Sheep

@mosetta/ide-plugin-sheep · Pixel sheep grazing in an empty editor.

What it does

When no file is open, the middle of the IDE is not grey emptiness with an apology: it is a pasture with two huts. Open its gate and sheep wander in. Pick one up with the mouse and drop it into a hut: two sheep dropped into the barn come out as one bigger sheep, and a sheep dropped into the other hut comes out shorn. The signs above the huts say so in pictures, and a counter keeps score of how many merged and how many were shorn. Close the gate again if the movement distracts you.

This is a joke with a principle behind it: an interface should have a face, and an empty panel should say what it is. It is also an optional ornament — one line in settings.json switches it off, and the editor then says in words that nothing is open.

Screenshots and demos

Watch the video · Try it in the browser

Using it from another plugin

The whole plugin is one entry in the editor's editor.empty key:

this.ide.registry('editor.empty').add({ id: 'sheep', view: () => <SheepField /> });

Want a different empty editor — recent files, a tip of the day, a clock? Add your own entry and switch this plugin off.