add toolbar macro separator param to insert "|" between items

[EricShulman]

Extend the <<toolbar>> macro parameters syntax to permit use of "|" as separators between item groups:

merge(config.macros.toolbar,{
	separator: "|"
	});

config.macros.toolbar.handler = function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler)
{
...
		switch(c) {
			case '|':  
			case '!':  // (alternative for use in ToolbarCommands slices)
				createTiddlyText(place,this.separator);
				break;
			case '>':
...

[FND]

Isn't this a presentation issue, and should thus be solved with CSS - e.g. something like this:

.toolbar {
    overflow: hidden;
    padding-right: -1px;
}

.toolbar .button {
    border: 1px solid;
    border-width: 0 1px;
    margin-right: -1px;
}

[FND]

Correction - that CSS code should be:

.toolbar {
    overflow: hidden;
    padding-right: -1px;
}

.toolbar .button {
    border: 1px solid #000;
    border-width: 0 1px 0 0;
    margin-right: -1px;
}

[EricShulman]

Replying to FND: You've misunderstood the feature! The purpose is not to put a line between *every* item... it is to allow specfication of a separator bar as desired between specific items. This idea is similar to how you can selectively add separators between toolbar buttons in the browser to create logical groupings.

For example, using the standard toolbar for the ViewTemplate?:

closeTiddler closeOthers ! +editTiddler > fields ! syncing permalink references jump

would be displayed as:

close close others | edit more

...and when more is clicked:

close close others | edit fields | sync permalink references jump

[FND]

Replying to EricShulman:

You've misunderstood the feature!

I did indeed - sorry 'bout that. I've slightly modified the description accordingly.

[EricShulman]

In ticket609.patch, the 'separator' definition for config.macros.toolbar should be added to the existing 'merge(config.macros.toolbar' in lingo.js

That is, the existing code:

merge(config.macros.toolbar,{
	moreLabel: "more",
	morePrompt: "Reveal further commands"
	});

should be changed to:

merge(config.macros.toolbar,{
	moreLabel: "more",
	morePrompt: "Reveal further commands",
	separator: "|"
	});

rather than adding a separate merge for 'separator' by itself

[FND]

Replying to EricShulman:

In ticket609.patch, the 'separator' definition for config.macros.toolbar should be added to the existing 'merge(config.macros.toolbar' in lingo.js

Good catch - done.

[EricShulman]

as per Developer Conference Call discussion on 10-Nov-2008, it was suggested that only one separator syntax, "|" (pipe) or "!" (exclamation), should be implemented. Due to the inability to use "|" within table-formatted slice definitions, such as those in ToolbarCommands?, it makes sense to go with "!" rather than "|".

[FND]

Replying to EricShulman:

Due to the inability to use "|" within table-formatted slice definitions, such as those in ToolbarCommands?, it makes sense to go with "!" rather than "|".

Actually, we've recently improved the slices RegEx? to support pipes within slice values:

[[GettingStarted]]: "|foo|bar|baz|"
store.getTiddlerSlice("GettingStarted", "foo"); // returns "bar|baz"

Thus using the pipe should be possible, which might be easier for users to grasp.

[EricShulman]

Replying to FND:

Actually, we've recently improved the slices RegEx? to support pipes within slice values: Thus using the pipe should be possible, which might be easier for users to grasp.

Hmmm... while 'pipe' might be a slight bit easier, using the | within the slice makes it harder to recognize the table cell boundaries when looking at the tiddler *source*, and may make errors more likely when editing the slice table. Using "!" within the slice to define toolbar separators provides a distinct but low-key difference in appearance that reduces that potential for confusion.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, suppose I write:

|ViewToolbar|close closeOthers | editTiddler|
|EditToolbar|saveTiddler cancelTiddler deleteTiddler|

while "close closeOthers | editTiddler" is treated as a single slice value, it will be *rendered* as three separate columns, instead of two... but the row following it has no toolbar separators, which *does* display as two cells (as expected). If a toolbar definition contains several separators, the table could render with a different number of cells in each row, which could result in some *very* odd appearances, where one very wide cell pushes all the remaining cells far to the right.

One last thought... there is a plugin somewhere (I think written by Lyall) that extends the slice table to allow multiple columns, as well as a proposed extension to the slice table syntax to support column headings to create simple 'database' lookup tables using references like "TiddlerName::SliceName::ColumnName?" or perhaps "TiddlerName::SliceName?(ColumnName?)". It seems to me that using "|" within a slice table definition would make that implementation problematic at best.

[FND]

Replying to EricShulman:

Good points, Eric - I concur that using an exclamation mark is probably the better solution then.

[FND]

It appears more discussion is required here, so we've decided to push this to 2.5.1 to avoid delaying the 2.4.2 release.

[EricShulman]

adds more/less toggle and separator syntax to toolbar handler

[EricShulman]

as per dicussion with Martin, I've attached a proper patch file for this change (add separators) as well as ticket #608 (more/less toggle)

[MartinBudden]

Fixed in changeset:9528