Dynamic Cmdline is distractingly too busy

[mcepl]

Describe the bug So, I have switched on the dynamic command line with

call rpcnotify(1, 'Gui', 'Option', 'Cmdline', 1)

in my ~/.config/nvim/ginit.vim and I don't observe anything too abnormal (no crashes or stuff like that). Jury is still out whether the dynamic popup command line is a good idea or not, but there is one thing which I am quite certain I don't like. The popup is just one character (or so) wide and continually extends itself to the currently written text. That's a bad idea, because constantly blinking graphical element feels quite distracting. Could we at least start with some reasonable width of the element (like ten or twenty characters width), so that most of the time the cmdline popup doesn't change, please?

Technical information (please complete the following information):

• OS: Linux openSUSE Tumbleweed, packages both for neovim itself and neovim-gtk from https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/home:mcepl:neovim/neovim
• Neovim version: commit neovim/neovim@ccb005b9e
• Neovim-Gtk build version: commit a440248

[daa84]

Think like not a big problem :smile: After using this solution some time i start to think more about classic solution with simple centered popup

[mcepl]

I actually like the idea the cmdline pops up close to my current cursor, so I don't have to switch my eyes to the bottom of the window all the time, but that dancing on the screen is really crazy.

[daa84]

What solution would be good in this case? Addition option to set default width? Or just increase default size? What good default value for this option?

[Anrock]

Width option with default value of 20, as @mcepl proposed sounds good for starters. Though i would prefer it centered horizontally on 3/4 window height and half window width. Like most ide\editors do it. Bonus points for autocomplete suggestions vertical list attached to bottom of the popup

[mcepl]

@Anrock I actually I really don't see much value in putting the command line box to the centre, not much different from the normal vi behaviour of getting it at the bottom of the screen.

[Anrock]

@mcepl i think there is advantage in having free space around popup in center: there is more space for autocomplete suggestions and they're more easily read being in a vertical stack than spread horizontally. And personally i, being a near-sighted, have troubles reading text at the edge of a screen.

[mcepl]

Hmm, perhaps. I am short-sighted too, but I don't see much difference whether the text is in the centre of the screen or at its bottom. Perhaps you are right.

[edubxb]

Any update on this?

I would really appreciate an option to have a more "conventional approach" for the command line (a centered popup in the center of the screen. :sweat_smile:).

Thank!