timeline: forcejump without displaying ahead

[Legends0]

Feature(s) Requested

Could there be keyword that acts like forcejump but does not pre-emptively display the content after the forcejump would be taken on the running timeline?

Current forcejump is designed for loops where the timeline data displayed is predictable. However, forcejumps at or near branch points end up showing incorrect predictions when they are not synced and prevent the display of lookahead lines. There is still a need for a feature that reduces huge desyncs by forcibly jumping at some point during the branch but we still want the behavior that a jump + lookahead line provided since we simply can't guarantee that the forcejump will be taken ahead of time until the miss happens.

[xiashtra]

The more I think about it, the more I think that the real problem here is a mis-use of forcejump. It shouldn't be used in a branch1 + branch2 situation to force one of the branches to be taken; it should only be used when we know we want to jump over a block, such as returning from a branch back to the main timeline. The way you were using it in the example with a jump and forcejump having the same sync time is a potential foot-gun in the event that the jump sync is slightly delayed and we get sent to the forcejump path erroneously.

If using a forcejump is pre-emptively displaying content that you might not want displayed, that is a strong indication that forcejump wasn't appropriate to use there. Using forcejump is saying, "I always want this to happen, no matter what."

[Legends0]

I see what you mean. In the example I gave where there is more than one possible jump at the same time happening forcejump is not appropriate. We still could have a single missed sync, but the scenario where there is only one expected jump a forcejump can be used without relying on a sync.

It would be possible with a keyword after some determined time from the missed sync that could forcejump passed the point that the jumps differ to reestablish the correct syncs or have some assumed default block to jump to such as a block where it contained the Comet/Crushing Comet line instead of what it was. Alternatives for missed syncs seem to be adding windows to later events.

[xiashtra]

Alternatives for missed syncs seem to be adding windows to later events.

This is usually what I do; add a large enough lookback window to the first sync after the branches re-merge to catch a situation where the jump syncs on the initial branching might get missed. It was something we were doing anyways before forcejump was added.

Some of this sounds like we might need to add some better clarification/best practices examples to the timeline documentation, and possibly a lint check to catch having a jump and forcejump with the same timestamp.