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#188 Keyboard controls for Probe

Next Release (example)
closed
nobody
None
6
2016-07-11
2014-03-15
Scott
No

Summary: Keyboard controls for the Probe, manipulators, and other widgets would make a more user friendly environment.

The Probe's settings could be modified in a more user-friendly way by allowing left/right/up/down arrow keys to modify its position. In Qt, Powerpoint, and many other applications, a selected textbox or dialog can be precisely positioned using these keys.

We provide tools to adjust the probe in these two ways, which are both cumbersome to use:
1) A user can experiment with trial and error to manually enter the size, coordinates, and location of the probe to get a desired result.
2) A user can click on a slider bar, which is difficult to be precise with.

If the slider bars are an inch long, and are displayed at 72ppi, the user would have 72 positions to set the probe upon. 72 positions to choose from is fine, but I don't think we want our users making their adjustments according to individual screen pixels.

Proposed solution: Eliminate the slider bars for the Probe's axis and orientation. Make textboxes with keyboard enabled arrow adjustments.

In other words let's have the users move the probe around with arrow keys.

Discussion

  • Scott

    Scott - 2014-03-15
    • Description has changed:

    Diff:

    --- old
+++ new
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-The Probe's settings could be modified in a more user-friendly way by allow left/right/up/down arrow keys to modify its position.  In Qt, Powerpoint, and many other applications, a selected textbox or dialog can be precisely positioned using these keys.  
+The Probe's settings could be modified in a more user-friendly way by allowing left/right/up/down arrow keys to modify its position.  In Qt, Powerpoint, and many other applications, a selected textbox or dialog can be precisely positioned using these keys.  

 We provide tools to adjust the probe in these two ways, which are both cumbersome to use:
 1) A user can experiment with trial and error to manually enter the size, coordinates, and location of the probe to get a desired result.
 2) A user can click on a slider bar, which is difficult to be precise with.  

-If the slider bars are an inch long, and are displayed at 72ppi, the user would have 72 discretized positions to set the probe upon.  72 positions on each axis might be acceptable, but I don't think we want our users making their adjustments according to individual screen pixels.
+If the slider bars are an inch long, and are displayed at 72ppi, the user would have 72  positions to set the probe upon.  72 positions to choose from is fine, but I don't think we want our users making their adjustments according to individual screen pixels.

 Proposed solution: Eliminate the slider bars for the Probe's axis and orientation.  Make textboxes with keyboard enabled arrow adjustments.
     

  • Scott

    Scott - 2014-03-17
    • Description has changed:

    Diff:

    --- old
+++ new
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+Summary: Keyboard controls for the Probe, manipulators, and other widgets would make a more user friendly environment.
+
 The Probe's settings could be modified in a more user-friendly way by allowing left/right/up/down arrow keys to modify its position.  In Qt, Powerpoint, and many other applications, a selected textbox or dialog can be precisely positioned using these keys.  

 We provide tools to adjust the probe in these two ways, which are both cumbersome to use:
     

  • Alan Norton

    Alan Norton - 2016-07-11
    • status: open --> closed
     

  • Alan Norton

    Alan Norton - 2016-07-11

    Scott has implemented this in 3.0