Hi Alan, Yes, hoisting is an interesting feature. But I would consider it a different one, as it would operate on the outline sidebar. In my use case, I would still prefer to have the full outline (i.e., no hoisting) available, because that is what I'd use for moving around this large hypothetical doc.
I'd support hoisting too, but maybe making it not coupled with the narrowing feature. Best, -Jose Jose Quesada, PhD. Max Planck Institute, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Berlin http://www.josequesada.name/ http://twitter.com/Quesada On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 8:37 AM, Alan Tyree <typh...@aanet.com.au> wrote: > > > On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Jose Quesada <ques...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> Since many people here edit long documents, they may have faced the >> following problem. >> It's difficult to keep in your mind a large chunk of content. This is why >> we >> divide text into sections. >> In lyx/latex, you can also have a master document and insert sections as >> \input. This is very helpful because each section is then its own file. >> This >> has an immediate effect on mental workload: for me, just seen that I >> cannot >> scroll out of the section, and the right scrollbar has a bigger handle >> makes >> a big difference, making me more relaxed. I try to make sections that fit >> one screen; this is common advice in programming too (don't make functions >> that scroll out of sight) for the same mental workload reasons. >> >> The problem is that splitting a doc into files and \input them is not as >> flexible as just taking care of sections. It adds overhead. A price I've >> been willing to pay. Then I saw this: >> >> (scroll down to narrowing) >> http://www.emeditor.com/modules/feature1/rewrite/tc_35.html >> >> This is exactly what I want. The only thing I'd add would be to make the >> grayed out parts non-scrollable, ie lock the scrolling to the narrowed >> down >> section. >> >> Clicking on the outline sidebar would optionally narrow down the section. >> This way one can navigate a long doc, nave very focused editing, and not >> have to deal with a master file with \inputs. >> >> Change tracking would be improved as a side effect. If you remove a >> paragraph and paste it on another section (which is an independent file) >> most vcs and diff programs would have completely lost track of it: it >> would >> work as if you added brand new text to the section. It's harder to undo >> too. So having one single file has advantages. >> >> What I would like to know is... is this narrowing feature interesting for >> people here? Or is it just me who thinks that it would improve workflow >> and >> reduce mental load? In case it's interesting, I'll file an enhancement >> request. Doesn't sound terribly difficult to implement, but I may be >> wrong... >> >> Best, >> -Jose >> > > Hi Jose > > If I understand what you are talking about, it is what the old Thinktank > program called "hoisting": take one part of the outline tree and make it > appear for the time being to be the entire outline. > > "Hoisting" is available with certain Emacs modes (including Auctex), but it > is not implemented as cleanly as in the old outliners like Thinktank, > Grandview and others. > > I found it to be one of the most valuable aids to writing long works back > in those days. I would strongly support it as a feature request. > > Cheers, > Alan > >> >> Jose Quesada, PhD. >> Max Planck Institute, >> Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, >> Berlin >> http://www.josequesada.name/ >> http://twitter.com/Quesada >> > > > > -- > Alan L Tyree http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~alan > Tel: 04 2748 6206 > >
