Open Environments in New Windows in Feature Requests

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ID:836085
 
Jun 26 2012, 7:14 am (Edited on Jun 26 2012, 9:49 am)
Applies to:Dream Maker
Status: Open
Issue hasn't been assigned a status value.
I think that Dream Maker should open external environments or their corresponding files, in entirely new windows, instead of replacing the existing one you have open. This would work just like opening library files. I think that when you go to File -> New Environment, Open Environment, or choose a Recent Environment, Dream Maker should open this in a new instance of it, as an entirely new window, without closing what you are currently working on.

This would also apply to File -> Open, to a lesser extent, in that it would open a new window only if what you are opening belonged to a different environment or project.

I am suggesting this because I don't like the fact that Dream Maker tries to close what you are currently working on every time you open a new project. Currently, the only way to get around this is to open a project from Windows Explorer, but that's not very convenient. Dream Maker already does this for library files, so why not other environments as well? Overall, it would be a more flexible program if it did this.

This is related to another suggestion on having tabs for files within the same project, which I also support. However, I think that for it to work properly, support for opening environments in separate windows needs to happen first.

Anyway, let me know what you think.
#1 Jun 26 2012, 7:23 am
Only really in the face of multiple distinct resources. Hence Word 2012 won't let you open the same document twice locally, it simply brings the current open session to front.

In Dream Maker's case, the entire project is a distinct resource. This is pretty consistent with the workings of say ... Eclipse, Netbeans, Visual Studio etc. Multiple file access within this distinct resource is then handled inside the application, as ... tabs.
#2 Jun 26 2012, 7:37 am
I like that opening environments doesn't usually open it in a new window (it does if you open a library).

You don't need to have documents open in multiple windows. Dream Maker is already aware that multiple files can be open (hence the File -> Close button). You can also see this when you switch between files. Open an icon, open another icon, then go back to the first. The interface comes up immediately. If you go to File -> Close then open it again it'll be loaded from disk and won't appear immediately.

This capability is 90% there, it just needs to display tabs so you can switch between open files. Having the ability to show two flies in a split screen would be a nice bonus.
#3 Jun 26 2012, 7:39 am
In response to Stephen001 (#1)
If everything opened in tabs, then how would you tell the difference between one environment's files and another? I don't think files from other environments should open in tabs within the same window. When opening other environments or the corresponding files, they should be forced to open as new projects, in new windows. Now, I think that with files within the same environment, they should normally open as new tabs, but optionally as new windows.

My point is that new windows can simply make any program more flexible. If those programs you listed don't do that, then that's their problem. If Dream Maker has the ability to open new windows, then it will be better than them in that regard! Give me a good reason why new environments shouldn't open in new Dream Maker windows.
#4 Jun 26 2012, 7:48 am
In response to Multiverse7 (#3)
Multiverse7 wrote:
If everything opened in tabs, then how would you tell the difference between one environment's files and another?

You'd still be limited to one environment per window. If you open a new environment it'd close all of your tabs from the old environment. You'd only be able to have tabs from the current environment.

Give me a good reason why new environments shouldn't open in new Dream Maker windows.

Environments open in new windows when you double-click on a library because that makes sense - you're opening a related environment from within your project. When you go to File -> Open Environment it wouldn't make sense. You're not opening a related environment, you're simply switching projects and usually won't want to keep the old one open.
#5 Jun 26 2012, 7:58 am
In response to Forum_account (#4)
Forum_account wrote:
If you open a new environment it'd close all of your tabs from the old environment.

Do you have any idea how annoying that is? Dream Maker shouldn't tell me how I go about programming. If I want to close one of my projects, then I will do that myself! Just because Dream Maker thinks something isn't related shouldn't mean that it closes whatever you have open. Maybe you saw some code in one project and decided to use it in another. We don't need Dream Maker telling us what to do. I want to tell Dream Maker what to do, and right now, I want it to open new environments in new windows, regardless of them being "libraries" or not.
#6 Jun 26 2012, 8:08 am
I don't get what is the issue.
You can open up a new Dream Maker window, it takes less than a second for DM to start.
You can have your new environment in that DM window.

While it may make sense to have tabs for files within the same environment, it is much more simpler and easier to have different environments in different windows/instances of DM.
#7 Jun 26 2012, 8:13 am
Phoestre wrote:
it is much more simpler and easier to have different environments in different windows/instances of DM.

That's exactly my point! I think that when you go to File -> Open Environment, it should open the environment in a new window automatically, and without closing everything that I'm currently working on. I wouldn't want to lose all 10 or so tabs that I have open in my current project, just because I wanted to open up another one.
#8 Jun 26 2012, 8:34 am
You mean the tabs you don't currently have, because Dream Maker doesn't support tabbing?
#9 Jun 26 2012, 8:39 am
In response to Multiverse7 (#7)
Multiverse7 wrote:
Phoestre wrote:
it is much more simpler and easier to have different environments in different windows/instances of DM.
That's exactly my point! I think that when you go to File -> Open Environment, it should open the environment in a new window automatically, and without closing everything that I'm currently working on. I wouldn't want to lose all 10 or so tabs that I have open in my current project, just because I wanted to open up another one.

