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ZeroLengthCurve  
#1 Posted : Tuesday, July 5, 2011 12:43:09 PM(UTC)
ZeroLengthCurve

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MULTI-KEY SHORTCUTS, user-definable.

I'm impressed and happy to see six different products, serving various levels of users. But, all with single-letter shortcuts?

I can mentally map single and multi-syllabic commands to multi-letter keys, but non-spoken symbols are hard to visualize as aiding in use of a shortcut. I'm not an ergonomics and human factors person, but I imagine they'd jump out a 30-storey window if accustomed to 3 or 4 or free-from letter shortcuts. Sometimes, i want to just melt and wither into nothingness because so much of my attempted productivity is sapped by rooting around in my mind and clicking on the wrong key to perform a function when otherwise I could 3-stroke my keyboard with one hand while my mouse hand is at-the-ready.

I hope V8 of ALL the products brings this VC and Shark.

I'm crying, wailing, moaning, begging for this to become a reality:

-- stock suggested 3- or 4-letter shortcuts
-- user-definable override to own multi-letter shortcuts
-- drop-down command-matching-to-letters-entered list to help the user reinforce what keys s/he mapped to what commands.

-- floating pallet that either is transparent or not, but floats so the user can periodically SEE his/her shortcuts and reinforce memory retention. Paper lists get folded, lost, torn, distractingly written on, and more.

I'll pay an additional $50 on my next upgrade, even outright buy at $250 a whole new license and ditch my upgraded VCP 7 from VCP 6. This is how much i want more flexible shortcuts. Is there some patent encumberance or licensing or royalties issue with multi-letters. Is it an apple-vs-pc thing? Is it designer/developer preference? Please, let it no more be either or -- let it be flexible.
BridgeCityMike  
#2 Posted : Thursday, August 18, 2011 7:43:30 AM(UTC)
BridgeCityMike

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Do you mean like AutoCad? It would drive me bonkers to have to hit return or space bar (like ACAD) to get my shortcut to work. Personally, I like the one letter shortcuts. I suppose having the option would be nice though!
I have every letter on my keyboard designated as a shortcut. I have a few that I rotate out if I need a new a specific tool for a job.
BridgeCityMike  
#3 Posted : Thursday, September 1, 2011 9:48:29 AM(UTC)
BridgeCityMike

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Actually, the more I think about it, the more I agree with ZLC above. The most efficient way to work in cad is with two hands. One on the mouse, one on the keyboard. and NEVER go to your tool palettes except for the the most obscure and rarely used tools. Switching of all tools should be done with the keyboard. I have every letter already used up with shortcuts, it would be great to have more.
So, I second the vote. Bring on the the multi letter tools so that we can hide half of the tool palettes.
Tem  
#4 Posted : Thursday, September 1, 2011 1:26:42 PM(UTC)
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I would like to go one step further, aside from having OLED graphics display on every keyboard button, I want a removable cover for my keyboard that has tool icons for every button.
I think this would encourage users to learn to use the keyboard, and possibly train them simultaneously to be more efficient (one hand on mouse/one hand on keyboard).
Just an idea.
zumer  
#5 Posted : Thursday, September 1, 2011 5:45:54 PM(UTC)
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It'd be interesting to be able to configure single-letter shortcuts to bring up temporary toolbars close to the cursor, persistent only while you hold the key or until you click a button. I've never seen an implementation like that, but I reckon that if you were au fait with the hot keys, you mightn't need a permanent toolbar pallet at all.
jol  
#6 Posted : Friday, September 2, 2011 4:13:11 AM(UTC)
jol

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I don't understand why you want multi-key shortcuts when you have single key shortcuts

I understand that if you use Word or something then you are constantly using the keyboard for typing

With CAD, you don't do that - the keyboard is transformed into a huge set of useful and entirely programmable buttons (unless you're in a specific text mode)

I think it works really well - and that you're asking for multi-key shortcuts just because you're used to using them in other apps (??)

The cross-program ones like CTRL / pasta z are still multi-key
ZeroLengthCurve  
#7 Posted : Tuesday, September 6, 2011 11:48:19 PM(UTC)
ZeroLengthCurve

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Jol,

My productivity is adversely impacted because when I switch gears, the keys - limited by single character - are short in supply. So, I have to painstakingly decide which keys I haven't used lately, decide whether to do it and get over it, edit my cheat sheet, and hope that my next ad-hoc work flow is not going to need a key i pitched out.

