Suggestions: multiline editing, shortcuts, sign brush, copying types and colors, rotating

[oskarkk]

Hi, I really appreciate your plugin and I see a couple of ways it could improve.

1. Multiline editing

It'd be so nice if you could set multiple lines on a sign with one command. I suggest using pipe character | to separate the lines. So the command would look like /sign line1|line2|line3|line4. Trailing whitespace could be trimmed on each line, or it could be configurable. With whitespace stripping, line1|line2|line3|line4 would be equivalent to e.g. line1 | line2 | line3 | line4.

The limitation of having that as the default behavior of the /sign command would be that you obviously couldn't write a single line containing e.g. the word set. To write a line like that you could just write /sign 1 set. The same applies to writing pipe chars on sign.

2. Handy shortcuts

copy could be available also as cp
paste maybe as just p? or maybe copy as c and paste as v, like ctrl c and ctrl v?
Also, I think that when the clipboard is not empty, /sign with no arguments could paste the clipboard to the sign. That could also be configurable.

3. Copying from line to line

/sign cp 1 3 could copy line 1 to line 3, the same could work with cut.

4. Sign "brush"

That's maybe the most difficult of these ideas to implement. Even better alternative to pasting by /sign would be a new "mode" - sign brush. You could look on a sign and write /sign brush, and then every sign you would click after that would change to the text of the sign you looked at when writing /sign brush. You could disable this mode by writing /sign brush again.

That mode could also set the text on every new placed sign. On creative it could even place a sign (of the type of the original sign) on every clicked block even if you weren't holding any sign.

5. Changing/copying sign type and color

It would be reeeaaally great if you could change e.g. an oak sign to spruce sign without breaking the sign. On survival, the type of sign could be swapped with the sign you're holding in hand. The same with dyes. There could be a permission, which could allow you to recover the original dye.

The brush described in the previous point could have a mode for changing only the type and color of the sign.

6. Rotating the sign

It could be really simple like /sign rotate southwest or /sign rotate 7. Without any argument it could go into "rotation mode" and then every sign you would click would be rotated one step clockwise, or one step counterclockwise if you were sneaking while clicking.

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These things would really make this plugin the swiss knife of signs 😃 Sorry if I'm not describing these ideas clearly, I can show them on examples if you want.

[Deltik]

Thank you for the intriguing and detailed feature requests, @oskarkk!

I went through every suggestion and came up with this summary of my intentions:

#	Suggestion	Implement?	Rationale
1	Edit multiple lines with one command	Yes	I like the idea.
2	Alias /sign copy to /sign cp	No	cp looks like the Unix command cp, which has a different usage. Use tab completion of the existing subcommand instead.
2	Alias /sign copy to /sign c	No	c is ambiguous because it can mean cancel, clear, copy, or cut.
2	Alias /sign paste to /sign p	No	It is not immediately obvious what p means, especially when tab-completing.
2	Alias /sign paste to /sign v	No	v is ambiguous because it can mean version and doesn't intuitively mean "paste".
2	Alias /sign to /sign paste when the clipboard has contents	No	Changes existing behavior and isn't intuitive as an alias
3	Copy from one line to another with /sign cp <line_a> <line_b>	Yes, variation	Instead of implementing a second "copy" function, adapt the existing one to perform this sign edit in two steps.
3	Move one line to another with /sign cut <line_a> <line_b>	Yes, variation	As "cut" does not imply "paste", make this a two-step process where /sign paste should be called explicitly.
4	Repeatedly paste the targeted sign on right-click after running /sign brush	Yes, variation	Add /sign paste lock to repeat the pending sign edit action, as that is a concern of the "paste" function.
4	Paste the text on every new sign the player places while has a pending paste interaction.	Yes	A pending sign edit action applies to any targeted sign, including a new one.
5	Change the material of an existing sign without breaking it.	Yes	I agree that this would be a convenient feature.
5	When replacing an existing sign in survival mode, the material in hand should be swapped.	Yes, variation	Some more elaborate inventory management is needed to ensure items are preserved.
5	Dye swapping on the sign to recover the original dye, with permission	No	Dyes are consumable. It is not this plugin's job to create new items in survival mode.
5	Mode to replace the material of the sign repeatedly	Yes, variation	/sign paste is not concerned with the material of a sign. The repeated replacement should be part of /sign replace.
6	Rotate a floor sign with a command	Yes	I can imagine significant utility from this function, despite it counting as a block replacement. Other plugins need visibility into the rotation being performed.
6	Repeated rotation mode where every right-click rotates the sign clockwise and shift right-click rotates the sign counterclockwise.	Yes, variation	The repeated rotation mode is more intuitive as a scroll wheel action, not a right-click action.

