First opened in 11/2001, it has been delayed from 3.4, to TBD, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.5, and TBD again. It sports 57 votes by users, maybe the highest among all NetBeans bugs.
During this period, many duplicate bugs have been filed: 30166, 33075, 10021, 34044, and 72089.
pdxlooie put it best in its comments on March 1, 2006:
What I would like to know is, why has the NebBeans project management team refused to implement this feature? A specific answer to that question would allow us to address specific concerns. Otherwise, we're just like a dog chasing its tail...Finally, at some point, if this feature is just not going to be implemented, the project managers should declare "as designed," close this bug and reject all future bugs filed on this issue. Put a note in the FAQ and be done with it. As things stand presently, I easily can see this conversation continuing to 2010.The most recent activity is a comment on 3/2006. Looks like NetBeans team has overcome the analysis paralysisis and got serious about implementing it. As a faithful NetBeans user, I look forward to the end of the bug's life.
NetBeans 5.5 is out (10/31/2006), but the fix is still not in. Now this bug is targeted to 6.0.