Interface Gripe: Tabbing and Selecting Text

Why can’t I tab through fields such as the ones in the transform dialog, and why can’t I select text like in every other piece of software ever written in the history of computer software?

I someone know how to accomplish this please step forward. I hate having to insert my cursor and then hit the delete key fifty times to clear a field before entering a new value.

Surely there is a better way?

Press Shft-Backspace to delete a field.

More on editing number fields in the 2.34 releaslogs:
http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Interface.360.0.html

thanks, but why can’t i just highlight text with the mouse and hit delete? why can’t i copy/paste between fields?

in short, why does blender have to use such a ridiculous and counterintuitive method of text selection?

i can’t think of any good reason for the blender method of type selection to exist.

You can copy/past between fields. Put the cursor on a text/number field (you don’t have to click it) and press Ctrl-C to copy and Ctrl-V to paste, it even works with colorfield!!! They aren’t ridiculous and counterintuitive only because you don’t know how to use them…

okay, there’s only one more piece of the puzzle left.

how to tab between fields?

You can’t.

As simple as that.

Martin

You can’t.

As simple as that.

Martin[/quote]
would it be hard to add.? somethin like if you edit one feild and press tab you could jump to the next one.
I hava feeling this would need to change some deep code, but i’m not sure.

Yeah, I wish I could Switch between Text fields like Gabio said, it kind’a takes to much clicking of the mouse to switch, while my hands are occupied on the Keyboard. :-?

You can’t.

As simple as that.[/quote]
would it be hard to add.? somethin like if you edit one feild and press tab you could jump to the next one.
I hava feeling this would need to change some deep code, but i’m not sure.[/quote]
For one thing, the buttons definitions would have to include a tab order. That or use the order of create. Eitherway, I don’t think the buttons are kept anywhere as an ordered list (may be wrong thought).

Deep changes, yes.

Martin

woops. no index in button struct.
Mean a lot of addition.

would it be hard to add to just the transform dialog? it would REALLY speed up working with the trasform window.

(to get sidetracked into technicalities…)
Actually, the buttons are kept in a list, belonging to each uiBlock, and each button points to a but->next (you can see around line 2630 in tuhopuu3, interface.c). This is how the arrow keys to highlight in menus work, since menus are just uiBlocks too, but laid out vertically and they look different.

The tricky part is though, that what you really want is to accept the TAB key inside the do_but_TEX function (while you’re typing something) and get it to move to the next button. Actually, that gives me an idea but it probably won’t work…

(to get sidetracked into technicalities…)
Actually, the buttons are kept in a list, belonging to each uiBlock, and each button points to a but->next (you can see around line 2630 in tuhopuu3, interface.c). This is how the arrow keys to highlight in menus work, since menus are just uiBlocks too, but laid out vertically and they look different.

The tricky part is though, that what you really want is to accept the TAB key inside the do_but_TEX function (while you’re typing something) and get it to move to the next button. Actually, that gives me an idea but it probably won’t work…[/quote]
If that’s the case then, you can probably just stick some code in the button keyboard handling (where Shift-Backspace is handled). No idea how you’d transfer the focus though.

Martin

(to get sidetracked into technicalities…)
Actually, the buttons are kept in a list, belonging to each uiBlock, and each button points to a but->next (you can see around line 2630 in tuhopuu3, interface.c). This is how the arrow keys to highlight in menus work, since menus are just uiBlocks too, but laid out vertically and they look different.

The tricky part is though, that what you really want is to accept the TAB key inside the do_but_TEX function (while you’re typing something) and get it to move to the next button. Actually, that gives me an idea but it probably won’t work…[/quote]
If that’s the case then, you can probably just stick some code in the button keyboard handling (where Shift-Backspace is handled). No idea how you’d transfer the focus though.

Martin[/quote]

Now, if we could just do thinking like this in more important areas :wink: LOL

Yep, that’s what I thought, but managed to figure it out after all, and now I’ve committed it to tuhopuu:

http://projects.blender.org/pipermail/tuhopuu-cvs/2005-January/001232.html

What makes you think analytical thinking doesn’t happen elsewhere in discussing blender code? It happens all the time. And, what, you’re saying that there’s an area of Blender more important than ui coding??! (hehe :P)

Surely you need to read some documentation and accept the fact that most software apart from Blender sucks.

Yep, that’s what I thought, but managed to figure it out after all, and now I’ve committed it to tuhopuu:

wow! i hope it makes it way into the main blender release. it would be a definite usability improvement.

cheers!

I beg to differ! :wink:

Martin

I beg to differ! ;)[/quote]

Oh come on, who needs to transform anything anyway, what a waste of time… :smiley:

:smiley: :smiley: i see i can now tab through text fields in the 2.40 release candidate!

thanks guys!! :smiley: :smiley:

my life is now easier.