[TxMt] Feature suggestion: undo in selection

[subtleGradient / Thomas Aylott]

On Feb 8, 2007, at 6:21 PM, William Uther wrote:
> Hi,
>   Just another feature suggestion.  Use case:
>
>   I've been making some changes in a source file.  I've been making  
> the changes in two locations in the file in parallel, trying to  
> keep them roughly in sync as I make the changes.  When I get to the  
> end, I notice that there was a simpler set of changes for one of  
> the two locations.
>
>   I'd like to be able to select a region of text and 'undo in  
> selection'.  It is just like normal undo, but it skips over  
> commands in the undo list that don't affect the selection and only  
> undoes commands that do affect the selection.  (For bonus points,  
> the 'skipped' undo commands could be left in the undo queue, so if  
> I start using normal undo then they start being undone.)
>
>   I suspect that this isn't a particularly common request, so I  
> don't really expect it to ever be implemented, but I thought it was  
> better to mention the idea than not.
>
> Be well,
> Will            :-}

IMHO, the current state of affairs with regard to undo really …  
stinks. (yay censorship!)

Not just TextMate, but most applications have really REALLY terrible  
undo systems.
Some people are actually innovating in this space. The e editor  
http://www.e-texteditor.com/ for example has a really stinking sweet  
(looking, since I haven't actually used it) system. That editor  
actually manages all of the edits and lets you go back in time for  
the whole document or just a section and keep the entire backward AND  
foreward history preserved across edits and saves and closing and  
reopening the file.

I really really want this functionality in TextMate.

I really want to just close the document or quit the app and come  
back a week later and still have my full undo history.


Currently this is not doable with the current bundle system.
I have investigated linking into the preview window since it can  
actually run a command every time you make an edit, but the  
limitations of this system are just too great to bother with it.
It might be doable with a plugin, i have no clue.

I think we're just going to have to wait for Allan to open the door  
to this sort of thing, and I really doubt that it's going to be  
before TextMate 3.0.
I'm sure the stuff in 2.0 will happily distract me from being too  
annoyed about it for now.

thomas Aylott — design42 — subtleGradient — CrazyEgg

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