Adds welcome view to search & compare view

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/) and this p
   - Adds `gitlens.heatmap.locations` setting to specify where the indicators of the gutter heatmap annotations will be shown
 - Adds a `gitlens.fileAnnotations.command` setting to specify whether the file annotations button in the editor title shows a menu or immediately toggles the specified file annotations — closes [#1165](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/issues/1165) thanks to [PR #1171](https://github.com/eamodio/vscode-gitlens/pull/1171) by Raaj Patil ([@arrpee](https://github.com/arrpee))
   - Adds this new option to the _Menus & Toolbars_ section of the GitLens Interactive Settings
+- Adds a welcome, i.e. richer empty state, to the _Search & Compare_ view
 
 ### Fixed
 

package.json

@@ -8063,6 +8063,14 @@
 			{
 				"view": "gitlens.views.updates",
 				"contents": "[Close](command:gitlens.closeUpdatesView)"
+			},
+			{
+				"view": "gitlens.views.searchAndCompare",
+				"contents": "Search for commits by [message](command:gitlens.views.searchAndCompare.searchCommits?%7B%22search%22%3A%7B%22pattern%22%3A%22message%3A%22%7D%2C%22prefillOnly%22%3Atrue%7D), [author](command:gitlens.views.searchAndCompare.searchCommits?%7B%22search%22%3A%7B%22pattern%22%3A%22author%3A%22%7D%2C%22prefillOnly%22%3Atrue%7D), [SHA](command:gitlens.views.searchAndCompare.searchCommits?%7B%22search%22%3A%7B%22pattern%22%3A%22commit%3A%22%7D%2C%22prefillOnly%22%3Atrue%7D), [file](command:gitlens.views.searchAndCompare.searchCommits?%7B%22search%22%3A%7B%22pattern%22%3A%22file%3A%22%7D%2C%22prefillOnly%22%3Atrue%7D), or [changes](command:gitlens.views.searchAndCompare.searchCommits?%7B%22search%22%3A%7B%22pattern%22%3A%22change%3A%22%7D%2C%22prefillOnly%22%3Atrue%7D)\n\n[Search Commits...](command:gitlens.views.searchAndCompare.searchCommits)"
+			},
+			{
+				"view": "gitlens.views.searchAndCompare",
+				"contents": "Compare a <branch, tag, or ref> with another <branch, tag, or ref>\n\n[Compare References...](command:gitlens.views.searchAndCompare.selectForCompare)"
 			}
 		],
 		"views": {

src/views/searchAndCompareView.ts

@@ -52,11 +52,7 @@ export class SearchAndCompareViewNode extends ViewNode {
 	}
 
 	getChildren(): ViewNode[] {
-		if (this.children.length === 0) {
-			this.view.message = 'No search or comparison results could be found.';
-
-			return [];
-		}
+		if (this.children.length === 0) return [];
 
 		this.view.message = undefined;