You can read detailed proposed implementations of the requested features in the sections below.

Note that all these features will take a while to implement as I'm contributing to SignEdit for Bukkit in my free time, so it may be some time before the next release has these features.

1. Multi-Line Editing

Motivation

To be able to edit multiple lines of a sign with one command

Proposed Solution

A new /sign subcommand, /sign all, which takes a pipe (|)-delimited remainder that serializes all 4 sign lines into one line.

/sign all tab-completes all the existing sign lines, if the player is looking at an existing sign. Otherwise, it tab-completes |||, which the player can fill in with new sign lines.

To type a literal pipe in /sign all, escape it with a backslash (\|).

It is an error to have more than 3 unescaped pipes in the argument remainder.

The final one, two, or three pipes may be omitted, in which case the last one, two, or three lines will be blanked, respectively.

Implementation

I intend to implement this proposal because I like the convenience offered by the serialization.

Alternatives

/sign ui opens a sign editor that lets the player edit all four lines of a sign in one interface.

2. More Subcommand Aliases

Motivation

To shorten some sign subcommands

Proposed Solution

Alias	Command
/sign copy	/sign cp
/sign copy	/sign c
/sign paste	/sign p
/sign paste	/sign v

Implementation

The proposal will not be implemented for the following reasons:

Alias	Command	Why Not?
/sign copy	/sign cp	cp looks like the Unix command cp, which has a different usage.
/sign copy	/sign c	c does not obviously look like copy. SignEdit for Bukkit should be usable without referring to documentation.
/sign paste	/sign p	p does not obviously look like paste. SignEdit for Bukkit should be usable without referring to documentation.
/sign paste	/sign v	v does not obviously look like paste. SignEdit for Bukkit should be usable without referring to documentation.

Alternatives

Tab-complete the /sign subcommand (available since >= 1.10)

As of = 1.13.7:

• /sign copy will complete with /sign co<tab>.
• /sign paste will complete with /sign p<tab>.

3. Clipboard Shifting

Motivation

Move an existing sign line to another line

Proposed Solution

Change /sign copy and /sign cut to accept a second argument, which can be an integer or a plus sign and a whole number.
The index of every line of the selection will be shifted by the number, or if the argument is just a natural number, the top-most line number of the first argument will correspond to the second argument as an index.

Examples of how the clipboard will be populated:

• /sign copy 1 3 will put the contents of line 1 into line 3 of the clipboard.
• /sign copy 1-2 3 will put the contents of lines 1 and 2 into lines 3 and 4 of the clipboard.
• /sign copy 1-4 +1 will push down all the lines one index and move line 4 to line 1.
• /sign copy 1-4 -1 will pull all the lines up one index and move line 1 to line 4.
• /sign copy 1-4 +0 behaves exactly like /sign copy 1-4 and /sign copy.
• /sign copy 1-4 0 is not a valid input.
• /sign copy 0-3 0 behaves exactly like /sign copy 0-3 and /sign copy (when line-starts-at: 0).
• /sign copy 1-4 4 pushes down all the lines by 3 places and wraps the lines indices around the beginning.
• /sign copy 1-4 5 is not a valid input.
• /sign copy 1,3-4 2 pushes down all the lines by 1 place and moves line 4 to line 1.
• /sign copy 2 1 will put the contents of line 2 into line 1 of the clipboard.
• /sign cut 2-3 1 will remove lines 2 and 3 from the sign and put them into lines 1 and 2 of the clipboard.
• /sign cut 2-3 +5 will remove lines 2 and 3 from the sign and put them into lines 3 and 4 of the clipboard.
• /sign cut 2-3 -5 will remove lines 2 and 3 from the sign and put them into lines 1 and 2 of the clipboard.

