Settings Need Multiline TextBox

[kenlefeb]

Issue Type: Bug

This is very similar to #39969, but for the new Settings UI.

I use an extension (vscode-journal) that allows you to define a template (setting journal.tpl-entry) for creating new files, and these require the use of \n characters to specify new lines, however the Settings UI won't let me enter \n (it gets escaped), let alone an actual newline character.

VS Code version: Code 1.37.1 (f06011a, 2019-08-15T16:17:55.855Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.17763

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz (8 x 2112)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled flash_3d: enabled flash_stage3d: enabled flash_stage3d_baseline: enabled gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on native_gpu_memory_buffers: disabled_software oop_rasterization: disabled_off protected_video_decode: enabled rasterization: enabled skia_deferred_display_list: disabled_off skia_renderer: disabled_off surface_synchronization: enabled_on video_decode: enabled viz_display_compositor: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	15.81GB (5.67GB free)
Process Argv	.
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Extensions (25)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
whitespace-plus	dav	0.0.5
xml	Dot	2.5.0
EditorConfig	Edi	0.13.0
prettier-vscode	esb	1.9.0
markdown-table-formatter	fcr	1.4.3
gc-excelviewer	Gra	2.1.32
vscode-journal-view	Gru	0.0.25
vscode-guid	hea	1.4.15
vscode-peacock	joh	3.1.2
json-escaper	jos	1.1.0
chat	kar	0.21.0
vscode-language-babel	mgm	0.0.23
vscode-docker	ms-	0.7.0
remote-wsl	ms-	0.39.2
csharp	ms-	1.21.0
powershell	ms-	2019.5.0
vsliveshare	ms-	1.0.721
vsliveshare-audio	ms-	0.1.64
vsliveshare-pack	ms-	0.3.3
debugger-for-chrome	msj	4.11.7
debugger-for-edge	msj	1.0.11
vscode-journal	paj	0.9.1
vscode-redis	vit	1.2.0
markdown-pdf	yza	1.2.0
markdown-all-in-one	yzh	2.4.2

(1 theme extensions excluded)

[justarandomgeek]

I too need some multi-line settings for my Factorio Mod Debug extension, which has templates for two auto-generated commit messages in settings (in the version i'm about to upload...). Same problem with \n - it works fine if you set it directly in settings.json, but the GUI strips them and has no way to enter a newline.

[rzhao271]

I downloaded the top 2.5k extensions and did a search to see how string settings with \n as part of the default value were being used. The settings are being used in one of three ways:

Snippets or actual executable code

"wxapp-helper.component.script": {
	"type": [
	"string",
	"null"
	],
	"default": "Component({\n  data: {},\n  properties: {},\n  methods: {}\n})",
	"description": "%ext.config.component.script%"
}

Another example is jupyter.runStartupCommands, which could take in a block of Python commands.

In this case, we want to render a Monaco editor.

Hover labels and templates

"todo.file.defaultContent": {
	"type": "string",
	"description": "New todo files default content",
	"default": "\nTodo:\n  ☐ Item\n"
}

Other examples include gitlens.hovers.detailsMarkdownFormat and gitstash.explorer.labels.stashTooltipFormat.

In this case, we want to render a multiline textarea.

Line-break settings

"npm-intellisense.importLinebreak": {
	"type": "string",
	"default": ";\r\n",
	"description": "For import command. The linebreak used after the snippet"
}

In this case, we want to render the \r and \n explicitly, rather than display a textarea with a trailing newline.

[roblourens]

The others I saw which may be beyond the 2.5k top:

• ctf0.laravel-goto-view: laravelGotoView.viewDefaultValue (default text for a file)
• flydreame.docblocker: docBlocker.defaultTpl (a template value)
• kortina.vscode-markdown-notes: vscodeMarkdownNotes.newNoteTemplate
  • vscodeMarkdownNotes.newNoteFromSelectionReplacementTemplate looks similar
• mikey.vscode-fileheader: fileheader.tpl (file header template)
• neptune-design.vs-html-to-css: vs-html-to-css.append (text to insert)
• A few template-type things in seancheung.wxapp-helper
• skip1.go-swagger: swagger.tpl
• TaoKlerks.poor-mans-t-sql-formatter-vscode: poor-mans-t-sql-formatter.errorOutputPrefix

And several that are configuring line endings and are just \n

[rzhao271]

Just a note that for the line break settings, I assume most of them can do the following instead:

• Having a line break setting of type enum so that the user can select CRLF or LF
• Having a line end setting if the extension is also adding something to the end of the line before the line break

An example setting that can be remodelled to this pattern is npm-intellisense.importLinebreak (from #79571 (comment)).

Edit: Or, the extension author can use a singleline text setting and parse the input like a regex. For example, the user could input \\r\\n to get \r\n newlines.

[rzhao271]

\closedWith be81d88