That's a separate feature request and there's an easy workaround.

Maybe you saw some code in one project and decided to use it in another. We don't need Dream Maker telling us what to do. I want to tell Dream Maker what to do, and right now, I want it to open new environments in new windows, regardless of them being "libraries" or not.

A library is "code in one project [that you can] use in another", which is why this behavior makes sense. If you're copying code back and forth between many projects you're probably doing something wrong. To help newbies, Dream Maker shouldn't go out of its way to accommodate bad habits.
#10 Jun 26 2012, 9:05 am
Stephen001 wrote:
You mean the tabs you don't currently have, because Dream Maker doesn't support tabbing?

Yes, that's correct. The point I was trying to make was that Dream Maker needs to open new environments in new windows before tabs get implemented, otherwise we will run into this problem. It was a kind of hypothetical argument. Of course if this was all implemented at the same time, then there won't be any problem, but usually these updates happen incrementally.

Forum_account wrote:
...you're probably doing something wrong.

Honestly, if I was, that would have absolutely nothing to do with the functionality of Dream Maker. I can think of several different reasons why someone might want to have different projects open at once.

1. You could compare code from different projects or libraries.

2. You might have multiple copies of a project and want to compare old revisions to see how things have developed or to figure out what caused a problem or bug.

3. You found a nice library, but only want to make use of a small piece of it, or integrate it into your existing project, instead of copying the whole thing to your libraries folder.

These are just a few reasons for having multiple windows open. I'm sure other people could come up with more. Ultimately the reasons don't really matter. This is about the flexibility of the user interface, and I should be able to open new windows in Dream Maker without going through Windows Explorer to get what I want open. I see no reason why this shouldn't be implemented. It's almost like a bug. New users will try to go to File -> Open Environment, and have to sit there and watch Dream Maker try to close what they are working on. Good programs are not designed to show users how to build good habits. They are designed to be flexible tools that can be used however the user chooses, at their discretion.
#11 Jun 26 2012, 9:22 am
#12 Jun 26 2012, 9:28 am
In response to Multiverse7 (#10)
Multiverse7 wrote:
The point I was trying to make was that Dream Maker needs to open new environments in new windows before tabs get implemented, otherwise we will run into this problem.

What problem? Dream Maker already closes the files you have open when you switch environments. If that doesn't create problems now, it won't create problems if the editor has tabs.
#13 Jun 26 2012, 10:02 am
Forum_account wrote:
If that doesn't create problems now, it won't create problems if the editor has tabs.

That's the whole point of this topic. It is a problem now, but it will become an even bigger problem if the editor gets tabs, because then it would be closing a whole lot more things at once. Right now you have to worry about it closing a window whenever you open another project, but if Dream Maker had tabs, then you would have to worry about it closing all of those tabs whenever you try to open something else. I would find it extremely annoying to have to reopen everything after having attempted to open a new environment.
#14 Jun 26 2012, 10:21 am
You can start up a new instance of DM and open the environment there. It is much better in my opinion. But of course, when and if tabs get implemented, there would be some other improvements/changes.
#15 Jun 26 2012, 10:35 am
Phoestre wrote:
You can start up a new instance of DM and open the environment there.

I already know you can open another instance of Dream Maker externally, but it would be easier if Dream Maker just opened a new window automatically when you go to File -> Open Environment. This is about the functionality of Dream Maker, not about workarounds. I want the function of opening new enviroments within Dream Maker to change, so that they are opened separately, instead of replacing the existing window.
#16 Jun 26 2012, 10:38 am
An option would be nice. Maybe a prompt saying "Open in a new window?" with an optional "Don't ask again" checkbox.
#17 Jun 26 2012, 10:55 am
I think that would just overcomplicate the interface. Maybe "Code Preferences" under the Options menu could be renamed to just "Preferences". Then, there could just be a checkbox there, checked by default, asking if you want to open other environment files in new windows.
#18 Jun 26 2012, 11:05 am
I'm not sure why you think it would over-complicate the interface when your idea is essentially the same as mine. My suggestion would simply allow those who don't want the function and are used to the old ways to stop it from happening before it happens. Obviously you could change it in a Preferences window if you changed your mind later.
#19 Jun 26 2012, 11:25 am
Multiverse7 wrote:
That's the whole point of this topic. It is a problem now, but it will become an even bigger problem if the editor gets tabs, because then it would be closing a whole lot more things at once.

It's not closing anything more than is being closed now. You can already have multiple files open, you just don't have tabs to switch between them.

I would find it extremely annoying to have to reopen everything after having attempted to open a new environment.

It'd only close your tabs when a new environment is opened. If you attempted to open an environment but couldn't (ex: you tried to open a recent environment but it has since been moved), it wouldn't bother to close what you already had open.

Albro1 wrote:
An option would be nice. Maybe a prompt saying "Open in a new window?" with an optional "Don't ask again" checkbox.

What'd probably be easiest is to leave the behavior of Open Environment alone and add a shortcut in DM to spawn another instance of Dream Maker (or you can use the quick launch bar, start -> run, a desktop shortcut, etc.). If you want to open an environment in a new window, you'd first run a new instance of Dream Maker to get a new window, then go to File -> Open Environment.
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