab, 
the space-bar, or whatever, then you trigger an action by hitting a key 
or selecting a menu option.  Only that action would be repeated, if you 
want more complex actions, you need to roll your own macro and repeat 
that.  For some reason I picture it as being somewhat like quicksilver 
in operation...

> For how many “commands” do you actually think this is useful? And how 
> many repeats would you think it takes before the time saved makes up 
> for the time lost interacting with the extra dialog (and how many 
> repeats do you on average do)?

Well, it's obviously useful for navigation and basic editing commands 
(insert, delete, select, etc).  I can see it being used for macro 
replay (and writing as well, so long as there is a hook into the repeat 
command available).  It is definitely a simple way to workaround the 
single step undo that many people dislike... want to undo the last 100 
characters?  Cmd-Alt-1 (or whatever the hotkey would be), 100, <space>, 
Cmd-Z.  Bam!  Instant block undo.  Undid a bit too much?  Cmd-Alt-1, 
10, <space>, Cmd-Shift-Z.

As for the break-even point, I'm guessing (depending on the contortions 
needed for the hotkey, system delays, etc.) it would be somewhere 
around 5-15.  But that might be optimistic...

> Are you mainly interested in a way to move the caret 
> “programmatically” (i.e. giving number of units to move etc.)? or do 
> you see yourself repeating other commands?

Well [thinking back to my vimming days...], my primary use is for 
cursor relocation, followed fairly closely by basic editing (though, as 
you mentioned, this might be used a bit less in a modeless editor), and 
then repeating macros would have been next most common.

William D. Neumann

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