Unified Diff: Disable when opening the file again / Reusing editor should disable unified diff

[danthe1st]

• I verified latest Integration Build of Eclipse SDK doesn't provide the feature.

Suggestion

When I view a diff using the new unified diff option, don't close the file and then open the file in some way, the unfied diff is still shown.

From a fresh installation and clean workspace:

• Enable Window > Preferences > Compare/Patch > Use Unified diff ...
• Create a project with two files, e.g. Test.txt and Test2.txt with some difference
• Select both and right click > Compare With > Each other

It then shows the diff between the files as intended:

If I then double-click the file in the project/package explorer, I still see the editor with the diff.

When trying to open the file again, Eclipse shouldn't show me the diff any more but only the file.

Considered approaches

I could see the following possibilities of implementing this

• When a file is opened and reused, the unified diff is cleared if possible
• When an editor is opened using the unified diff, it is not reusing an existing editor but opening a new one and making sure that one isn't reused. When opening another editor in the unified diff, it may be a good idea to close/replace the old unified diff editor (I think there's also a preference for reusing the 2-way compare editor?)

This should be ensured when opening the file via the project/package explorer or via other ways (e.g. Ctrl+Shift+T for Java types).

Community

• I understand suggesting an enhancement doesn't mandate anyone to implement it. Other contributors may consider this suggestion, or not, at their own convenience. The most efficient way to get it fixed is that I implement it myself and contribute it back as a good quality patch to the project.

[danthe1st]

@BeckerWdf FYI

This is something that stops me personally from using the unified diff and other people may feel in a similar way.

Especially if you plan on removing the "experimental" marker or eventually enabling the unified diff by default, you might want to consider this.