[outdated] Improvements to TextBuffer control

sirinsidiator · 03/24/15, 03:09 PM

I humbly request some improvements to the TextBufferControl.
Over time I experimented with it a bit and there where some limitations that I simply cannot overcome in a meaningful way.

Only the first 8 links in a line added with AddMessage are working.
I already had trouble with people posting item links in chat for a while, but never looked into why it happened. As I added a new feature to one of my addons I noticed this was happening more often. After some trial and error I found that it is a limitation of the control itself and not something that an addon was causing.

Posting the following snippet in chat shows what I mean:
Code:
```
/script d("|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h|H1:book:2631|h|h")
```
The first 8 links work fine, but the remaining don't do anything when clicked.
A GetMessage function would make life a lot easier in some situations.
Why have a buffer when we can't read it?
One way how I could imagine this is that AddMessage and a new method GetCurrentIndex or GetNextIndex (whichever you like more) give me a number and GetMessage(integer index) returns the message.
Add proper support for icon links.
Right now I somehow get this by squeezing an icon between two links like this:
Code:
```
|Hignore:linkType:data|h\13|h|tw:h:path|t|Hignore:linkType|h\13|h
```
I would prefer it if it worked like this:
Code:
```
|Hignore:linkType:data|h|tw:h:path|t|h
```
Take note that I don't want to send this via chat. I just want to show it locally to the user.
Another thing I would love from an UX perspective is the ability to mark and copy text directly like in the EditControl.
When using Ctrl+C it should just copy the text as it is shown to the user.
A nice bonus would be a handler that receives the raw marked text on right click so us addon devs have a way to do interact with it.

Please consider adding any or all of these. It would really make things easier for me

P.S. Also can you maybe re-enable custom links in chat. I have a few ideas that would look much nicer when hidden in a link.

sirinsidiator · 09/13/15, 06:01 AM

It seems the latest update changed how the textbuffer control works internally and now the little trick that I have been using to make clickable icons in chat does not work anymore.

Sometime after this post I noticed that it also works with simply putting a link before the icon, but both methods don't work anymore:

Code:

|Hignore:linkType:data|h\13|h|tw:h:path|t|Hignore:linkType|h\13|h
|Hignore:linkType:data|h\13|h|tw:h:path|t

Any chance you could look into this and maybe revert it or introduce the other way I proposed?

Code:

|Hignore:linkType:data|h\|tw:h:path|t|h

ZOS_ChipHilseberg · 09/14/15, 03:40 PM

Can you give me a specific example of some markup that is failing for you? With the actual paths and sizes and link data filled out?

sirinsidiator · 09/14/15, 11:52 PM

Originally Posted by ZOS_ChipHilseberg

Can you give me a specific example of some markup that is failing for you? With the actual paths and sizes and link data filled out?

Here are two examples that worked before 1.7:

Code:

|Hignore:copyText:1:1|h\13|h|t12:12:Chat2Clipboard/images/copy.dds|t|Hignore:copyText:1:1|h\13|h
|Hignore:sidPlayerDetails:sirinsidiator|h\13|h|t12:12:SocialIndicators/images/epact/friendicon.dds|t

The second one is from local changes that I have not uploaded yet.

You can try the previous version of Chat2Clipboard if you need something to test against.

ZOS_ChipHilseberg · 09/15/15, 10:04 AM

This was probably the result of another bug fix, because it isn't intended behavior that a link would behave that way, extending beyond its bounds. Unfortunately allowing markup inside of other markup will involve a few tricky changes. It's something that we would like to have at some point, but probably not soon.

sirinsidiator · 09/15/15, 10:36 AM

I figured it was unintended when I first stumbled upon it and somewhat expected it to disappear some day, but it was too good to ignore. Thanks for checking it though. If nested tags ever become a thing, please let me know.