Vscode: Allow to edit the left hand side of a diff editor if possible

[joaomoreno]

You can hit it by using Compare with action and --diff. This is really sad. The editor on the left should only be read-only if the input behind it is really read-only (coming from the git index, for example).

cc @alexandrudima @bpasero

[bpasero]

Yes I always wanted that actually :)

[alexdima]

On my side it would be pretty easy to just comment out the forcing of readOnly=true on the left-hand-side. But I need to add an option to allow the workbench to make the git diff case left-hand-side readOnly.

[alexdima]

There's also the inline diff case, where I cannot make the "original" editable.

[bpasero]

@alexandrudima yeah I think we know in all places if the left hand side should be editable or not, I think it would only be the file-2-file compare where this applies.

[alexdima]

Ok, there is a new option originalEditable to the diff editor. It is false by default.

[bpasero]

@alexandrudima cool, let me pick this up then...

[bpasero]

@alexandrudima so by default this option is true or false?

[alexdima]

:) Wrote in comment and in jsdoc: it is false by default.

[bpasero]

:+1:

[bpasero]

Hm, I forgot that this adds a bit more complexity to how actions operate on the active editor and how dirty state is indicated. I think I was a bit too optimistic for March but will check. Otherwise April it will be.

[bpasero]

Surprisingly lots of things actually do work in terms of dirty indication but the one for the actual editor does not because it only checks for the right hand side.

[nojvek]

If this something that can be done as a first PR? Would be great if you could indicate issues that would be easy wins for an outsider to contribute. I really really really really want git diffing to work on the right side. I will buy you a coffee/beer if you fix this :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

[bpasero]

@nojvek you can always edit on the right hand side when comparing outgoing changes in git!

[bpasero]

(this feature request is about being able to edit either the left hand or the right hand side when comparing 2 files)

[nojvek]

Oh I just saw that after doing an upgrade. This seems fairly recent. This really bought me a lot of joy when it worked.

[bpasero]

It was always possible to edit the right hand side of the diff editor for git changes view.

[bpasero]

From @alexandrudima

• in the explorer,
• right click on a file A, choose "Select for compare"
• right click on another file, choose "Compare with A"
• observe: left hand side of the diff is not editable

Fix: use originalEditable when the diff editor models are both editable files.

[Yanpas]

It would be cool to have two buttons in the middle "copy changes from left to right" and vice versa.

Like this (Eclipse):

[nojvek]

Yeah the copy changes is super useful.

[therealmarv]

So the option works

"diffEditor.originalEditable": true

but VSCode 1.20.0 (1.20.0) complains about "Unknown configuration setting":

[therealmarv]

What's also strange (mac here): Cmd+S does not save the original! The UX handling is really weird with the original file and I had lost my editing once. I have to close the diff window after editing and save the unsaved original which is not how I assumed the saving should work with this option turned on.

[eamodio]

It would be nice if there was read-only on/off control of both sides of the diff editor. In GitLens, when diffing history both sides should be read-only.

[duartemolha]

Can someone explain to me where I can set originalEditable ?

Really confused. That option is not listed on my settings v1.27.1

[Gettyk]

@duartemolha, open VSCode, open the command palette (on windows it's Ctrl + shift+ P), then type setting and open the Preferences: Open Settings (JSON).
Then you will see someting like this: https://code.visualstudio.com/assets/docs/getstarted/settings/hero.png

Then paste "diffEditor.originalEditable": true, inside the {}on the rigth part (in the image above, that would be just below editor.minimap....

Don't forget to end you line with a , !

[thomasfrobieter]

This setting is just working for the split view. If switched to inline view, i can't even just select (nor copy) the original text.

[t-hofmann]

would be nice to have that available also in the "ui" version of "settings"
Having both editable is very convenient for refactoring:

1. identify common code and
2. possibly move that to a parent-class

Nice. So Thanks :-)

To further enhance this feature, it would be nice if an edited source (left side) could consequently being saved in the "diff-view", that already works for the target-side (right).

[Paperalien]

It would be cool to have two buttons in the middle "copy changes from left to right" and vice versa.

Like this (Eclipse):

The ability to move code from the original to the new is pretty fundamental in vcs compare tools. I don't think I've ever found a diff tool before that doesn't have it.

[tdomhan]

"diffEditor.originalEditable": true, works perfectly! Is there any way to make this the new default? I can't imagine ever not wanting this on.

[bpasero]

I pushed a change to enable this by default if the left-hand editor is not readonly. Pressing CtrlCmd+S or File > Save will now save both sides of the diff editor.

Feedback welcome, it will be in tomorrows insider build: https://code.visualstudio.com/insiders/

[jharrang]

@bpasero Thanks for implementing! Now that this is closed, is it possible to finally implement https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/25887 and https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/37350? This would address a critically missing piece of editor functionality that has been heavily requested for over two years.

Also mentioning @alexandrudima who has been consolidating a number of issues to #25887

Thanks much!