LMMS/lmms

Fix/Improve PianoRoll Knife Tool UI

Open

#7,814 opened on Mar 25, 2025

View on GitHub
 (1 comment) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)C++ (7,132 stars) (961 forks)batch import
good first issuegui

Description

Currently the knife tool in the piano roll is hidden behind the tool menu, when it probably should reside along with the other modes buttons, such as draw/erase/select/pitch bending.

Also, it would probably be good to add a TextFloat which appears when the user enters the knife mode giving some simple tips/instructions, particularly that you can use Shift to automatically remove the cut ends of the notes.

I am mostly just making this issue as a reminder for me to come back and fix these things, but if anyone wants to tackle these, feel free!

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
C++QtLMMS codebase familiarity
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate the piano roll UI code in the LMMS repository, likely in src/gui/ or similar. Locate where the tool menu and mode buttons (draw/erase/select/pitch bending) are defined. Add the knife tool button alongside these buttons. Then, add a TextFloat widget that appears when knife mode is activated, displaying tips about using Shift to remove cut ends. Review existing TextFloat implementations for patterns.
Fix/Improve PianoRoll Knife Tool UI · LMMS/lmms#7814 | Good First Issue