[Bug 56872] New: header and source file pairing in tabs and/or editor

[Steven T.Hatton]

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http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=56872     
           Summary: header and source file pairing in tabs and/or editor
           Product: kdevelop
           Version: unspecified
          Platform: SuSE RPMs
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: wishlist
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: kdevelop-devel at kdevelop.org
        ReportedBy: hattons at globalsymmetry.com


Version:           3.0.0a4 (using KDE 3.1.1)
Installed from:    SuSE
Compiler:          gcc version 3.2
OS:          Linux (i686) release 2.4.19-4GB

I'm fairly new to working with C++, and find the synchronization of header (.h) and source (.cpp) files to be a considerable burden.  One aspect of this is the need to switch back and forth between the two files when there are several files opened, or one of the two files defining the current class is closed.  Clearly this is not an insurmountable obstacle, but it is a significant interruption in my train of thought, and an source of error if I'm not careful to look closely to verify that I am indeed modifying the correct file.

I've noticed that, in most cases there is a source file with the same name as the class and a cpp extension, as well as header file of the same name and a .h extension.  It seems to be this lexical correspondence could be programmatically exploited so as to couple the source and header files so the associated tabs form a distinct adjacent pair. It's even conceivable that the contents of both files could be displayed in a split pane  window enabling the programmer to view both files simultaneously while editing, and to switch between the two buffers using a special key combination, etc.