Virtual space

[nfrias]

I would like to be able to place the cursor past an End-Of-Line (via mouse or arrow keys) and start typing (SlickEdit and CodeWright call it virtual space).
Some desirable side effects:

• Pasting of columns past the EOL becomes useful because alignment is preserved.
• No need to press space or tab multiple times to add space.
• When you press Arrow-Up/Down, the cursor stays in the same column, it does not jump around to each EOL.

Thanks.

[bestglide]

Yes, strongly agree…it’s a make-or-break issue for me.

[joelpt]

I agree, virtual space is sometimes very helpful. Examples:

• expanding into multiple cursors using ctrl-alt-(up|down); when the selection spans an empty line it thwarts many desirable column-oriented operations
• helpful in visually affirming the alignment of floating comments, etc.

Since Sublime already has the ability to trim whitespace from lines upon save, permitting virtual space should be nondestructive. This differs from how many editors handle it, where you end up with all sort of strange whitespace at the end of lines – which in turn is confusing in non virtual space mode.

I would actually like to see a default of virtual space enabled and trim-whitespace-on-save option enabled. The combination gives pretty much all the benefits of virtual space without any of its downsides.

[edanm]

I’m not sure I understand what this means, especially your first point (the selection spanning an empty line).
Any chance you can elaborate? Or even better, send a screenshot of what you mean?

[gpfsmurf]

Current:

blah blahb|lah
|
asdhasdklj|dhaslkhdsalk
daskhask|
1237912623|9871263129836913

Proposed:

blah blahb|lah
          |
asdhasdklj|dhaslkhdsalk
daskhask  |
1237912263|9871263129836913

I can see uses for both behaviors, so having this as an option would be nice to have.

[sergant]

Sublime editor is very cool.
The only feature I miss the most is a virtual space feature

Is there any plans to implement it any time soon ?

[mscaff]

I agree that this is a very useful feature and I
ll be very happy when available.
Textmate calls it Freehanded Editing (Cmd + Opt + E)

Basically you can move your cursor anywhere in the editor window, and if you type something when your cursor is after the end of some line it will fill the gap between the old end of line and the recently typed text with spaces.

[edkirin]

I agree with this request. This the only feature I’m really missing in ST2.

[bizoo]

+1
Funny, actually I never noticed that my IDE works that way before reading this post and comparing with ST2.
So not a big deal, but it’s actually more convenient when you need to insert text after the end of line.

[Deacalion]

The only thing that made me a bit uncertain about buying Sublime after using it for a few days was the lack of “Virtual Space”.
I never realized how much I used it in other editors until it was missing.

I really hope this gets implemented, it’s a great program!

[mark4]

did not see this thread before i requested virtual space.this is also make/break for me. i want to register, i cannot do so unless this feature is added. i am continuing to test the product but if a fix for this never materializes i will be forced to uninstall (i pay for software i use, i wont use software i wont pay for)

[benvenu5]

I agree. Sublime is amazing and I would love to have my entire department start using it, but we absolutely need this feature to do so. Add this feature and you get another 10 paying users!

[maug]

Another vote for the “virtual space” - it is essential feature for me to seriously consider purchasing Sublime, which really appeals to my nerdiness.

[jps]

Support for virtual space will not be added to Sublime Text 2, however it may appear in a future major version (3+).

[abathologist]

I just realized how much easier writing ascii tables would be with virtual space, and then I got an inkling of its power; therefore I heartily +1 this request!

[subsurface]

Yet another vote for virtual space. This combined with visual block mode ctrl+v would be “sublime”.

[jdlx]

Just received a reply to my question over here linking to this thread… count me in with +1. Sad to hear that excellent feature doesn’t exist and won’t make it into ST any time soon.

What about plugins… could this feature be implemented that way?

cheers,
Jan

[quarnster]

Yeah, you could make a plugin that inserts the appropriate number of spaces.

[idemura]

Yet another vote for virtual space:)

[Bill_Forster]

Just adding another vote for virtual space. I have been looking forward to sitting down and evaluating Sublime Text 2. It sounded like a dream, one licence for Windows, Mac and Linux (I use all three). Fully configurable with Python. A pure programmer’s editor. My initial impression was great, but then … ahhhhhh … as I down arrow I don’t stay in the same column unless I am lucky enough that all lines below my start point are at least as long as my initial column position. Worse (much worse) was to follow. There is no way to change this horrible behaviour ! I am really struggling to believe this can be true. I believe I escaped from this primitive mode of operation for the first time with the Brief MS-DOS editor way back in the eighties. This is so fundamental. It’s the difference between interacting with your code as a fluid representation of abstract ideas (good) versus interacting with your code as a list of jagged lines of text (bad - very very bad).

Edit later: Having another go today and I notice that if I go down down down down etc. the column change that occurs if I hit a short line is only temporary - if I reach a sufficiently long line the column position will revert to my original starting place. This is good and reduces my grief for the absent virtual space feature significantly.