Open glyph by name in new edit tab

Glyphs
1

In VSCode, I constantly use ⌘P to quickly open a file in the workspace by searching for its name. I’m trying find a way to do the same thing in Glyphs, except for individual glyphs in the open font instead of files in the workspace.

For example, if I’m working on small caps, I’ll often have my font view filtered to show only small-cap glyphs (often only base glyphs) for easy iteration. If I’m currently editing m.sc, for example, and I want to open the regular uppercase M for reference in a separate edit tab (that is, not in the same tab), this is the way I currently do it:

  • Switch to font view
  • Change the filter to All (or whatever makes it easiest to find the glyph I’m looking for)
  • Locate the glyph in the list and double-click to open it
  • Switch back to font view
  • Change the filter back to what it originally was
  • Switch back to the glyph I just opened

– which is quite a lot of steps. It would be much simpler if I could instead open the desired glyph simply by hitting a hot key to open a search field similar to the one you get when you click on a component name, searching for the glyph name and hitting enter. That way I wouldn’t have to change anything in the font view.

I tried searching for a plugin that might provide this sort of functionality, but the search terms I could think of didn’t yield anything useful.

Is there currently a way to do this? Am I the only one who likes to open reference glyphs in separate tabs and would find it useful?

2

I don’t understand. Doesn’t Cmd+F work for you in text mode?

3

Yes, but that will add the glyph in the same tab. I’m specifically looking for a way to open the glyph in a new tab.

Although, now that you mention it, I just realised that ⌘T in text mode will open a new tab with the selected glyph, so that can cut out a bit of it:

  • Switch to text mode
  • Search for (or enter) glyph
  • Hit ⌘T
  • Switch back to tab 1 and delete the inserted glyph, then hit escape to go back to edit mode

Still a few more keystrokes, but definitely an improvement!

4

⌘T ⌘F is quicker than your current approach.

5

Ah yes, even quicker – no need to add the glyph to the original tab at all, just replace it in edit mode directly!

6

why do you need that new tab?

7

Just personal preference. Having them in the same tab places them next to each other, and at most one of them is in edit mode at a time, which is useful for some things, but in some contexts I like to be able to quickly switch back and forth between the edit views of the glyph I’m editing and another glyph that’s used as a reference, in the same position. A sort of semi-superimposition.

8

Do you use the background?

9

I do, when I want an actual superimposition. I use adjacent tabs for ‘pseudo-superimposition’ to be able to switch between the two without the other visible at the same time in a single keystroke.