[bp-dev] Keyboard shortcuts

[Anthony K. <ant...@sb...>]

Hello Bernard (and list),

I was working on revising some keyboard shortcuts today for OS X and wanted
to get feedback on what the best choices would be.  The problem is that OS X
reserves several shortcuts that BP2 was already using on OS 9.  Some of
these we can continue to use and some we cannot.

The Command-Option-Space shortcut for displaying all of the settings windows
is now unusable by applications.  It (and all key combinations involving
Command-Space) are used for switching among keyboard layouts and script
systems or they are reserved for future use by Apple.  OS X will not send
any of these combinations to BP2.

BP2 was also using Command-Space for muting Midi output with OMS and for
playing a Sound-object in the Edit Prototypes window.  This shortcut fails
to work under OS X as well.

The mute command is obsolete, and for playing a sound-object, I think that
we could use Command-P.  This is already used for playing the current
selection in text windows, so this just extends its meaning to apply to the
Edit Prototypes window.  I could even make the menu item text change from
"Play selection" to "Play prototype" or "Play sound-object" when that window
is in front to make the meaning clear.  Does this sound like a good
substitute for Cmd-space?

For the Settings menu item, I have been considering a substitute of
Command-; (semicolon).  (The colon : on the same key -- at least on U.S.
keyboards -- is reminiscent of the BP2 settings file icon :)

Also, since this command opens about 8 windows -- 6 of which can be opened
by other menu commands but two of which cannot -- I was thinking about
modifying it to only open the two "Top" and "Botton" settings windows (these
have the titles "Input-output settings" and "Computation settings").  This
would make for fewer windows to close when all that you want to do is change
one of these settings.  However, if the option key is down, the command
could open all 8 windows (so the shortcut would be Command-Option-; and the
menu item could change to "Settings (all)" or something like that).

One thing that I want to be sure of is that whatever choice is made, that it
can be typed on all (or most) international keyboards.  I've already made
these changes today to test that it works but I can change them again in a
heartbeat.  Another possibility would be to make Command-; open all 8
windows, and Command-option-; to open only the Top and Bottom settings.  A
third alternative is to use Command-, (comma) but Apple recommends using
this for the 'Preferences' item in the application's menu (and I think we
will soon have a need for creating a global preferences dialog that is
separate from the information stored in "project" settings files (-se)).

Two other conflicts exist in BP2's keyboard shortcuts but they are not as
much of a problem.  BP2 uses Command-H for opening the Alphabet window and
Command-M opens the Metronome window.  Command-H (and Cmd-Opt-H) are used on
MacOS X for hiding the current (or other) applications.  Command-M is
recommended to be used for minimizing windows.  It is possible for
applications to override either of these though and the OS gracefully does
not show Cmd-H next to the 'Hide Bol Processor' menu command.  Indeed,
several text editors override Command-H for 'Find selection' (BBEdit and
Codewarrior).  So, I do not think it is necessary to change these.

Finally, Command-left-arrow and Command-right-arrow are also used by the OS
but only when more than one script system is active (or something like
that).  So, BP2 can still receive these events if the system is not using
them.  I personally find it obnoxious for Apple to take over commonly used
text editing shortcuts such as these!  But we can't stop them :)  These two
shortcuts will work for most users though.

Lists of all shortcuts used by BP2 and those reserved by the System are
given below for reference.  I will be out-of-town the next two days, but wil
reply to your suggestions when I get back.

Thanks

Anthony

BP2's shortcuts in use:  (Command combined with all of the following)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z / ? - = .
Opt-A  Opt-E  Opt-T  (was using Cmd-Opt-Spc and Cmd-Spc)

Keys available for use by BP2 (on my keyboard):

;  ,  '  [  ]  \  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0


Reserved by the System:

Cmd-H  Cmd-Opt-H  Cmd-Opt-D  Cmd-Shift-Q  Cmd-Opt-Shift-Q
Cmd-~  Cmd-`  Cmd-Shift-~  Cmd-Opt-+  Cmd-Opt-hyphen
Cmd-Opt-*  Cmd-Opt-/  Cmd-Opt-Escape  Cmd-left/right-arrow
Cmd-anything-Space   Cmd-anything-Tab
Control combined with various keys (without Cmd)
using function keys on 10.3 and later also seems like a bad idea