Add editor shortcuts to toggle bottom panel visibility

[Calinou]

Default shortcuts typically use the first or second letter of each word (with a few exceptions such as TileMap and TileSet to ensure consistency). Editor plugins can also specify shortcuts for their own bottom panels.

This also adds also a new shortcut to toggle the last opened bottom panel. On editor startup, this defaults to the first panel in the list (which is the Output panel).

All shortcuts are nearly organized in their own section of the Editor Settings Shortcuts dialog for easy access, and are also available in the command palette:

One issue is that the individual toggle shortcuts don't work if you're currently focusing on the Tree node in either the scene tree dock or FileSystem dock. Shortcuts will work if you're focused on their filter LineEdits though. I've tried to use tb->set_shortcut_context(nullptr) to no avail.

• This closes Add hotkeys for the editor's bottom panels [output, debugger, search results, audio, animation] godot-proposals#380.

Preview

editor_bottom_panel_shortcuts.mp4

The shortcut appears in the tooltip when the button is hovered:

[Mickeon]

I feel like a default shortcut set for every single one of those panels is overkill. Outside of the always-present 5 ones, it is also extremely unlikely that all these panels will be open at the same time

If it is later planned to use any of those Alt combinations for anything else it becomes much harder to argue with (Script Editor's CTRL + D is already a big example right now).

[kitbdev]

Should we add them to the command palette as well? Since there are commands to switch main screens.

[passivestar]

Yeah I agree with @Mickeon, it's probably best to leave all of the non-persistent buttons unbound and let the users bind what they need. For example I'd rarely need a hotkey for TileMap just because I don't make 2D games, Replication is only needed if you make multiplayer games, etc etc

[Calinou]

If it is later planned to use any of those Alt combinations for anything else it becomes much harder to argue with (Script Editor's CTRL + D is already a big example right now).

I can change the permanent bottom panels' shortcuts to take priority over the temporary ones (in the sense that permanent bottom panels would always use the first letter as their shortcut). By the way, perhaps permanent bottom panels should be displayed differently from temporary bottom panels.

Regarding shortcuts that only use Alt as a modifier, we don't have a lot of those right now. We'd probably have much more if we had proper support for accelerators / access keys, but there are no known plans to implement those in the short term.

[ajreckof]

So first I'm not sure if this a problem per se but they are two bottom panel associated with Alt+T
The second is a real problem. On mac Option + Letter will result in special symbols.
Option + N -> ~
Option + T -> †
Option + A -> æ
Option + D -> ∂
Option + O -> œ
Option + L -> ¬
Option + E -> ê
Option + R -> ®
Option + H -> Ì
Option + I -> î
Option + P -> π
Option + T -> †
Option + M -> µ
Option + S -> Ò
I think out of all of them only the R will not trigger a writing this means whenever the script main panel is opened using those shortcuts will add some random characters in the middle of your scripts. On the other end preventing them could be catastrophic for example Option + N and Option + O are two that I use a lot when writing strings. I feel the best solution should to have different shortcuts for Mac Not 100% sure how it was handled for other Alt + Letter shortcuts that might have been added previously.

[Mickeon]

There are some default shortcuts on Mac that are different for similar reasons, so they would need to either be something else on that platform or stripped out entirely.

[Cammymoop]

Can we include a shortcut to toggle? Hide current panel if visible, otherwise show last open panel. Doesn't need a default mapping but I think it's worth one. Similar thing in VSCode is ctl-j not sure why J but it does seem free to map.

[Calinou]

Should we add them to the command palette as well? Since there are commands to switch main screens.

Done. I've also renamed shortcuts to make them easier to search.

Can we include a shortcut to toggle? Hide current panel if visible, otherwise show last open panel. Doesn't need a default mapping but I think it's worth one. Similar thing in VSCode is ctl-j not sure why J but it does seem free to map.

Good idea; I've added Ctrl + J to toggle the last opened bottom panel.

[KoBeWi]

Needs rebase.

[Calinou]

Needs rebase.

Rebased and tested again, it works as expected.

[akien-mga]

Needs a compat method binding:

Validate extension JSON: Error: Field 'classes/EditorPlugin/methods/add_control_to_bottom_panel/arguments': size changed value in new API, from 2 to 3.
Validate extension JSON: Error: Hash changed for 'classes/EditorPlugin/methods/add_control_to_bottom_panel', from D22B1750 to 069E37CD. This means that the function has changed and no compatibility function was provided.

[viksl]

I'm getting some merge conflicts when trying this PR with master, is this meant for 4.3 rebase or some later 4.X version perhaps?

[KoBeWi]

Still not a fan of adding that many shortcuts, but it has some merits it seems. Though if shifting button positions are the problem, we could rework it to make them more stable (e.g. always add new buttons at the end and allow rearranging them).

Code-wise looks fine.

[Calinou]

Rebased and squashed with the review suggestions incorporated.

[akien-mga]

I feel like a default shortcut set for every single one of those panels is overkill. Outside of the always-present 5 ones, it is also extremely unlikely that all these panels will be open at the same time

If it is later planned to use any of those Alt combinations for anything else it becomes much harder to argue with (Script Editor's CTRL + D is already a big example right now).

I want to echo that, I feel adding a default unique hotkey to every single panel, even some which are very contextual and only appear when a specific node is selected (like Replication, etc.) is overkill.

I would only set default hotkeys for the panels which are always present: Output, Debugger, Audio, Animation, Shader Editor, and now FileSystem since it can also be moved to the bottom panel.

The rest can have shortcuts without a default binding, so users who need them can set their own preferred bindings (e.g. for TileMap / TileSet for users who do tiles-based 2D games, or Replication for users making multiplayer games with the high level multiplayer API).

[Calinou]

I would only set default hotkeys for the panels which are always present: Output, Debugger, Audio, Animation, Shader Editor, and now FileSystem since it can also be moved to the bottom panel.

The rest can have shortcuts without a default binding, so users who need them can set their own preferred bindings (e.g. for TileMap / TileSet for users who do tiles-based 2D games, or Replication for users making multiplayer games with the high level multiplayer API).

Done.

[KoBeWi]

I see the shortucts are still there 🤔

[akien-mga]

Hm yes you forgot to push :P

[akien-mga]

Thanks!

[njt1982]

Does https://docs.godotengine.org/en/4.3/tutorials/editor/default_key_mapping.html need updating?

[Calinou]

Does docs.godotengine.org/en/4.3/tutorials/editor/default_key_mapping.html need updating?

• Done in Update Default editor shortcuts for Godot 4.3+ godot-docs#10046.