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PghFool

Improved Comment entry

Status: New

When I add block diagram comments inside a structure, they are often long enough to require several lines.  Since auto-grow is on, I need to stop typing before the comment reaches the edge of the structure, resize the comment to be multi-line, select inside the comment again, and re-start typing.  From then on, the comment word wraps at  my sized width.  Could you make a special character like ctrl-, alt-, or Shift-comment move me to the next line and make the comment that wide, so it word wraps at that width from then on?  While you're at it, could a word-wrapping comment autogrow in height to fit the comment, like a one-line comment auto-grows in width?  Subdiagram comments could use that feature, too.

4 Comments
wiebe@CARYA
Knight of NI

A workaround that might be faster than whet you're doing atm:

 

QD, type "Free Label" (or just "fre") drops a free label that can be sized in the same action. It turns off size to text.

 

You're combining ideas here (the short cut and the auto-height)... 

 

How exactly would the auto size height work in combination with the "size to text"? I think this would dramatically change how that works now. You'd basically get two new options (size to text horizontally and size to text vertically) replacing the existing "size to text". I don't see how "grow vertically" can work (well) with the existing "size to text". Replacing existing "size to text" would have a great impact on VI Server.

PghFool
Member

Thanks for the QD workaround.  That has lots of features I don't know about.

 

My idea is to first autosize horizontally (as happens now as we first type in the comment), and then autosize vertically once word wrapping kicks in.  Wrapping kicks in either once the comment has been resized with less width than fits the text (as it does now), or after a user hits Shift-<CR>.  Where he hits Shift-<CR> would determine the width of the text box, just like resizing now determines the width of the text box.  A subdiagram label already has a fixed width (the size of the structure), so they word wrap from the start.  Right now, once I've filled in my subdiagram lavel, I then need to drag the horizontal separator down to show the whole comment.  Autosizing the horizontal separator doesn't seem like a stretch.  

 

Sorry if I'm combining two (or three?) ideas in one, but they're all related.

PghFool
Member

I'm noticing my original post has a typo (or auto-incorrect).  I meant a key combination "like ctrl-, alt-, or Shift-<carriage return>", not "comment", to define the width of the comment.

OneOfTheDans
Active Participant

I don't love the keyboard shortcuts, but I'd love to see a smoother flow for comment boxes. I like this idea of growing horizontal until something's bumped, then growing vertically until something's bumped, then enabling the scroll bar. Basically don't let comments push your diagram around.