File Explorer Feature Request

Development Tools IDE 2.x
1

Would it be possible to have the file explorer open editors list only include what you had open when last editing the sketch?

I am working with a project that has about twenty source files, every time I open the IDE the open editor list opens every file in the sketch. I have to close them all, then re-select the two or three I am actually working with... Every time.

2

Hi @darkerview.

This is the intentional design. All the source files present in the sketch folder are compiled to a single program. In addition, all the .ino files of a sketch are concatenated into a single C++ source file before compiling. This concatenation can be confusing even for users who are advanced in C++ programming but fairly new to Arduino.

This is all documented, but Arduino is intended to make the creation of embedded systems accessible even to the type of person who won't read the documentation before jumping in to a project. The Arduino way is to make these complex endeavors as intuitive as possible. The design of the Arduino IDE user interface communicates the sketch project file system intuitively by using a separate window for each sketch project and opening all the primary source files as editor tabs, with the tabs arranged in the order of .ino file concatenation.

So the "sketch per window" design of Arduino IDE is very intentional and important for Arduino's goal of making embedded systems accessible to everyone.

However, this only applies to the primary source files in the root of the sketch folder. The behavior of Arduino IDE is different for files located under the src subfolder of the sketch. The IDE does not automatically open these files in the editor. You can instead open them on demand via the "SKETCHBOOK" view. I'll describe the procedure in more detail:

  1. Select File > Preferences... (or Arduino IDE > Settings... for macOS users) from the Arduino IDE menus.
    The "Preferences" dialog will open.
  2. Check the box next to "Show files inside Sketches" in the "Preferences" dialog.
  3. Click the "OK" button.
    The "Preferences" dialog will close.
  4. Click the folder icon in the activity bar on the left side of the IDE window to open the "SKETCHBOOK" view.
  5. You will see a listing of the contents of your sketchbook folder. Click the ❯ icons to the left of the relevant entries to navigate to the file you want to open.
  6. Click on the file in the "SKETCHBOOK" view.

The file will open in a new editor tab. You can browse and edit the contents as needed. When you no longer need the tab, click the X icon on the tab to close it.

Note that the use of "Arduino language" .ino files is only supported in the root of the sketch folder. The files under the src subfolder must be C++/C (i.e., .h, .cpp, .c, etc.).

The contents of the src subfolder are compiled recursively, so you are welcome to organize your code files in arbitrary folder structures under that folder.

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