On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 12:12:48 +0100, Allan Odgaard allan@macromates.com wrote:
While I have yet to try out i-search, I do think you guys are wrong. To maximize your workflow you need to make the process rely as little as possible on external input (e.g. the need to visually recognize something throughout the process) and remove as many conscious decisions from the process as possible (i.e. the need to decide next "action" based on present non-predictable (by the mind) context).
The problem with your argument is that the issue here is not whether the "context" is predictable. There is little difference between the context of a search dialog box and the floating window of i-search. What is different is that error correction and feedback occur as you type, which allows search to be used as a navigation aid.
Allow me to give a common example: I have a very large text file (my todo.txt list) which has subsections with headers that I often navigate through. It's just simply faster to hit:
^-S## @HO[DEL][DEL]IN[DEL][DEL]TO[ESC]
in order to browse my list, than it is to issue repeated search commands and repeat the "## @" portion that designates the beginning of each section. Searching for that string and using [CMD]-G is a poor substitute, as I am not interested in the order these segments appear in, in the textfile. I'm interested in getting to them in the order I think of them.
Search as navigation is a function that is poorly served by the standard search dialog box.
As to the command key: please, let's keep it ^-s. It's consistent across multiple applications, and I'm already having to learn too many new commands as it is, thanks.