Adding, inserting, pasting nodes in EG at the point of the cursor

bbenbaruch · ‎03-14-2019

When I copy and paste a program node in an EG Process Flow the new node is placed willy-nilly in the Process Flow window. In a "busy" Process Flow, this often makes it difficult to find the new node. I should be able to place it at the point of the cursor, that is, I should get to decide where it goes rather than some silly willy-nilly automatic placement.

Similarly, when I choose to run all or a section of the code in a Program node AND do not want it to replace/override the current log attached to the Program Node, the new node should be placed near the current node rather than in some silly willy-nilly place in the Process Flow window.

fifthand57th · ‎03-18-2019

@bbenbaruch

In the latest version of EG, 7.15, when you turn off Auto-Arrange then copy and paste a code node to another location in the process flow, the node is pasted where your cursor is pointing in the process flow grid. Are you using release 7.15 hot fix 7? And if so, what is the behavior you experience?

I want to ensure that I document this correctly in the feature request. Thanks!

bbenbaruch · ‎03-18-2019

I am using EG 7.15 (7.100.5.5850) (32-bit). (Is that hot fix 7? I don't know and hot fixes in our shop can only be applied by IT and they almost never apply hotfixes.)

I always turn auto-arrange off because I don't like the way auto-arrange arranges things. When I copy and paste a node to another location it NEVER pastes the node to where my cursor is pointing. (My operating system is Win10.) After pasting I have to search my screen for its location.

fifthand57th · ‎03-19-2019

@bbenbaruch

EG 7.100.5.6177 is EG 7.15 with hot fix 7 applied.

I created a short video to demo what happens in 7.15 HF7 when you copy and paste code nodes with Auto-Arrange turned off, https://sasboxspace.box.com/s/h6m0fqoto3f7m41jfakps4jsl4tngc5v

I think this is the behavior you have asked for. If it is not, I will definitely open a feature request on your behalf.

fifthand57th · ‎03-22-2019

@bbenbaruch

I've tried to replicate this several different ways and believe I finally have. It depends on the size of your process flow. If you open a new project, create a code node, and copy/paste it within the presented process flow without scrolling down or to the right, then the copied code node is placed where your cursor is. If you scroll down or to the right, that does NOT happen.

I'm not going to open a feature request for this, but a defect. It is not functioning as expected.

Thanks for alerting us to this issue!

bbenbaruch · ‎03-22-2019

Thank you for investigating this. One of the great advantages of EG over Base SAS is the ability to organize work in a Process Flow. But one of the most frustrating issues with EG is the problems with using Process Flows when (1) we have large and/or complex projects (in terms of steps), and (2) use program nodes with raw code rather than use EG's drop down menus and code-generating nodes to generate code.