Re-organize filesystem.filters config options

[cseickel]

This is triggered by the work I am doing on #149 and #148, which I am doing together because they are interrelated. As I try to expand on those config options, I realize that it is just confusing because I started out just passing through the options of a Pleanry scan_dir function that no longer really matches what we need.

Here is what I have right now, including the unreleased work in progress of #149 and #148. I don't actually like it:

require("neo-tree").setup({
  filesystem = {
    filters = {
      show_hidden = false,
      respect_gitignore = true,
      gitignore_source = "git status", -- or "git check-ignored", which may be faster in some repos

      -- The options below are from an unreleased WIP branch:
      exclude_items = {}, -- List of item names to skip, such as:
                          -- { 'node-module', '.DS_Store' }
      show_filtered = { -- Instead of hiding them completely, just mark the node as filtered and let
        exclude = true, -- the components display them differently, such as with a "dim text" highlight group
        gitignore = true,
        hidden = true
      }
    },
  ...

Cleanup Current Option Names

To start off with, is the label filters even the best choice? Maybe it should be called hidden or filtered_items?

Next, show_hidden is not quite accurate because it really refers to the *nix concept of hidden, which is to hide dotfiles (starting with a .). I think these should be renamed to dotfiles, which also reverses the meaning of boolean value to line up with the gitignore one. I would also change respect_gitignore to just gitignored, so instead of:

require("neo-tree").setup({
  filesystem = {
    filters = {
      show_hidden = false,
      respect_gitignore = true,
  ...

we have:

require("neo-tree").setup({
  filesystem = {
    filtered_items = {
      dotfiles = true,
      gitignored = true,
  ...

which is the same result as what we have for those settings in the top example but I think the meaning is clearer.

Additional Options for Exclude and Show Hidden

I want to discuss these at the same time because those additional options could affect the design of the entire section. To specify specific folders/files to exclude by name, I am proposing either:

require("neo-tree").setup({
  filesystem = {
    filtered_items = {
      dotfiles = true,
      gitignored = true,
      exclude_by_name = {
        ".DS_Store",
        "thumbs.db",
        "node_modules"
      },
      show_hidden = { -- just alter their display instead of completely removing them from the tree
        dotfiles = true,
        gitignored = true,
        excluded = false
      }
  ...

...or maybe the show_hidden option can be mixed into the individual items. In the example below, I've added a third state, which is "never show", the meaning of the settings are:

hidden = Hide by default, but allow you to toggle the hidden state and show it with a different highlight group or symbol
marked = Always show, but with a different highlight group or symbol
never show = Always hide it, even if you toggle showing other hidden items, this one will never be shown
EDIT: There really needs to be a fourth item that corresponds to false: "never hide"

require("neo-tree").setup({
  filesystem = {
    filtered_items = {
      dotfiles = "hidden", -- or "marked", or "never hide". "never show" probably wouldn't make sense
      gitignored = "marked", -- or "hidden", or "never hide". "never show" probably wouldn't make sense
      exclude_by_name = {
        [".DS_Store"] = "never show", -- or "hidden" or "marked"
        ["thumbs.db"] = "never show", --  or "hidden" or "marked" 
        ["node_modules"] = "marked"  -- or "hidden", "never show" probably wouldn't make sense for this one
      },
    }
  }
})

Toggle Commands

Since I brought up the subject of toggling hidden items above, I also want to mention that I find it annoying it toggle dotfiles and gitgnored with separate commands. Now that we are adding another group for "excluded" items, I think we need to drop the separate commands and just have one single toggle_all_hidden command which will show/hide all filtered_items at once.

Please let me know what you think and if anyone has any other ideas on this subject.

Thanks!

[cseickel]

Another thing that needs to be considered, is that one item may be caught by multiple filters with different settings. For example, given a folder called: .target and these filters:

require("neo-tree").setup({
  filesystem = {
    filtered_items = {
      dotfiles = "hidden", -- or "marked", or "skip". "never show" probably wouldn't make sense
      gitignored = "marked", -- or "hidden", or "skip". "never show" probably wouldn't make sense
      exclude_by_name = {
        [".target"] = "never show",
        [".DS_Store"] = "never show", -- or "hidden" or "marked"
        ["thumbs.db"] = "never show", --  or "hidden" or "marked" 
        ["node_modules"] = "marked"  -- or "hidden", "never show" probably wouldn't make sense for this one
      },
    }
  }
})

If .target is in the gitignore, then it is caught by every filter, and has the following values:

• "hidden" because it is a dotfile
• "marked" because it is gitignored
• "never show" because it is marked that way in the exclude_items table

So, does the most agressive "never show" override the others, or does the least aggressive "marked" take precedence? Or maybe it goes by strategy and exclude_by_name takes precedence over gitignored which takes precedence over dotfiles? Or the opposite?

Maybe there are too many variations and I should remove the four way value choice? If I go back to true/false and add one more category for never_show then it can be:

require("neo-tree").setup({
 filesystem = {
   filtered_items = {
     default_view = "hidden", -- or "marked". This applies to all means of identifying a hidden file.
     dotfiles = true,
     gitignored = true,
     hide_by_name = {
       "node_modules"
     },
     never_show = {
       ".target",
       ".DS_Store",
       "thumbs.db"
     },
   }
 }
})

and in that case, never_show takes precedence and .target is never shown. However, if it was:

require("neo-tree").setup({
 filesystem = {
   filtered_items = {
     default_view = "hidden", -- or "marked". This applies to all means of identifying a hidden file.
     dotfiles = true,
     gitignored = true,
     hide_by_name = {
       "node_modules"
     },
     never_show = {
       ".DS_Store",
       "thumbs.db"
     },
   }
 }
})

then .target would be hidden by default but can be toggled visible, probably with some markings. It can be marked with both a highlight group for dotfiles and also a [!!] or an icon in the git_status component.

Sorry for the long winded posts, but the more I think about it the more complicated it gets.

[nyngwang]

link my idea on the one of the related thread: #149 (comment)