The second argument will tab-complete all the possible positions or offsets without being redundant (so +7 won't be suggested because +3 doesn't wrap around more times than necessary).

For example:

• /sign copy 1 <tab> will tab-complete +1, +2, +3, 2, 3, and 4.
• /sign copy 2 <tab> will tab-complete -1, +1, +2, 1, 3, and 4.
• /sign copy 2-4 <tab> will tab-complete -1, +1, +2, 1, 3, and 4.

Also introduce a new /sign subcommand, /sign shift, which takes one argument (the offset), to shift the lines of an existing sign in-place without affecting the clipboard.

For example:

• /sign shift +1 will move all the lines down 1 position and wrap around the top.
• /sign shift 1 will move all the lines down 1 position and wrap around the bottom.
• /sign shift -1 will move all the lines up 1 position and wrap around the bottom.
• /sign shift 0 will not change the sign.
• /sign shift +4 will not change the sign.
• /sign shift +5 will move all the lines down 1 position and wrap around the top.

Implementation

I intend to implement this proposal because players may want a more convenient way to move text to different lines.

Alternatives

Tab-completion can help move a line to another line.

For example, to move line 1 to line 3:

1. Start with /sign 1 <tab>.
2. Move the console cursor back to the 1.
3. Erase the 1 and replace it with 3.
4. Submit the command.

4. Repeated Sign Cloning

Motivation

To duplicate a sign or at least its text onto multiple other signs rapidly

Proposed Solution

Change /sign paste to accept an argument, lock, to hold a pending right-click action until /sign cancel is run.

After running /sign paste lock, every right-click by the player pastes the clipboard contents onto a targeted sign until the pending action is canceled.
In this invocation, clicking: true is forced.

When the paste interaction is pending, the sign text change will also apply to newly placed signs by the same player.

Implementation

I intend to implement this proposal because this is now the second time I've been asked to make a repeated paste feature, the first time being #8.

Alternatives

Copy a sign with /sign copy and run /sign paste on every sign intended to be a copy.
Use the up arrow in the console to get access to /sign paste without needing to type it again.

5. Swapping Sign Material

Motivation

To change the material of a sign without losing its text

Proposed Solution

A new /sign subcommand, /sign replace, to replace the targeted sign with the one in the main hand.

In survival mode:

• The number of signs in the main hand is reduced by 1, and the material of the targeted sign is replaced with the material of the sign that was in the main hand.
• If the main hand no longer has an item, a sign of the original material is put into the same slot.
• Otherwise, a sign of the original material is appended to the player's inventory or placed in an available slot that has the same kind of sign, whichever is possible.
• If the player's inventory is full, the player drops a sign of the original material.

In creative mode, the inventory is not modified regardless of the usage of /sign replace.

/sign replace lock will persist /sign replace as the pending right-click action until /sign cancel is run.
In this invocation, clicking: true is forced.

Dye color will not be affected by the material changing.

compatibility.edit-validation: Standard will be changed to add checks for BlockBreakEvent and BlockPlaceEvent for this subcommand because the material change can normally only be done by breaking and replacing the block.

Implementation

I intend to implement this proposal because this is a reasonable thing for SignEdit for Bukkit to do as implied by its name.

Alternatives

/sign copy a sign, break the block, replace it with another sign, and /sign paste to restore the text.
This alternative will lose the dye color, however.

6. Sign Rotation

Motivation

To rotate a floor sign without needing to recreate it

Proposed Solution

A new /sign subcommand, /sign rotate, which takes an argument:

• lock sets the pending action to listen for the scroll wheel and rotate a sign one step clockwise on scroll down and one step counterclockwise on scroll up. Exit this mode with /sign cancel.
• A number from 0 to 15 of what absolute facing direction (rotation) to set the floor sign. 0 corresponds to south, 4 to west, 8 to north, et cetera.
• A case-insensitive string of the new direction to face (e.g. north, north_west). The underscore is optional, but the tab-completion completes with the underscore.
• A positive sign (+) or a negative sign (-) plus a number of how many 22.5° increments to rotate the sign clockwise. The tab completion completes -8 through +8.

