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User profile for user: Iron_0
Iron_0 Author
User level: Level 1
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XCode 4 : No editing insertion point history??? What the...

Hello…

After countless hours of searching, I wasn't able to find a way to move forward and backward in my editing places in my code. It is as if the Xcode4 does not hold any insertion point history.

The current Forward/Backward scheme of XCode4 ( by using "Control" + "Command" + "Arrow", or three finger touchpad swipe, or the two little arrows on the left top corner of the code) is to move between file history.

It completely destroys my productivity, to the point I am seriously considering to switch back to Xcode3. If anyone knows how to do editing point history navigation in Xcode4 the way we did it in Xcode 3 I would be more than happy to listen to his suggestions.

Message was edited by: Iron_0

MacBook Pro Unibody 15, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 2, 2011 10:17 PM

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User profile for user: K T
K T
User level: Level 7
23,877 points

Posted on Apr 3, 2011 11:04 AM

No joy in 'Key Bindings/Navigate'...?

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/Xcode4Trans itionGuide/Xcode4TransitionGuide.pdf
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User profile for user: Iron_0
Iron_0 Author
User level: Level 1
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Apr 4, 2011 10:01 AM in response to K T

Hello

Thanks for the suggestion. It seems that there is no option in the key bindings concerning moving back to previous caret position. The back and forward options are navigating you in random places inside different classes.

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I am really surprised that this issue has not brought up by any other developers. It has literally killed my productivity since the day I upgraded to Xcode4.. Say that you want to work with a class with more than 2000 lines of code and you need to change a line of code in the initialisation (or anywhere else inside the same class) and then you need to go back to the line you were before that change… You are absolutely out of luck! you have to manually navigate back and find that previous line! With XCode3 by pressing back you were instantly "teleporting" to that previous editing line… Any other help? Please Im seriously considering stop programming.. it drives me crazy...

Message was edited by: Iron_0
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User profile for user: etresoft
etresoft
User level: Level 8
46,738 points

Apr 4, 2011 10:21 AM in response to Iron_0

Xcode4 seems to have the identical behaviour as Xcode3. I guess I had never really noticed the insertion point history.

If you navigate between open files using the "breadcrumbs" at the top of the editing pane, you can return to the active insertion point in any open file. If you click files in the Project Navigator (on the left), you get a new editing window and lose your insertion point.

If you are editing in the .m file, for example, then click the header in the Project Navigator, make some change, then click the "back" arrow above the editing pane, you are returned to your previous editing location, complete with insertion point.

In fact, I can only get Xcode4 to exhibit the behavior you want to see. I cannot get Xcode3 to behave that way. Perhaps that is why I've never noticed it before - it was never there. But now that you point it out, it seems to be a nice feature that Xcode4 has improved over Xcode3.
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User profile for user: Iron_0
Iron_0 Author
User level: Level 1
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Apr 4, 2011 10:33 AM in response to etresoft

Thanks for your reply

Quote:
"If you are editing in the .m file, for example, then click the header in the Project Navigator, make some change, then click the "back" arrow above the editing pane, you are returned to your previous editing location, complete with insertion point."

This is a fact when you only navigate between different files. If you have on the other hand a really long .m file and you want to navigate between the editing places in this .m file, just doesn't work.. The back button takes you to the last editing place of your previously opened file. Oh its so confusing…

Thanks so much though for your replies and suggestions.. I guess its an option that was just stripped from the previous version of XCode.. That's really sad because if someone uses it regularly it completely boost the productivity.. You can navigate in any place in thousands lines of code almost instantly..

Message was edited by: Iron_0
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User profile for user: Iron_0
Iron_0 Author
User level: Level 1
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Apr 4, 2011 12:07 PM in response to xnav

Hi xnav, thanks for the response..

I tried opening two tabs with the same file. In order this solution to work, every time you need to do an editing to click on the tab of the file on the background, activate it, and do the change there. On the next change you need to click the tab of the previous file again, and do it there. It is not very convenient as on every change you will need to click on the other tab. And also in case of scrolling you need to scroll the other tab too so that they point at the same place…


It's so confusing… In Xcode3 I had implement an app that consisted of 45 classes and the biggest one was 15000 lines of code and the navigation in the lines of the same class was like a breeze using the back button. In my current new app I hardly have 2000 lines of code in my main class and I straggle to do any progress at all. Splitting the code into different classes may sound as the way to go, but there are cases that this is not effective and things need to be held at the same class..

Anyway, thanks so much everyone for the responses and suggestions.. I really appreciate the time you spent for them… I hope in the end something useful to come out of this..

Message was edited by: Iron_0
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User profile for user: etresoft
etresoft
User level: Level 8
46,738 points

Apr 4, 2011 12:30 PM in response to Iron_0

Iron_0 wrote:
Thanks so much though for your replies and suggestions.. I guess its an option that was just stripped from the previous version of XCode.. That's really sad because if someone uses it regularly it completely boost the productivity.. You can navigate in any place in thousands lines of code almost instantly..


I don't think anything was "stripped". It looks like it is just a bug - a feature that got overlooked in Xcode4. I've been using Xcode from day 1 and have never known about this feature, so it seems pretty obscure. Submit a bug report about it.
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User profile for user: Mani Hamedani
Mani Hamedani
User level: Level 1
73 points

Apr 11, 2013 6:33 AM in response to Mani Hamedani

I apologize for the wrong answer, this is not what you are looking for. I think the best solution is to ask Xcode support team.


It is not wise to remove a helpful feature like this from Xcode 4, where previous version did support it. There should be a solution to your need. May be the last option is to write this feature as an add-in for Xcode if the developers have removed it.


Mani Ghasemnia Hamedani

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XCode 4 : No editing insertion point history??? What the...

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