Split panes in source editor

ibrito · August 2, 2018, 2:22pm

Hi,

I'm reproducing the Russ Charif' s post on May 18, 2016 to the https://support.rstudio.com.
Indeed the following Rstudio feature it'ld be very useful and comfortable to me.

"Feature request: horizontal split panes in source editor

It would be useful to be able to simultaneously view two parts of a source file that are farther apart from each other than can be viewed in a single window.

Ideally I'm thinking of a way to split a window into two independently-scrolling panes, one above the other. MS Word [shudder] has a feature like this, which is very useful in long docs. An alternative solution would be to allow the same source file to be open in two different windows.

Or does some such capability already exist?

Thanks for the great product!

Russ Charif May 18, 2016 15:56"

If it would be possible to implement it, I would very much appreciate it.

Thank you,

Best regards,

Isabel

jcblum · August 2, 2018, 9:40pm

Splitting panes/windows so you can view two separate parts of a long file at once is a common feature of text editors and IDEs (and one that I also miss in RStudio!). I think this idea might be covered by this current issue (which is fairly broadly defined):

github.com/rstudio/rstudio

Fully customizable pane and window layouts

opened 06:45PM - 29 May 18 UTC

jmcphers

enhancement accessibility

Today, RStudio's pane layout always deals in quadrants. Two quadrants are occupi…ed by the Source and Console panes, and a second two by sets of tabs. The user can choose which panes appear in which quadrants. Most IDEs have a somewhat more flexible system which allows for arbitrary tab arrangement, often using mouse gestures to edit configuration on the fly -- docking to sides, splitting and tabbing, popping out to floating windows, etc. In the last few years several JavaScript libraries have been released which make this relatively straightforward to implement (at least from a UX standpoint). For example: https://phosphorjs.github.io/ - used by Jupyter http://www.dockspawn.com/ - with some design inspiration from Visual Studio http://golden-layout.com/ - emphasizes pleasing layouts & multi-screen Now that we're on GWT 2.8, we can use [JsInterop](http://www.gwtproject.org/doc/latest/DevGuideCodingBasicsJsInterop.html), which will make it much more straightforward to blend our own tab internals with an external library.

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Jason.C · April 26, 2019, 5:31pm

26/04/2019

The ability to split panes (at least for the source) would be an excellent addition.
The ability to see to sources side-by-side would be a welcome addition and likely enhance workflow.
For those unfamiliar, the editor, Atom, can split panes vertically and horizontally, which is a much used and appreciated feature.

Cheers,
Jason

11/05/2020
Greetings, I'd like to reiterate my strong desire for the source editor to have split pane capabilities. I'm working on my first project of any length and having this ability would be fantastic. Even using the 'outline' on the right hand side, which is helpful, having to bounce back and forth between sections is frustrating and a serious waste of time.
All the best.
~ Jason the #rstatsnewbie