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In Intellij IDEA 9 or 10, is there something akin to a persistent changelist? I'd like to continue to monitor a list of files after the commit; I'd like to continue making updates based upon a single use case or (JIRA) ticket.

Favorites are not as intuitive as changelists as they cannot group units of work into separate concerns. It's a single list I have to actively maintain. In addition, I'd like to be able to track a file separately across multiple changelists.

Lastly, I've looked around for a plugin that may accomplish this, but haven't found anything.

Thanks for your help.

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    There is a "tasks" feature + Jira integration. That will help you to make your changelists "persistent" (You will be able to automatically create a new changelist by switching a task) but that wont help you to monitor files after the commit. Could you please provide a use case? What for do you need it? Commented Feb 7, 2011 at 18:22
  • @Alex, thanks for the tip on the JIRA tasks. I noticed it will create a new changelist (and even track the context, open/close the files in the list - cool) but I'm not able to purge the tasklist on completed work; that may happen automatically, but I don't know. I suppose that's a different issue/question altogether. At any rate, to answer your question "what do I need it for?" I'm interested in working on a ticket and incrementally committing the work-in-progress changes. Commented Feb 7, 2011 at 19:03
  • @Alex, for example, in updating the html/css styling of a page, I'd like to progressively show the users the new look and feel, per our daily builds, but also not have to check SVN for my previous batch of changes. If the files were persisted within a changelist, I could, at a glance, see the affected assets. Commented Feb 7, 2011 at 19:03
  • @gcraig, Oh I see. Well, I don't know how to keep files in the changelist after commit. But when I need to work with files from my previous commit I use "Changes->Repository" and view diffs (Ctrl+D/Double click) or open corresponding files (F4). If I were you I would choose by convenience between favorites/bookmarks/Changes. Myself I prefer changes tab. Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 5:54
  • @Alex, it would be nice to have an Eclipse-like "working set" view; yet, Changes->Repo tracks my changes just fine. I'm being picky, but having to create another similar changelist, per the next set of changes - each time, was the reason for my question. You've confirmed my options, thanks. Commented Feb 9, 2011 at 1:17

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There is probably another way to it using Idea's contexts. Navigate to the Tools -> Contexts in the menu and save your current context. When you will need it back then just load it. More information on contexts is available in the idea's help.

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I completely missed "Contexts"; thanks. I am consistently excited about IntelliJ.
I always wondered what a context was, in the "New Changelist" dialog! Thanks!
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Note to future readers: Circa 2016, Changelists are now persistent by default, with a dialog prompting you to turn on auto-deletion of empty changelists.

They automagically incorporate both tasks and contexts, allowing you to manage all three together conveniently.

Alternately, you can navigate to Tools -> Tasks & Contexts -> Open Task or press Alt+Shift+N and enter a new or existing task name; when creating a new task, it offers to create a changelist for you; and, it offers to copy the current context, or start fresh.

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Circled back on some old questions, etc. Always glad I do -- thanks @jpaugh!
A context is a set of files opened in the editor while working on a task or independently from it. You can switch between contexts by switching between tasks associated with them. Alternatively, you can save and clear contexts independently from any tasks. -- Beautiful, this is exactly what I had in mind.
@gcraig It's nice to be appreciated! As for me, I've been missing IntelliJ for a while since I switched to C# projects; when I switch back, I'll appreciate your question just as much.
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After further searching, I found a plugin to do exactly as I needed.

Chris Bartley's Workspaces: http://plugins.intellij.net/plugin/?id=83

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