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imtrobin
Ketchup Master
50 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 28 2005 : 01:34:52 AM
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Hi
I like to make a feature suggestion on the selecting an entry in the suggestion list. Currently, I have to either
1. use arrows keys to scroll to it, and press Tab/Enter.
2. use acronyms (not ideal unless the methods names are clear)
It would be cool if we can use 1,2,3..0 keys to select an entry in the suggestion list e.g the suggestion list to look something like this
1. Method1
2. Method2
3. Method3
..
0. Method10
So we can type 1,2..0 and accept that entry.
Robin |
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feline
Whole Tomato Software
United Kingdom
18749 Posts |
Posted - Sep 28 2005 : 2:09:35 PM
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its an interesting idea, and i can see the appeal. what happens when you need to type a digit, because your function or variable name contains a number?
i deal with incoming messages, including the types NHS002 and NHS003, so i often have the numbers 002 or 003 as part of function or enum names.
i suppose you could require alt or ctrl plus the number, but then it becomes more work, plus it could conflict with other things.
any thoughts on this? |
zen is the art of being at one with the two'ness |
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imtrobin
Ketchup Master
50 Posts |
Posted - Sep 28 2005 : 3:21:47 PM
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I rarely see functions/variables that start with digit. Usually they appear postfix.
For your example NSH002, NSH003, for acroymns to work, you need to type N then 2. Can you type 2 directly?
I got the idea from IntelliComplete
http://www.flashpeak.com/icomp/ |
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support
Whole Tomato Software
5566 Posts |
Posted - Sep 28 2005 : 5:42:09 PM
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Try also the "shorthand" feature in VA X.
FWIW: You should be good with acronyms before "stepping up" to shorthand, but it's nice when you do. You can type all kinds of junk and get decent suggestions and listbox selections.
www.wholetomato.com/products/features/shorthand.html?more=yes |
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imtrobin
Ketchup Master
50 Posts |
Posted - Sep 28 2005 : 11:03:45 PM
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Yes, I do use short hand frequently too. I was confused between short hand and acronyms. I meant short hand.
For methods with very long names, short hand would still be quite troublesome. |
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feline
Whole Tomato Software
United Kingdom
18749 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2005 : 2:54:39 PM
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i can see why this would help, it is less mental effort to say "number 3 in the list of suggestions" than it is to think about the next letter to type to filter down to the one you want.
taking a simple example that includes numbers though, i am typing:
NH|
and imagine i have the suggestions { NHS002, NHS003, NHS_ENCRYPTED, NHS_UNKNOWN }
if i now type the digit 2 what is supposed to happen? am i using shorthand / acronyms, or am i saying i want suggestion 2, which happens to be "NHS003"?
have a look at the attached screen shots in this thread
http://forum.wholetomato.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3983
notice the examples of functions and enum's that contain numbers.
watching the animation of IntelliComplete i see what you mean, but the screen shot only shows typing words. do you use this program? how does it handle variables that contain numbers? from the animation i just don't see how it can tell what i mean when i press '1' on my keyboard.
personally i am in favour of this idea, but it has to be a workable suggestion to pass on to the developers. |
zen is the art of being at one with the two'ness |
Edited by - feline on Sep 29 2005 2:55:17 PM |
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imtrobin
Ketchup Master
50 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2005 : 01:09:28 AM
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IntelliComplete doesn't have shorthand, so it doesn't have this problem. It's more for general typing, not coding :)
In such case, shorthands and digit selecting are mutally exclusive. So either
1. When in shorthand mode, disable digit selecting. Digit select only works at start (not so nice)
2. Hold another key to do digit selecting (ie. Alt-1, Alt-2)
3. Detect quick double tap on the digit to do digit selecting. |
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feline
Whole Tomato Software
United Kingdom
18749 Posts |
Posted - Oct 01 2005 : 2:38:04 PM
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1 - shorthand and acronyms are just to useful to even consider disabling.
3 - given how fast some of our users seem to type, plus the variability caused by different keyboard speed settings this is probably going to be hard to implement correctly. plus it does not get around the pathological problem case of double digits in variable and function names.
which leaves me with 2. i reached basically the same conclusion a while ago myself.
my concern with this is possible clashes with other actions. *consider* you could get around this by assigning Ctrl-1, Ctrl-2, etc, as the default keyboard shortcuts, and allowing the user to redefine these if they had to. not an ideal solution, but it is possible.
i think it is going to have to be control, since as soon as you press alt both suggestion and completion listboxes instantly close. this is reasonable, since you don't want them in the way when you open the IDE's menus.
feature request added
case=802 |
zen is the art of being at one with the two'ness |
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