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Add positron.r.symbols.includeAssignmentsInBlocks setting #8412

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Add positron.r.symbols.includeAssignmentsInBlocks setting #8412

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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions extensions/positron-r/package.json
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -189,6 +189,11 @@
"type": "boolean",
"default": true,
"description": "%r.configuration.diagnostics.enable.description%"
},
"positron.r.symbols.includeAssignmentsInBlocks": {
"type": "boolean",
"default": false,
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Suggested change
"default": false,
"default": true,

I am not a fan of this change, I'm afraid. 😬

I did some experimentation with realistic projects and the old treatment is preferable for everything I tried.

BEFORE:

Screenshot 2025-07-23 at 7 57 13 PM

AFTER:

Screenshot 2025-07-23 at 7 57 17 PM

Situations where one would not want to include assignments within blocks in the symbols have got to be pretty rare, so let's make this new behavior opt in instead of opt out.

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@lionel- lionel- Jul 24, 2025 •
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I'd like to discuss this further because I think the point at which the outline becomes too noisy is likely very common.

In packages with a few short functions, as in the screenshots above, I agree it's not that bad. But
even in this best case scenario, is it really helpful to see local variables in the outline? Local variables are more likely to have vague and similar names, and thus more likely to distract rather than inform.

More importantly the main purpose of the outline is to show the structure of the document. The outline is especially important to get oriented in large files with many functions and methods. In these large files, I think local variables clearly distract from the general outline as you can see in the testthat examples brought up by Jenny and Davis who also feel that the current behaviour yields a noisy outline: posit-dev/ark#856 (comment). This will also be the case with e.g. large R6 classes with many methods, and other similar long file / many functions scenarios. Even in your example, I find it much easier to get the general picture of the document in the After screenshot.

It's also worth noting that Python does not show local variables either. Having a consistent experience across languages seems like a plus in a multilingual IDE.

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Here are some more examples from ellmer.

Numerous local variables in print.ellmer_prompt(), some with vague/nondescript names:

Screenshot 2025-07-25 at 12 48 18

Long file where the general outline is obscured by local variables:

Screen.Recording.2025-07-25.at.12.49.12.mov

Same file with the new setting turned off. It's much easier to see the file structure, i.e. the outline:

Screen.Recording.2025-07-25.at.12.49.47.mov

"description": "%r.configuration.symbols.includeAssignmentsInBlocks.description%"
}
}
},
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion extensions/positron-r/package.nls.json
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Expand Up @@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
"r.configuration.pipe.native.description": "Native pipe available in R >= 4.1",
"r.configuration.pipe.magrittr.description": "Pipe operator from the magrittr package, re-exported by many other packages",
"r.configuration.diagnostics.enable.description": "Enable R diagnostics globally",
"r.configuration.symbols.includeAssignmentsInBlocks.description": "Controls whether assigned objects inside `{}` blocks are included as document symbols, in addition to top-level assignments. Reopen files or restart the server for the setting to take effect.",
"r.configuration.defaultRepositories.description": "The default repositories to use for R package installation, if no repository is otherwise specified in R startup scripts (restart Positron to apply).\n\nThe default repositories will be set as the `repos` option in R.",
"r.configuration.defaultRepositories.auto.description": "Automatically choose a default repository, or use a repos.conf file if it exists.",
"r.configuration.defaultRepositories.rstudio.description": "Use the RStudio CRAN mirror (cran.rstudio.com)",
Expand All @@ -81,4 +82,3 @@
"r.walkthrough.migrateFromRStudio.formatting.description": " \n[Configure Air to format on save](command:r.walkthrough.formatOnSave)"

}