Automatic jump to the first search result in the document window

[Moonlight]

The search feature of Atlantis is already very good and quick but I think it could be made even a little bit more comfortable in the following way:

At the moment it works as follows:

"As soon as you specify text in the Find what box of the panel, it starts searching the target document(s) for the specified text. Found items, if any, get reported through the Results box"
(https://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/e ... eplace.htm )

So the very useful feature "Find as you type" (Incremental search) is already implemented in Atlantis, but only to a certain degree.

Because in order to see the first search result in the document window I have to click on it in the list with the results or at least hover the mouse over the entry.

To my mind it would be an additional convenience if - parallel with typing - the first search result would already be visible immediately in the document window so that no other clicking or hovering would be necessary.

An example:

2026-02-11_010240.jpg (28.43 KiB) Viewed 1464 times

- When I type "VERTR" into the "Find what-Box" the first word in my document beginning with these letters (= VERTRAG) would be visible already in the document window.
- When I continue typing "VERTRAGE" there would again be performed a jump to the first matching word in the document window (= VERTRAGEN), and so on.

That's the way in which the search for example in "SumatraPDF" works (at least currently in version 3.5.2).

But I admit that for users with different needs in searching, these "jumps" in the document might be annoying. So perhaps it could be realized only as an option. (?)

[admin]

Thanks for your suggestion.

This is a common feature in many document viewing and editing applications. We will see how it can be integrated in the Find/Replace tool of Atlantis.

And speaking of jumpiness, the “Mouse hover previews” of the Control Board can be quite distracting at times. I personally think that this option needs to be redesigned a little bit.

By the way, did you know that you can go to the first found item in the document window by pressing Enter in the "Find what" box of the Find/Replace tool?

[Moonlight]

By the way, did you know that you can go to the first found item in the document window by pressing Enter in the "Find what" box of the Find/Replace tool?

Yes, I did, and I use this method pretty often as it is very comfortable too.

But especially when you want to find the one and only existing result, typically within documents like lists, indexes, dictionaries, encyclopedias etc. the "automatic jump" is even a little bit more convenient.

So I am glad about your statement :

We will see how it can be integrated in the Find/Replace tool of Atlantis.

Thanks.

[admin]

This feature is available in version 5.0.1.3.

[Moonlight]

And it works excellently. Searching is incredibly quick and comfortable now.

Thank you very much for adding this feature.

[Richard Watts]

Hi, have just installed the update and find the new feature really, really annoying for my workflow!

Is there an option to turn if off? If not, can we have one please, thank you!

[admin]

Can you please share some details on why it is annoying?

By the way, the automatic scrolling by the Find/Replace tool gets canceled if you click the “Cancel search” button:

cancel_search.png (8.13 KiB) Viewed 934 times

or just press the Esc key when the input focus (the blinking cursor) is within the “Find what” or “Replace with” boxes.

[Richard Watts]

Yep, am aware of 'cancel search', but it adds in another step compared to the previous version. To explain...

The annoying bit is this: upon searching, and then clicking on a search result other than the top one, when I enter new text into the document near the searched-for text the cursor automatically jumps back to the first entry, rather than let me just enter the text, which is both disconcerting and unhelpful for my workflow. True, this doesn't happen if I 'cancel search' first in the manner you mentioned, but then that's adding in another step to what for me is a frequently used feature, slowing workflow down.

I've rolled back to the previous version for the time being, but would love the option to turn the new feature off, for the reason just given.

[Moonlight]

the cursor automatically jumps back to the first entry

I can confirm this behaviour and I would like to add that I notice that the same happens (for a second) in another situation too. There it has to do with the "Mouse hover previews" mentioned above by admin:

And speaking of jumpiness, the “Mouse hover previews” of the Control Board can be quite distracting at times. I personally think that this option needs to be redesigned a little bit.

When hovering (in the list with the search results) from one result to the next (e.g. from result 35 to 36), there is in the document window for a short time (just a second or so) a jump back to the first result (= result 1). Only afterwards (still during hovering with the mouse) the "correct" jump to result 36 is performed. That's indeed a little bit distracting.

So I think that the undesired "jump back to the beginning" (in two different situations) is not an argument against the new feature. It seems to be simply a bug that I am optimistic that it can be fixed.

[Richard Watts]

I agree with you, Moonlight!

[admin]

The new option in 5.0.1.3 brings the first (closest to the start of the document) match into view every time the user requests a new search string, usually by typing new text into the “Find what” box. Since, unlike the “Find/Replace” dialog the “Find/Replace” panel of the Control Board does not search the document starting at the current cursor location but performs a global search, bringing the first match into view seems natural. But the user may not need this automatic scrolling, for instance, when they plan to examine individual matches by selecting them in the “Find/Replace” panel. So, making this option toggleable makes sense.

The “Mouse hover previews” is a separate feature. It temporarily brings the object into view in the document window when you hover the mouse over the corresponding link in the Control Board. As soon as the mouse pointer leaves the link, the previous scrolling position in the document window is restored. If you move the cursor quickly from one link to another, this can create a situation when over a very short period of time Atlantis cancels the preview of the link #1 and then performs another scroll in order to bring the object associated with the link #2 into view. Maybe the mouse hover previews should not be canceled immediately after the mouse pointer has left the corresponding link but after a delay. If the user requests another preview within this short period of time, Atlantis would immediately generate a new preview without restoring the initial scrolling position changed by the first preview. As I said, the “Mouse hover previews” feature may need to be tweaked a little bit.

[Moonlight]

Thanks for the explanations and infos.

The “Mouse hover previews” is a separate feature. [...] Maybe the mouse hover previews should not be canceled immediately after the mouse pointer has left the corresponding link but after a delay.

Yes, to my mind this would be useful. I do not use the mouse hover previews so often but when I do so, it usually happens in the following way: I scroll in the panel step by step from entry (link) #1 to #2 to #3 etc., every time making a short look into the document window, either if it is the place in the document for which I am looking and/or if it is the place where I have to edit something. If this is not the case, I wander (= hover) to the next entry/link in the panel. So for me it would be quite logical and comfortable (for the eyes) that the preview e.g. for #54 remains as long until I change to #55 (or any other one). - But that's for my typical way of using the mouse hover previews. Maybe that other users have different needs.

[Richard Watts]

My point is, after a search when I enter text into the document at a searched point other than the first, in the document itself the cursor quickly jumps back to the first point in the 'Find What' results, rather defeating the purpose of finding the point in the document itself. This happens without changing the 'Find What' search whatsoever.

[admin]

You are right, Richard. This happens when the first match and the match you clicked in the Find/Replace panel are not located close to each other. This will be fixed soon. Sorry for this.

Moonlight, there will probably soon be changes to the "Mouse hover previews" option, too.

[Richard Watts]

Thank you, admin, and just a word of appreciation: you folks are the most responsive software engineers I've ever come across, God bless you!

I've you ever get time to do a spreadsheet, now that would be something (I currently use Spread32 for same basic calculations, and Excel for most work, but to see the 'Atlantis touch' in a spreadsheet would be very, very interesting).

Thank you once again.

[admin]

you folks are the most responsive software engineers I've ever come across

Thank you, Richard!

Please check the new version 5.0.1.4. The “hover” previews are now canceled after a delay, and there is a new “Scroll first match into view” option in the “Find/Replace” panel:

scroll_1st_match.png (13.47 KiB) Viewed 407 times