improve search field hint text

[belm0]

previous: Search files by name (append : to go to line or @ to go to symbol)
proposed: Search files by name (or :line_number, @file_symbol, #workspace_symbol)

"append" of the original text was misleading, and the prefix for workspace symbol was omitted

[roblourens]

Misleading how? I think it's accurate. I don't want to take this change because we are actually working to make these features more discoverable already. See #149445 and you can enable window.experimental.titleMenu to try it

[belm0]

Misleading how? I think it's accurate.

The current text is misleading because "append" means "add to the end". So taking it literally, "go to line" would be 123:, etc.

I don't want to take this change because we are actually working to make these features more discoverable already. See #149445 and you can enable window.experimental.titleMenu to try it.

Making search more discoverable is great, and I'll try the option. But this PR is a tangible usability improvement that can be deployed now, and I'm disappointed that it was summarily closed (before I could even answer your question). @roblourens

[roblourens]

We are saying append something like :123 to go to that line in the selected file. I think advertising this feature is helpful and I want to use this space to advertise this two-step search. I think it's actually not described anywhere else in the UI, even in the ? help menu

[belm0]

I see. It's a little confusing, because you can use :123 and @foo even without specifying a filename, and it will search the currently viewed file. (In fact, that's what "Go To Line" and "Go To Symbol in Editor" are mapped to.)

So this search box can do a lot, and there's little real estate for the hint text. But to summarize the issues:

• the main text is "Search for files by name", but the box isn't necessarily for file scope (e.g. #foo for workspace symbol search)
• the text says "append", but searches can also assume the current file, in which case the token ends up being a prefix
• there's no mention of # for workspace symbol search

How about this?
try file, [file]:line_number, [file]@symbol, or #workspace_symbol

[roblourens]

1. Yes, it also does a bunch of other non-file things, type ? to see the full list
2. "append" as in "append to your query", to me
3. There are almost a dozen things not mentioned, we can't be exhaustive

That is a little more precise but honestly I think this extremely visible UI element should be more "friendly" than exhaustively precise.

But cc @jrieken - in case you want to think about this placeholder text while you are in the area.

[belm0]

I had no idea about ?. At a minimum, shouldn't the hint text say "? for help"?

[roblourens]

The new UI has a dedicated button for ?. Yes, discoverability of that has been an issue for a long time

[belm0]

I understand that a form like foo.c:123 is used by error links and such, but it seems very unlikely someone will use this search box manually to go to a specific line or symbol of a remote file. Yet the current hint is focused on these cases. More likely are: go to a line of the current file, search for symbol in the local file, search for symbol globally.

A hint like this may actually help many more users:

Search files by name (or go to :line_number, search @symbol, ? for more)