Vscode: Allow to type <filename>#<symbol> to see a list of symbols of that file

[wesbos]

Right now if I want to open a file to a specific symbol, the workflow is like this:

1. Open Command palette
2. fuzzy match the filename I want: rese for requestReset.js
3. hit the → arrow to open that file
4. At this point I can either type :10 to go to line to of the matched file
5. If I want to go to a symbol, like a function called runReset, I need to backspace the whole line and then type @runReset

It would be awesome if we could like rese@run and it would fuzzy match both the filename and the symbol. And rese:10 would open that same file but to line 10.

Some more examples: https://twitter.com/adamwathan/status/1225819393889882112

[vscodebot[bot]]

(Experimental duplicate detection)
Thanks for submitting this issue. Please also check if it is already covered by an existing one, like:

• Exact filename matches should come above fuzzy matches (#48691)
  

[wesbos]

Not a dupe, but thanks kind botty

[adamwathan]

It would be even better if we didn't have to hit the right-arrow at all, and just type rese@runR to get to the runReset function in the requestReset.js file 👍

[wesbos]

Yeah that is what I'm proposing here - do it all in one go. The command palette already has formatting to show both symbols and filenames, so it seems like they aren't that far off:

[roblourens]

It's interesting but saving one keypress doesn't really seem worth it to me. For example:

current workflow

• Type file name
• Press enter
• Trigger breadcrumbs e.g. (cmd+shift+period)
• Type symbol name

vs

• Type file name
• Type @
• Type symbol name

And the cost is complexity and losing the ability to search for a file with @ in the query. Not sure it's worth it. And this feature would be basically invisible.

Also for a real Sublime style experience we would need to open the file on focus which is an old issue: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/8939

[Cmacu]

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Cmacu.gotoanything

[bpasero]

@wesbos how would this work if there are multiple results matching on file name and you then type @, would it simply goto symbol of the first result you had in the list?

[wesbos]

It would show a list, just like it works right now if it matches multiple filenames. All this issue is asking is that we expand the matching algo

[bpasero]

@wesbos to clarify, assume I type openany and get the following 2 results:

• openAnythingHandler
• openAnyotherHandler

Now I continue and type openany# to show me some symbols. What happens now? We show the symbols of the 2 files combined that matched before?

[wesbos]

Ah! good point - I'd think yes just show all symbols for all matched files. There will obviously be a limit to what can be shown, just like file matching

[adamwathan]

I think it should show the symbols of the selected file, like Sublime does.

[bpasero]

Yes, that makes more sense to me, thanks a lot for sharing this 👍 . One thing where ST is clearly better is that they show a preview of the file in the background so you can even see the contents without having to open the file first. We have this under https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/8939

[Cmacu]

This was the exact behavior I tried to achieve with the GoToAnything plugin linked above:

• search within workspace files
• detect tokens (@,#,$) that perform symbol lookup within the selected file
• preview the currently selected result
• close the preview on Escape (couldn't figure the way for this so instead I just reactivated the original tab)

The implementation is far from perfect, but so far it worked fine for me. I am considering refactoring to improve performance. If the plan is to add something similar to VSCode that would be awesome!

[bpasero]

The preview tab requires a lot more infrastructure in the workbench to not mess up with the history and layout etc. I like how ST does it by not even opening a tab for the preview editor. We simply do not have such a concept on the workbench editor level yet.

I am sure we can implement this feature without preview tabs btw to begin with.

[Cmacu]

Sounds good to me.

The way I use this feature mostly is for quickly browsing the declared functions/methods in the selected file without opening it. Most of the time finding the name of the symbol is more than enough. The preview is just nice add-on at this point.

Another useful feature is being able to copy the name of the highlighted symbol directly from the quick pick.

One thing I was considering is adding the line of code, where the symbol is declared, in the result details section (the second row in each option). Just an idea.

[bpasero]

Current thinking:

Will be available in tomorrows insider build when you configure "workbench.quickOpen.enableExperimentalNewVersion": true

Some loose ends:

• currently not restoring the view state when you cancel the pick, editors will remain open
• may expand this same solution also when typing an editor number
• currently only supported in the "open anything" picker

It does also work with symbols if you configure "search.quickOpen.includeSymbols": true