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Scratchpad End Of Life
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Nicolas Chevobbe
Oct 30, 2019, 6:01:03 AM10/30/19
to dev-developer-tools, firef...@mozilla.org
(Cross posting to dev-developer-tools and firefox-dev)
In the beginning of the week we removed the Scratchpad tool from DevTools [1].
In the beginning of the week we removed the Scratchpad tool from DevTools [1].
Scratchpad provided an environment for experimenting with JavaScript code where you could write, run, and examine code against the content page or the browser environment.
It was built half a decade ago, using XUL, which we're trying to move away from (mainly, XUL).
It was built half a decade ago, using XUL, which we're trying to move away from (mainly, XUL).
Given its low usage and the amount of work it would take to make it use standard technologies, we decided to put it to sleep.
Even if it's not widely used, it's a critical tool for people using it [2], so we tried our best to provide a similar workflow directly in the console panel.
You should be able to use the Console Editor mode as a replacement (from the Browser Console or Browser Toolbox Console if you need to target Browser Environment), and maybe have a less confusing, better experience while iterating over a piece of code [3].
Most people using Scratchpad told us an important feature of this tool was the ability to save and load files, which we plan to add very soon in the Console [4].
The Bugzilla Scratchpad module will be moved to the graveyard [5], but if you think some of the bugs there would be nice to have in the console, feel free to move them.
We hope we didn't make anyone's job harder doing this. If you think there's something critical missing with the current tools, please file a bug and we'll try to address it.
[1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1519103
[2] I heard stories of people only developing within Scratchpad, no external editors
[3] Results (including errors) where displayed as comments in Scratchpad, which I think wasn't a great experience.
[4] For now, very simple keyboard shortcut as part of https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1592308. We'll try to expose that in the UI later as part of https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1584259
[5] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1592303
Even if it's not widely used, it's a critical tool for people using it [2], so we tried our best to provide a similar workflow directly in the console panel.
You should be able to use the Console Editor mode as a replacement (from the Browser Console or Browser Toolbox Console if you need to target Browser Environment), and maybe have a less confusing, better experience while iterating over a piece of code [3].
Most people using Scratchpad told us an important feature of this tool was the ability to save and load files, which we plan to add very soon in the Console [4].
The Bugzilla Scratchpad module will be moved to the graveyard [5], but if you think some of the bugs there would be nice to have in the console, feel free to move them.
We hope we didn't make anyone's job harder doing this. If you think there's something critical missing with the current tools, please file a bug and we'll try to address it.
[1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1519103
[2] I heard stories of people only developing within Scratchpad, no external editors
[3] Results (including errors) where displayed as comments in Scratchpad, which I think wasn't a great experience.
[4] For now, very simple keyboard shortcut as part of https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1592308. We'll try to expose that in the UI later as part of https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1584259
[5] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1592303
Patrick Brosset
Oct 31, 2019, 5:39:44 AM10/31/19
to Nicolas Chevobbe, dev-developer-tools, Firefox Dev
Thank you Nicolas for putting so much effort into making the Console the best it can be for everyone, including past Scratchpad users.
I have to admit I was a fairly heavy user of Scratchpad myself, but the new console multi-line editor + console history search functionalities have definitely won me over. There is nothing I did before that I can't do anymore, and I am actually more productive now.
I understand that some people might miss the editor-nature of scratchpad, with its ability to open and save files. DevTools is a small team, and absolutely needs to focus all of its efforts on the most impactful things it can do. I am convinced that opening and saving source files in a text editor isn't the most impactful thing for the DevTools team to do at the moment.
Thanks!
Patrick
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