Re: [Nano-devel] RFC: the content and aspect of the help lines

[Chris Allegretta]

On 3/4/14, Benno Schulenberg <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Currently the number of help items shown in the bottom two lines
> of a standard nano screen is twelve.  That is quite enough when the
> terminal is 80 characters wide.  But nowadays most virtual consoles
> are much wider (I think), or at least can be much wider: my virtual
> terminals are 125 or 128 characters wide.  To then stick to just
> twelve help items is... a bit of a waste.  What I propose is: to let
> the number of help items depend on the width of the terminal -- but
> not in a strict proportional way, but with an offset: the wider the
> screen, the more items, but also the more space each item has.  So
> I propose this change:
>
> -#define MAIN_VISIBLE 12
> +#define MAIN_VISIBLE (((COLS + 40) / 20) * 2)
>
> For eigthy columns it comes down to 12 items, but for 120 columns
> it gives 16 items.  How does that sound?

No concerns, this is a great idea.

> The other thing is that the default help lines contain the ^Y and ^V
> shortcuts for PageUp and PageDown.  I doubt that anyone uses these
> key combos -- every keyboard has PageUp and PageDown keys, which work

I use these keys (^Y/^V) exclusively.  I think someone who wants to do
a more advanced function and cant remember the commands should be able
to look in the help menu.

> ^T shortcut is something I think most people will not use, not in
> an editor like nano.  So those three positions could be used for
> showing more useful things like "M-R Replace", "M-G Go To Line",
> "M-W Where's Next"...

I am attempting to make ^T more useful with the most recent changes.
I think it'd be a shame to hide that work.