If I could peck in tri, that is a heck of a lot easier to recall than t or T for trimming, especially if many other shortcuts for full-word commands have a t or T in the spoken word. So, very, VERY quickly, the mind is banging against the desk trying to create mnemonics to suppress the fact that too few keystrokes exist for the multi-syllable and mono-syllable commands.

It also could lead VCP/Shark to a new level of shortcut use: delayed entry/quasi-script-like scripts.

Say, I want to string a number of shortcuts, and I know that trim and sweep have different subfunctions or sub-options. I could hit my well-rehearsed command of 3 or four letters, hit a hyphen (instead of assigning hyphen to a command because I ran out of of keyboard keys), type the second command or sub function, and hit enter or use my mouse. Now, with the mouse near relevant geometry, only specific, reasonable, or workable commands might work, and this could tie in with the one-step-further suggestion made by TEM.

Single-key commands are fine if your commands or tools available do not exceed the number of keys on the keyboard. But, even if i have 200 keys on the keyboard, many of them have no comprehensible associativity to them. One may as well have a separate generic keypad or palette with stick-on keys. But, why buy an extra external device with two commands per key limit. That would clutter up the desk if reference docs are lying about.

As a touch typist, I can hit the keys for the commands I need. Typing in 3 or 4 letter combos of my own choosing (that can or will overried factory defaults) is nothing but the flick of the wrist for one hand in many cases. My left hand can issue commands while my right hand moves or extends geometry, and maybe I could even get out of right-clicking except to look at clicked-on geometry's properties. But, if I have to hit Shift and start fidgeting to recall that one-letter key, I end up taking my hand off the mouse to physically force recall of that key. Multi stroke commands on a single key just follows the spoken first syllable or two. Might even eliminate using the shift key in some cases, if it is aware of the caps-lock key.

Finally, periodically changing laptops and adding a new, more compact external keyboard wreaks havoc on my mind-mapping of keys. I have on my compact keyboard some insane key arrangement because that is how the makers of it mapped the letters and home/arrow keys. So, now I cannot efffectively use it. Mentally, I know on my laptop, the + key is in two places. But, the compact external keyboard has its second + key under a function, and the tacticle feel feedback is lacking. So, having a VCP function on the + key means a new drag on my issuing of a command. Why should symbols that are not part of spoken words be resorted to because all the single-letter alphabet keys (that cannot possibly serve all the available command or even three of them without shifted and unshifted keys) are taken up?

Unless there is a very, very expensive patent encumbrance in the way, there is no Human Factors negating reason to constrain users to single-letter commands when facing or when overwhelmed by 200+ commands. Only 26 letters in Engish, and 52 if shifting. If I ignore non-alpha symbols, how would I get on without 2/3/4-letter keystrokes to issue a command.

Sorry this is so long, but I am passionate about this, and there can be a way to avoid patent issues if a preponerance of prior art is gathered and shoved into the faces of any company trying to badger Punch!/Encore around.

Thanks for reading all this if you got this far.
jol  
#8 Posted : Wednesday, September 7, 2011 2:14:56 AM(UTC)
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Your productivity is 'adversely impacted' Zero because you spend too long writing novels when people are looking for facts

Much as I'd like to read this latest installment, I have much to do - and suspect anyway that it was the butler wot did it !
ZeroLengthCurve  
#9 Posted : Wednesday, September 7, 2011 2:57:20 PM(UTC)
ZeroLengthCurve

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Jol, that is true -- this novel-writing time could be time applied toward designing/drawing.

But, I periodically reach burnout points (after maybe 2 to 3 weeks of daily drawing) when a tool doesn't behave, or I cannot figure out a work around. Or, i figure out a workaround, but it is not scriptable, and I have even more steps to accomplish something. It sometimes feels like moving goalposts, and I give up and a few days later come back.
ZeroLengthCurve  
#10 Posted : Wednesday, September 7, 2011 3:00:17 PM(UTC)
ZeroLengthCurve

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wrote:


Much as I'd like to read this latest installment, I have much to do - and suspect anyway that it was the butler wot did it !


:):o My first laugh of the day. I appreciate they phrase "latest installment"...
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