[feature request] folding of text in Zim

[andré]

Often I would like to have multiple lines for a note in a Zim page, but to hide all but the first line in order to see a summary of items.
This also would allow readily comparing different sections of a complex project.

Much as can be done with editors like geany for code development.

The advantage of doing this in Zim is that one has the plus of wiki formating with the text folding.
So for closely related items, instead of multiple pages awkward to consult, there could be a single page much more readily maintained.

This would be a complement to the existing capability of readily linked multiple pages, still very useful for different topics.

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

See also this mail: https://lists.launchpad.net/zim-wiki/msg01784.html

On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 5:30 AM, andré <email address hidden> wrote:

> Public bug reported:
>
> Often I would like to have multiple lines for a note in a Zim page, but to
> hide all but the first line in order to see a summary of items.
> This also would allow readily comparing different sections of a complex
> project.
>
> Much as can be done with editors like geany for code development.
>
> The advantage of doing this in Zim is that one has the plus of wiki
> formating with the text folding.
> So for closely related items, instead of multiple pages awkward to
> consult, there could be a single page much more readily maintained.
>
> This would be a complement to the existing capability of readily linked
> multiple pages, still very useful for different topics.
>
> ** Affects: zim
> Importance: Undecided
> Status: New
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to Zim.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1078567
>
> Title:
> [feature request] folding of text in Zim
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/zim/+bug/1078567/+subscriptions
>

[theWebalyst (thewebalyst)]

In my quest for an improvement on KeyNoteNF I have been using Zim.

I have also been longing for a folding general purpose editor for decades (remember Brown Bag's PC-Outline for MS-Dos? I found the Windows version of PC Outline here (you need to register): http://vetusware.com/download/PC%20Outline%20for%20Windows%20PC%20Outline%201.0.a/?id=4597).

So I have some thoughts that I hope will contribute to adding a really nice implementation of folding. Folding itself is fairly straightforward, although care will be needed to keep the UI slick and effective. I would though like to take it a bit further, combining it with functionality that I really love from KeyNoteNF to create something neither Zim nor KeyNoteNF have yet.

# 1) Folding

1a) Folding Sections By Headers. A command to fold all all text under a heading until the next heading of equal or greater importance. I think PC-Outline was like this and it worked a treat. Its a nice UI because a fold in the document is always marked by a heading, and something can be done to the heading to indicate it has text folded into it.

1b) Folding By Indentation. A command to fold all text at the current level of indentation under the first line of the current level of indentation.

1c) Folding Arbitrary Text. Folding an arbitrary selection of text under the first line of the selection.

In all cases, a fold reduces to the first line of the folded section, providing a convenient place for a fold indication within the document itself (e.g. such as an "open fold link" in the form of an elipsis).

# 2) New Tree View
I'd like a Tree View that is more like that in KeyNoteNF, but with some extra features.

- a way to arbitrarily order nodes in the tree rather than have them ordered automatically (KeyNoteNF uses shift-Arrow keyboard shortcuts for moving nodes in the tree which work well).
- the ability to show headings as nodes in the tree (like Zim's Table of Contents plugin), but ... when moving a heading node in the tree, it should move the heading and its text within the document.
- the ability to show folded items in the tree view, with similar functionality to headings just described.

Now we have a killer app!

Other UX Features
A couple of other gaps in the functionality sit well with a discussion of such an overhaul in UX, so might be borne in mind while thinking about folding:

a) Tabbed I/F
KeyNoteNF allows me to structure my work with tabs, as well as a tree. Each tab has its own tree. This is very powerful as the location in each tree is preserved with flipping between tabs - its a bit like a multiple-document-interface (MDI). The tabs all live in the same KeyNoteNF document (they are called "notes"). I use it to have quick access to different areas of my activity (e.g. Tasks | Products | Clients | Computers & Admin etc.) so I can very quickly switch context. I also use it to split a tree into different areas when it gets unmanagably large - again this is great because I can be working on different areas and flip between the two areas very quickly.

b) Anchors
I agree with the recent discussion on the need for anchors in documents. KeyNoteNF has this and I use it a lot. It is a bit buggy, but t...

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

@mark: this report is about folding, any comments or thought about that are
welcome, but please stay on topic, discussion of other UX improvements do
not belong here

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

In progress as part of a bounty, see http://www.zim-wiki.org/wiki/doku.php?id=folding

[jayseye (jayseye)]

The mailing list thread, mentioned in comment #1 above, has also been updated with several relevant follow-ups at https://lists.launchpad.net/zim-wiki/msg02021.html .

@mark: Some of your specific points appear useful in my planning of folding for the bounty. PC-Outline does continue to inspire my concepts of how folding might work in Zim. Maybe we can find a more appropriate venue to discuss that, as well as the Zim UI as a whole -- perhaps in Zim's online Wiki, or on your site?

[theWebalyst (thewebalyst)]

Yes, sounds good. Whichever you prefer.

Mark

On 27/11/2012 10:23, jayseye wrote:
> The mailing list thread, mentioned in comment #1 above, has also been updated with several relevant follow-ups at https://lists.launchpad.net/zim-wiki/msg02021.html .
>
> @mark: Some of your specific points appear useful in my planning of folding for the bounty. PC-Outline does continue to inspire my concepts of how folding might work in Zim. Maybe we can find a more appropriate venue to discuss that, as well as the Zim UI as a whole -- perhaps in Zim's online Wiki, or on your site?
>

[Henning Stree (hs-piano)]

I have a suggestion in the context of folding:

What about a horizontal split of the text window into 2 text windows?

You could scroll up and down in each window to view / edit different parts of the same page.

(I have stolen this idea from the wishlist of cherrytree desktop wiki)

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 12:12 PM, Henning Stree
<email address hidden> wrote:
> I have a suggestion in the context of folding:
>
> What about a horizontal split of the text window into 2 text windows?
>
> You could scroll up and down in each window to view / edit different
> parts of the same page.

Sorry, but I fail to see how this is related to folding

-- Jaap

[Henning Stree (hs-piano)]

If you have 2 text windows, you can see 2 parts of a long text on 1 screen. Example: Line 1 - 10 and line 201 - 215.

If you fold line 11 - 200, you have the same result.

May be 2 text windows are easier to implement, less work than folding?

Henning

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 7:17 PM, Henning Stree
<email address hidden> wrote:
> If you have 2 text windows, you can see 2 parts of a long text on 1
> screen. Example: Line 1 - 10 and line 201 - 215.
>
> If you fold line 11 - 200, you have the same result.
>
> May be 2 text windows are easier to implement, less work than folding?

In my mind these are different uses. This bug is about folding, please
see bug #306256 for multi-window editing.

Regards,

Jaap

[Ipsod (ipsod)]

Has this feature been abandoned? I, too, would like to have folding. I use it extensively in Vim, and it really helps with medium-sized pages, like Zim is specialized for.

[Jaap Karssenberg (jaap.karssenberg)]

The request is still open and valid, but no activity ongoing to realize it
I'm afraid.

-- Jaap

On Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 5:04 AM, Ipsod <email address hidden> wrote:

> Has this feature been abandoned? I, too, would like to have folding. I
> use it extensively in Vim, and it really helps with medium-sized pages,
> like Zim is specialized for.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to Zim.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1078567
>
> Title:
> [feature request] folding of text in Zim
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/zim/+bug/1078567/+subscriptions
>

[Mark Hewitt (holybladder)]

I'd love to see this as well - it really fits with the use case for Zim.