Sublime Forum

Moving from 'dialog box' to 'panel' without the mouse

#1

Hi

Forgive me, being a noob I don’t know the correct name of all the windows, boxes and panels, so please bear with me.

After a build a box appears at the bottom with the error messages in it. F4 & shift F4 don’t work, or only sometimes work, it seems you have to have the cursor active in the “error box” to be able to click on the error or use F4.

So how to i toggle between my code and that error box without using the mouse (or do I have to use the mouse)? I’ve tied ctrl+` but that just opens two new boxes.

Also sometimes the cursor isn’t “active” on my code. Maybe it’s some where else (on some other box) .

(It’s a bit tricky to give a better example coz it happens occasionaly but I haven’t recorded exactly what I’ve been doing…)
Is there a key press that puts the cursor in an active state (ie so you can start typing code, selecting words etc) onto what ever column panel you’re working on.

I can do better, I hope.

Say my cursor is on the error message box after building and say I’ve got two tabs open. If I press Alt+1 or Alt+2 nothing happens. The tabs change, but the cursor stays put. Is there a selection of key presses that gets the cursor from the build error box back onto my code ?

I don’t seem to be doing a very good job of describing the various issues I’m encountering, so if anyone’s feeling a bit telepathic…:eye:.

It’s really handy not to have to use the mouse too much, I mean hey if I have to use it so be it, but the keybindings are quicker I find.

Ta y’all :robot::clown_face:

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How to select Build Window in Sublime Text
#2

Which OS are you using?

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#3

Linux Mate 17.1

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#4

Also is there a key combination to close the red build dialog boxes too, rather than clicking on the blue ish (?) cross at the right hand end of said box with the mouse…

I googled close build dialog boxes with keyboard Sublime Text 3

but nothing…

Cheers

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#5

The build output box can be closed with esc and re-opened with shift-esc. I don’t think there’s a way to focus the build panel without the mouse.

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How to select Build Window in Sublime Text
#6

Drat ! Shift+Esc, doesn’t re-open the build error dialog box unfortunately, well not on my system / version of ST3.

Weird how ST3 is set up so you can jump twixt some boxes and screens easily with one key command, but not the build error box. I know F4 jumps from one error to the next but to have that as the only option… I find myself in the oddest relationship with this software…

Any way @bschaaf, thanks for your help !

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#7

The keybinding is the same for all platforms. It only works when there are no other panels open, such as the find panel. You can add your own keybinding if you wish: { "keys": ["shift+escape"], "command": "show_panel", "args": {"panel": "output.exec"} }

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#8

@bschaaf, I was quite excited and thank you, except it doesn’t work…
However maybe I’ve misunderstood something, so when you say no other panel, does that include the file panel down the left hand side when you have a project open or the fact I’ve got two columns with multiple tabs open. Are they in the subset of panels ?
I had a look at the key bindings the

“command”: “show_panel”, “args”:

looks interesting as a solution though it’s only used a few times in the default key bindings eg find, find and replace. I’m sure I’m taking coals to Newcastle telling you this. (Newcastle was a mining town, just in case :grinning:)

A bit of further info, it (shift+esc) doesn’t work before the build, after i’ve built (with a deliberate error in my code).So I get the error messages, the first thing I do is try shift+esc, nothing.

After using F4, (F4 works) nothing. It really does do nothing at all. At no point switching between the code and the error box does shift+esc work. I’ve tried restarting Sublime too. Drat !

Thanks for your efforts any further input appreciated.

Cheers :weight_lifting_woman:

Ps Also I was wondering would it be possible to use the command:

“command”: “show_panel”, “args”:

as some kind of universal panel toggler, one key to rule them all as it were, so you could ‘activate’ each open ‘panel’ (and that my be the wrong word) in sequence ? That’d be Very handy, esp for noobs (like me)

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#9

The side-bar does not count as a panel. You can try debugging why it doesn’t work by typing sublime.log_input(True) and sublime.log_commands(True) into the console (ctrl+` or View > Show Console). There’s also the menu Tools > Build Results > Show Build Results which should show the build results and the shortcut to show them.

