the syntax support area is very useful and the evolution of this window (1,3,5 lines) is a good job, but this area has a big problem (or this is just a problem for me… )
when I write the code and write the name of the sub/function… the syntax support area shows the list of arguments that the sub/function expects (and then also shows the type of these) which is a great help
the problem is that often the syntax support area stops working and no longer shows information about the arguments (of the sub or function) especially when I go back to typing data inside the sub or function arguments, when I delete the last part of topics or in other cases
the ideal would be for the syntactic helper to show all the arguments that the sub expects and highlight (in bold or another color) the specific characteristics of the argument that I am inserting at that moment
The trouble with this is autocomplete cannot figure out which version you’re writing. It doesn’t utilize the compiler at all, so it doesn’t know the types of the parameters you’re providing it.
Xojo’s autocomplete has needed an overhaul for like… 20 years. So I wouldn’t expect this to ever happen.
It would be nice if there was a way to have the method signatures stay visible though. More than half the time I have to wiggle my cursor over the method to get that back for a sec.
As Thom says, Autocomplete (which is responsible for showing the syntax help) has a rather limited amount of information that is mostly focused on where the cursor itself is.
It might be possible to not clear the syntax help area when autocomplete cannot find anything, thus leaving the method info up slightly longer, but as soon as you type something that can be found, such as a property name or another method name, then the syntax help will show that.
I don’t think there are any quick wins here, but you should add your thoughts and pictures as a comment on the issue noted above.
Would it be possible to add a lock/freeze button to the field so that you can keep the data from changing then unlock once you’re done referencing the data?
Sounds like a good workaround. What you really want is a stack as you complete a line:
With the following it should show the syntax for MyFunction, then if it finds something else it should show it. Once the , is hit it should revert to MyFunction, etc. By keeping track of ( and ) you know which item the , belongs to.
MyFunction( SomeVariable, SomeMethod( one, two, three ) )
