New filter (F) display

[Pierre-de-la-Verre]

I like the new "(F)" that displays that a filter is active. Two small remarks:

a) It is also displayed in the tab - see here:

When there are looooong filenames, not only the filenames are truncated, also the (F) disappears. maybe there is a better way to display it always?

b) It seems that it is only displayed when the filter is "active"; it is not displayed when the filter is "switched on, but is inactive". I'm not sure if it would be better to display these different situations for better usage....

[Gitoffthelawn]

Along the lines of Pierre's feedback... any thoughts of how to make it more clear to the user what the (F) indicator means?

A matching (F) in the status bar with an explanatory popup could be an improvement. I don't love that idea, however, because the status bar is positioned at the bottom of the window, whereas the other UI elements that can display the (F) are typically located at the top of the window. IMO, it would be better than nothing, but something more elegant would be nice.

Explanatory text in a tooltip for the tab could also be good, but it would not appear when the tab bar is disabled, which is how I generally keep WinMerge configured.

So far, the idea I've come up with that I like the most is to add a toolbar button that toggles filters on/off. The icon could be the letter F, perhaps in parenthesis, to match the (F) in the window titlebar / tab title. The toolbar button could even have a dropdown indicator to allow the user to configure the filters.

Thoughts?

[sdottaka]

For a), in version 2.16.20, "(F)" is now displayed on the left side.

[Gitoffthelawn]

@sdottaka What do you think of the idea of adding a toolbar button to toggle filters (and indicate the filter state)? I find that toggling filters on/off is a common action to perform. This is especially true because file extensions generally don't provide enough information to WinMerge (or any application) regarding the specific type of text file being compared.

[sdottaka]

I think the idea is good, but the toolbar we have now has so many icons that I don't want to add to it.
If I was to add one, it would be on the new second toolbar.

[Pierre-de-la-Verre]

For a), in version 2.16.20, "(F)" is now displayed on the left side.

Thanks. I just realized that is also a "P" for active prediffer ..

[Pierre-de-la-Verre]

I think the idea is good, but the toolbar we have now has so many icons that I don't want to add to it. If I was to add one, it would be on the new second toolbar.

On my 24" screen it covers only 1/3 of it's width.
A configurable toolbar is a lot of work I suppose?

[Pierre-de-la-Verre]

Also this dialogue could contain some information about ((in)active) filters: