I downloaded Programmer's Notepad (ver. 2) this morning and have been using it to do my work today, "kicking the tires" on it. So, also, take my remarks here with the caveat that due to my unfamiliarity with PN2 there may be something that's there and I just don't know about it yet.
In trying out the Workspace functionality ("workspaces" is a primary feature of a text editor for me) I discovered some problems. Not bugs per se, just that the function right now is very weak.
1. Each workspace should be an independent "entity", but they aren't. There are a number of problems related to the workspace concept, since the implementation of it is so very basic in PN2:
a. There is no "Save Workspace" function. ("Save Workspace As" is for saving a new workspace, not saving the current workspace. Of course, if there was a "Save Workspace" and the current workspace was not from an opened workspace, then "Save Workspace" would need to default over to "Save Workspace As".)
b. When you open a workspace ("Open Workspace"), this should close the current workspace (and save it, or ask if you want to save it), and then open the workspace. Currently when you "Open Workspace" it opens the files of that workspace right into the current workspace. This is not good.
c. This is just a little bit more esoteric, but going along with making workspaces highly functional would be to have a "Recent Workspaces" list, like the "Recent Files" list.
2. I use MDI layout on my windows almost exclusively, and for a workspace may have 10, or 20, or more windows open at the same time, and may also have the windows sized and positioned for very specific reasons in the context in which I'm looking at and using the files at the same time. Unfortunately the PN2 workspace file does not record anything about the MDI layout of the current workspace. So if you save your workspace, close PN2 (because, remember, you can't "Close Workspace"), then open PN2, then open the workspace, the windows are just cascaded with the default window size. This is not good.
I think that's it. If these basic mechanisms were implemented this would make the workspace system in PN2 a truly workable workspace system.
