[Qt-creator] my cheers, and two cents

[Nathan Carter]

Dear developers,

I'll add my cheers to those on this list you've already heard.   
Especially to us Mac users, the platform on which Qt Eclipse  
integration has not yet seen the light of day, this product is very  
welcome.  It also reflects intimate knowledge of the typical Qt  
work{flow,style}, by essentially taking what we do on the command line  
and putting it all in one box with a slew of useful tools like code  
completion.  Sure, there are plenty of indications of alpha-ness, but  
the idea itself and the overall impression is fabulous.  It continues  
to reinforce my high opinion of Qt Software.

And now my two cents, since this list is all about soliciting feedback.

First, just some responses I'd like to hear:

1. What's a task list?  I can get to it with the button next to  
QuickOpen, but I can't add a task, and can't find documentation on  
this.  Is it searching my source files for some secret incantation  
like "TO DO"?

2. Is it intentional that the syntax highlighting treats the Q_OBJECT  
macro as if it were a C++ type?

3. Can we get any hints about what code creation/management/ 
refactoring tools are planned?

4. Can we get continued video tutorials as features are added?  I  
found the intro tutorials a perfect high-level intro, from which I  
began experimenting on my own and reading help on an as-needed basis.   
It would be great if as new chunks of features are added (code  
refactoring tools, etc.) that we see an overview of them in new video  
tutorials.  This really gives the learning curve a smackdown, IMO.

Now some actual feature requests:

5. When I press Ctrl+R to run the app, can't Qt Creator jump to Output  
mode, rather than opening up a baby output mode at the bottom of edit  
mode?  This should especially be true if it's a console app, such as  
those I interact with regularly when doing unit testing via QtTest.

6. Bug: I checked the preference box for showing a word wrap marker at  
column 80, but it doesn't seem to show up, instead just slightly  
graying everything from column 0 to the right.

7. Will the application be scriptable?  I can think of several little  
scripts I'd love to write.

8. SVN: I guess we should interpret earlier emails on this list (e.g.  
one from Matthias) to say that the plug-in nature of the app implies  
that users should be prepared to add things like SVN integration on  
their own?  That is, it won't come with a big library of plugins?

9. Support for Doxygen comments would be excellent, or at the very  
least the trivial feature of preserving the initial * on a line when I  
press enter.  That is, if I'm at the point
	/** foo bar baz bash
	 *  hubbly bubbly [and I press enter here]
then give me a line like
          *  [cursor here]
as the next line.  Eventually, it would be great if Doxygen-generated  
documentation took on the same status in QtCreator's help as the built- 
in Qt help does.  I.e., I can push a button to call Doxygen on my  
Doxyfile, and rebuild the help which then gets re-indexed, and F1-ing  
a class I've defined opens that generated page in the help window.

10. I disagree that supporting vi keyboard commands must be all-or- 
nothing.  I would love to navigate without even having to hit Ctrl,  
Alt, Meta, or whatever.  I would love to set and jump to marks, and  
repeat commands with ., and undo accidental navigation with ``.  I'll  
note that already I've accidentally pressed the "go to end of file"  
keystroke several times in the editor, and wished I could hit ``, but  
know that I can't.  These are not, I think, the hard-core, fringe  
features of vi.  But it's a testament to how great I think QtCreator  
is that I'm switching to using QtCreator and putting in this feature  
request, as opposed to continuing with vi and waiting until you add  
this feature. :)

Thank you again for the product!

Nathan