Comparision of this extension to vscode internal overtype mode

[GitMensch]

vscode 1.96 finally ships with this feature so the question did arise what the differences are.

• vscode internal likely does not have the issue of performance (see open issues here related to this)
• vscode-overtype features additional (if this is very important to some of you you may want to create an issue in vscode to integrate that):
  • has the icon/text for overtype configurable (with vscode it is always OVR [but I expect that to be localizable], at least in the future)
  • has the cursor configurable (with vscode it is currently always a box)
  • has the option to toggle per editor (with vscode it is globally for all editors)

Are there more differences?
How to configure this extension and/or vscode to have the overtype feature provided by this extension instead of vscode "natively"?

Please link vscode issues on overtype mode (bugs + feature requests) to this issue. Thank you!
As a reference: that's the PR that brought the feature in: microsoft/vscode#233188

[mbomb007]

One difference is that the internal feature is toggled by the command View: Toggle Overtype/Insert Mode, whereas this extension is toggled by pressing Insert.

It's probably possible to bind the Insert key to the command? But I don't think that's the default.

[jkyeung]

One difference is that the internal feature is toggled by the command View: Toggle Overtype/Insert Mode, whereas this extension is toggled by pressing Insert.

It's probably possible to bind the Insert key to the command? But I don't think that's the default.

I think it is the default, actually. I have an installation of VS Code where I never installed this extension, and once I updated to 1.96, the Insert key started toggling overtype, without touching any settings or keybindings.

[mbomb007]

I think it is the default, actually.

You're right. I just uninstalled the addon, and Insert works.

[DrMerfy]

Thanks for the overview @GitMensch! The differences between this extension and the native feature are relatively small. Arguably now that vs-code supports natively overtype, there is likely a more efficient way to provide the extra functionality that this extension is offering (cursor change, etc.) by extending the native functionality itself instead of implementing overtype from scratch.

To avoid confusion moving forward, would it be a good idea to archive this repo (now) and remove the extension from the vscode marketplace?

[GitMensch]

@DrMerfy - "taking down" vscode-overtype is your decision, but after I've moved all my usages to the in-built one now, I'd tend to do so.

But please don't remove from any marketplace - use the deprecation option instead.

[hh-shiung]

Thank you for making the app before they built it in too!

It was useful to me at many occassions 🖖

[KDCinfo]

It's probably possible to bind the Insert key to the command? But I don't think that's the default.

It wasn't the default on my Mac (it was opt-cmd-o), but I was able to assign the insert key to the new VS Code overtype setting and it works. 🎉

As others have said, kudos to @DrMerfy for this wonderful extension to fill the overtype void over the years. 🏆