this is an experimental zoom affect in combination with mouse scroll :
This utilities the Opt/Alt-Scroll feature to zoom in/out out and what is happening is that when I zoom out far enough, the workspace tab is changed automatically. Or when I zoom in, the workspace is also changed. Either going left or right up the workspace tab bar.
So the idea is to have endless canvases, to have endless zoom. Imagine zooming in on a subflow-node and then automatically switching to the subflow definition when the zoom is close enough.
The other idea behind this scrolling is that workspace/flow layers can be represented, i.e., imagine having data not only flowing from left to right but also from below to up or top to down. It is this latter data flow that could be represented by this zoom effect.
The code for this is this change in the RED.workspace function space:
function zoomIn() {
if (scaleFactor < 2.5) {
zoomView(scaleFactor+0.05);
} else {
let idx = RED.nodes.getWorkspaceOrder().indexOf(RED.workspaces.active()) + 1;
if ( idx < RED.nodes.getWorkspaceOrder().length ) {
RED.workspaces.show(RED.nodes.getWorkspaceOrder()[idx],false,false,true);
zoomView(0.1);
}
}
}
function zoomOut() {
if (scaleFactor >= 0.1) {
zoomView(scaleFactor-0.05);
} else {
let idx = RED.nodes.getWorkspaceOrder().indexOf(RED.workspaces.active()) - 1;
if ( idx > -1 ) {
RED.workspaces.show(RED.nodes.getWorkspaceOrder()[idx],false,false,true);
zoomView(2.5);
}
}
}
It would be if the zoom in would be centred on the mouse cursor Noticed that zooming in does not use the mouse cursor as point to zoom in to, I think that was one of the features of the presentation tool (having used it briefly and then leaving in a could of confusion!)
This is interesting. In my opinion, the Node-RED editor could do with the following two upgrades:
Opt/Alt-Scroll feature currently zooms in using the centre of the canvas as the zoom point. This is incredibly annoying. When you zoom out very far, then zoom back in, it always takes you to the centre of the canvas (which in most cases is empty) then you have to use the sideways scroll bars to see your nodes again. Is there a way to change this behaviour, so the zoom point uses the current mouse position? I really think that should be the default behaviour.
If anyone has ever used CAD software (for example Sketchup / PCB design programs like Eagle / Fusion etc.) then this will be familiar.
Yes the "infinite scroll" idea is excellent. I didn't know until experimenting just now that you can Ctrl-Double-Click on a subflow and it opens it. That's a time saver, but I find it takes a tiny bit too much cognitive energy for me to recall Ctrl or Alt or Shift click shortcuts. So infinite zoom is a better idea for me. As long as it's intuitive - and as long as you can customise it in some small way* - then I really think it could be included in a core Node-RED update
*e.g.
a) Ability to enable / disable (disabled by default)
b) Ability to set threshold when zooming in (how far do you zoom in to subflow before it opens the subflow)
Exactly that. Zooming to points in and out, can be so much more helpful than a general zoom. But to be fair, it's only something that works using the mouse - with a keyboard Ctrl-+/- (or equivalent) isn't the same effect.
I suspect though it's a non-trivial change to use the mouse point as focus of the zoom but I'm no expert. It might turn out to be a simple fix - which would be great
I really want to have workspaces that you zoom to. A bit like my demo above but as nodes. So that a node would represent a workspace, so that when you zoom in on the node, the entire workspace becomes visible.
Something like those Mandelbrot chaos theory images where you have an infinite zoom and keep getting the same image e.g. --> https://mandelbrot.site/ --> now imagine that when zooming in on a Node-RED flow!
on my Mac I can use Zoom with the Cmd key held down to zoom at the mouse pointer. I guess it may be Ctrl on other platforms.... Of course it zooms the whole page not just the edit workspace.
Noticed that zooming in does not use the mouse cursor as point to zoom in to, I think that was one of the features of the presentation tool (having used it briefly and then leaving in a could of confusion!)
