Usability: error feedback easy to miss

When an error occurs during prettification, it can look like Prettier is just failing silently, with no apparent cause.

For example, say I have the following JavaScript file:

export { foo };

export function foo() {
  console.log(       1,    2,          3);;
}

When I run the “Format Document” command, I’m expecting the file to be reformatted. However, since there is a syntax error that I didn’t notice (foo is exported twice), prettification fails. To me, it looks like nothing is happening at all; the file is simply not being formatted.

After some sleuthing, I discovered that there is a clickable “Prettier” entry in the status bar, and that it changes to “X” when an error occurs:

It was not obvious to me that I should look for an error indicator in the status bar. For the longest time, I assumed that “Format Document” would simply silently stop working at random times, and I wasn’t sure why.

Perhaps usability could be improved by providing a clearer error notification.

[CiGit]

Back with notifications !

[RobinMalfait]

@joliss, @atombender It’s done, #434 🙏