If the targeted sign is a wall sign (not a floor sign), the subcommand errors out.

compatibility.edit-validation: Standard will be changed to add checks for BlockBreakEvent and BlockPlaceEvent for this subcommand because the rotation change can normally only be done by breaking and replacing the block.

Implementation

I intend to implement this proposal because this is a reasonable thing for SignEdit for Bukkit to do as implied by its name.

Alternatives

/sign copy a sign, break the block, place it again in the correct position and rotation, and /sign paste to restore the text.

[oskarkk]

Wow, that's a comprehensive response :D If you'll implement even half of these things it'll be awesome. Some comments:

1. Multi-Line Editing

I think it could be the default action of /sign. How many times the user wants to edit just one line of the sign, compared to how many times the user wants to edit whole sign or multiple lines? I think it would be better for the default action to to be the action that is needed the most. And it doesn't even break existing behavior. If you want to be sure you could make a poll on plugin discussion thread on spigot forum or something and let the users decide.

If you're certain that you won't make this the default behavior, I think that /sign bulk isn't a good name. It sounds rather like editing multiple signs at once or something. I'd suggest /sign whole or /sign lines. Maybe /sign multi, but that also suggests multiple signs rather than lines.

2. Aliases

SignEdit for Bukkit should be usable without referring to documentation.

If you add aliases people who wouldn't know about their existence will still be able to use 100% of the plugin, so the plugin will still be usable without the documentation. It will be just one or two keys faster to use for people who know these aliases. I think that if you have tens of signs to edit even little shortcuts like that can be nice.

In Unix cp copies the file content, in SignEdit cp would copy the sign content, I'd say that usage is quite similar.

By the way, you could add an alias for the entire /sign command - I propose /se as I think it's not used by the most popular plugins. It should certainly have an option to turn it off. Many plugins have shortcuts like that, like WorldGuard with /wg and /rg, Skript with /sk, /essentials with /ess, etc. etc.

3. Copying to different lines

Your idea is good, but I thought about copying a line from sign to the same sign in one command.

6. Sign rotation

A number of how many 22.5° increments to rotate the sign clockwise. A number without a prepended sign is assumed to be prepended with +. The tab completion completes -8 through +8.

I think it would be better to have the number without a prepended sign correspond to direction (0 = north), as I think it's more natural since Minecraft itself uses numbers for storing sign direction and you can see it on F3 screen:

And it would be easier than writing e.g. north_north_east.

[Deltik]

Hello @oskarkk!

I've made some tweaks to the proposed implementations based on this second round of feedback from you:

#	Suggestion	Accepted?	Rationale
1	Call it /sign whole instead of /sign bulk	Yes	I would have chosen /sign serialize, but it's too long and obscure.
1	/sign as an alias of /sign whole	No	The usage would be too confusing/ambiguous if the serialized sign begins with an existing subcommand or subcommand alias like set or 1.
1	Poll existing users for making /sign the alias to /sign whole	No	The serialization could conflict with existing /sign subcommands.
2	/sign cp as an alias of /sign copy	No	On Unix, cp copies a source to a destination. /sign copy only copies a source to the clipboard. It would break existing behavior to change that.
2	/se as an alias of /sign	Not applicable	/se is already an alias of /sign and has been since >= 1.4.
3	One command to copy/cut a sign line and paste it to another line	No	I see why this would be useful and might want to offer something like /sign cp and /sign mv, but it may confuse users to have two different copy/cut implementations, especially since the existing /sign copy looks like /sign cp and might be mistaken for an alias.
6	Absolute position number as an argument to /sign rotate	Yes	This behavior is intuitive to me.

You can find the accepted changes in the edit history of the proposal comment.