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#10 
command: multicommand {"commands": [{"args": {"index": 0}, "command": "select_by_index"}, {"command": "save"}, {"args": {"index": 1}, "command": "select_by_index"}, {"command": "save"}, {"command": "build"}, {"args": {"index": 0}, "command": "select_by_index"}]}
Running clang++-3.8 -std=c++11 -w -ggdb test.cpp -o test
key evt: shift+escape
command: show_panel {"panel": "output.exec"}
key evt: control+`
command: show_panel {"panel": "console", "toggle": true}

This is the output from the console. Looks like shift+esc is being ‘registered’ but not doing anything (still nothing happens)

Ps I’m sure this is a separate topic but just in case you’ve got an easy answer (if not I can put it in a separate thread) I also get this warning in the control console

warning: mnemonic k not found in menu caption Save Copy As…

Save Copy As works but hey there’s a warning !

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#11

That’s the correct command, but it may be worth noting that the output panel doesn’t get created in a window until the first time you execute a build, so if the key isn’t doing anything then it’s possibly because of that.

Warnings like this are harmless; it’s an indication that the person who added the menu item told sublime what the menu mnemonic was, but didn’t put that character in the caption (the mnemonic is the character you can press while the menu is open to execute that command directly).

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#12

That’s the correct command, but it may be worth noting that the output panel doesn’t get created in a window until the first time you execute a build, so if the key isn’t doing anything then it’s possibly because of that.

No still doesn’t work, even after several rounds of building errors…

Thanks re>

warning: mnemonic k not found in menu caption Save Copy As…

everything seemed to be working fine although interestingly I’m not using Save Copy As but a command I created using multi-command.
There’s a separate thread on this forum. Save copy as doesn’t work on my build, hence my work around.

Anyway all good. Am currently trying to install ST3 on another machine and have run into some more stuff…

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#13

I’d suggest trying reverting to a freshly installed state, as you might have plugins/configs interfering with default behavior.

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#14

Sorry that’s way too drastic, I’ll have to do without, I’ve other fish to fry i’m afraid, but thanks for the suggestion !

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#15

You can temporarily rename the data directory to not lose data. This is a pretty common step for debugging and has been automated in ST4 with safe-mode.

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#16

For an expert (which I’m absolutely not) I’m sure reverting to freshly installed state is effortless. Any problems that the expert encounters can easily be overcome, diagnosed, sorted etc etc. I’ve spent hours and hours and hours wrestling with ST3. Everybody says how good it is, and I Want to believe, but my own experience with the thing is telling me otherwise (ish). It’s kind of brilliant, and kind of really really annoying.
Say we go back to the beginning, and there’s some problem or i make a mistake or whatever, I’ve then got to spend More time trying to get it back to the state it was when it was nearly working in the first place. I’m trying to install it on another machine, I’ll not install a few packages (there are some things i want like the redesigned colour pallets and multi command) and see how we go. I’m envisioning several hours work, it’s been an hour or so so far and I have nothing installed (see my other post).
Maybe this kind of grief is the norm, and I’m just not used to it. A mate installed Clion, in about an hour and it worked off the bat (now i haven’t used it, I wasn’t at the level to take on an IDE, I thought I’d try a whistling text editor instead. Maybe Clion will also give me this level of grief) (yes I know they are two different things)

Maybe I should go back to Geany. Or try Atom. The thing is i’ve invested so much time, there’s the expression sending good money after bad, or in my case sending good time after bad. At least I haven’t paid for a license, so there’s a silver lining.

Sorry to be so down I’m sure it’s not the dev’s fault that other people are marketing this as the best thing as sliced bread, I guess my expectations got out of control and that’s my fault…:disappointed_relieved:

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#17

Reverting to a freshly installed state is not at all difficult if done as it says in the docs. Why the fear ? If you are stuck at any point, you can ask away. It might be daunting to some (it’s definitely not) but then you don’t learn if you are afraid of trying it out or think you need to be an “expert” at it. If you are stuck in the fear, then there’s nothing one can do. You can take a horse near a pond. You can’t force it to drink.

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#18

@bschaaf There’s a few threads I was attempting to resolve with a clean build, this one for example being one of them, however I’ve made a boob:

so the clean build is now dirty, so there’s a couple of other threads you suggested going to initial state, except I’ve jeffed that. Once I get that sorted I can answer some of your questions…

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