Follow User Did not Follow

[johnpapa]

macos 
VS Code - Version 1.24.0-insider (1.24.0-insider)

When I selected to follow a user, it did not follow the user. There was no alert or indicator telling me where the user was.

I had to either click the icon to follow or use the CMD+SHIFT+P to use the command

@craigshoemaker

[lostintangent]

@johnpapa Hey! Thanks for reporting this. To make sure we understand your issue, which "follow" entry point wasn't working for you? In VS Code, there are three ways to initiate a follow:

1. Clicking the "pin" icon in the doc well (which allows you to pin a tab group and follow while also editing)

   

2. Clicking the user list icon in the status bar (same as Test #1, but affects only the active tab group)

   

3. Running the Follow Participant command (sounds like that worked for you?)

I just quickly tried all three, and can't seem to repro an issue. Apologies if I'm misunderstanding the the bug!

[johnpapa]

maybe i misunderstand the feature and you can help clarify. I was expecting when i follow (using any path) that it will automatically indicate where the user is without me having to keep clicking it.

for example, a mode where i can have my file tab have an indicator to signifiy that the other person is in that file (even tho i am not).

But it sounds like I need to actively keep clicking to find out where they are. is that what you are saying? (if so, i may turn this issue into a request :) )

[lostintangent]

Great question 😄 If you hover over the user icon in the status bar, it will show you which file the other user has open. You can also see this info in the picklist that is displayed when running the Live Share: Follow Participant or Live Share: List Participants commands as well.

This isn't the ideal way to view this information however, and we plan to display the file that each user is in as part of the file tree. We're already tracking this via #185, and are just waiting for some APIs from the VS/VSCode teams. Let me know if #185 reflects your expectations or not, and we can file another issue 😄

Currently, the "follow" feature is all about being able to actually follow the cursor of another user (e.g. they're walking you through a problem while you observe it). However, it sounds like you just want better "passive visibility" into what they're doing (at-a-glance), which we don't currently do well, and #185 is meant to cover.

[johnpapa]

That is helpful, thanks.

I think if I could sum up my request ... the scenario is I want to be able to see where the other person is without me having to press a key or move the cursor.

So yeah - passively.

Why? Because this allows me to code in the window I am in, but also keep an eye where the other dev is heading without breaking my coding stride.

[lostintangent]

@johnpapa Totally understood! This is a common piece of feedback, and is something we plan to address very soon. For the sake of consolidation, it sounds like we can resolve this issue as a dupicate of #185 and track progress there? Thanks again for your help feedback here!

[johnpapa]

agreed