System context probably is important here. I interact with my JDEX primarily by filtered grep or find searches.[1] Every result is a line, so when I type to filter, if the keyword is not on the line, the line disappears[2]. Hence I want the whole hierarchy duplicated on each line.
If you’re doing more of the filtering with your own visual system, then a graphical hierarchy works. If you’re relying more on finding the parent first and then navigating a path of links, then you also don’t need this.
ripgrepandfdto be precise. ↩︎completely unrelated rant. This is the main problem I have with all Internet Browser History interfaces I know. you run a search, and they show you only the matches. When 99 times out of 100, I’m trying to find something for which I don’t know the name, but I do remember the names of things that came before. The nature of web browsing is precisely that you click around links on sites you already know, until you find a link that takes you somewhere new. But Somewhere New is still unfamiliar, so you forget the name. Later, you need to be able to find all occurrences of Familiar Place so you can select the one where Somewhere New came right after . A history search feature should take you to that point in the fully intact chronological list, highlighting the results, so you can see what came before and after. I’ve tried writing blog articles about this many times but I always fail because my blood starts boiling. It seems like the biggest UX fail ever, and it’s especially frustrating because all this information is right there in a relational database. So now at least I’ve snuck this observation out into the Internet via this footnote. ↩︎