[Done] Show available choices only when assigning Hot Key

[jpuziano]

Original msg Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:21 pm accidentally editted/replaced below... please see most recent posts far below.

Beta 10 Build 002 is now available from registered downloads.

Fixes/Changes since 001:
- Added more hotkey options to macro properties.
- Debugger will auto-scroll when stepping to keep debug line roughly central in editor
- Fixed: 0 for modifier key in KEY_DOWN event was treated as NONE or ANY, not just NONE

Release notes:
http://www.mjtnet.com/beta10notes.htm

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for adding giving us an additional way to specity the Hot Key (by actually pressing it) in addition to the existing dropdown fields for selecting it.

In addition, I see the 2nd drop down field now shows only those choices not yet assigned. For instance, I've used most of the CTRL-ALT-key Hot Keys already, only a few keys are still available to use with CTRL-ALT. When I went in there to assign another using v10 build 002, I now see only the keys not yet assigned appearing in the dropdown which is what I was asking for.

Just for kicks, I assigned ESCAPE as the Hot Key for one macro and then tried to assign ESCAPE to another macro as well. ESCAPE appeared in the 1st dropdown field but of course it wouldn't let me assign it.

It makes good sense to have all the choices for the 1st dropdown always appear... so the user can always see what there is to choose from... while the 2nd dropdown now seems to nicely show only the choices (keys) still available to go with the chosen modifier key/s selected in the 1st dropdown.

Good job, I have changed the title of this post from:

• Deferred: Show available choices only when assigning Hot Key

To:

• Done: Show available choices only when assigning Hot Key

Thanks and keep up the great work.

[ferque6]

Yes, it should be a very important feature

[support]

This has been added in next release. Hot key lists no longer contain already assigned hot keys.

[jpuziano]

This has been added in next release. Hot key lists no longer contain already assigned hot keys.

Hi Marcus,

OK, I see in beta v9, say if Hot Key CTRL-ALT-D is already assigned, then D won't show up in the list of letters to pick against CTRL-ALT when you're assigning a Hot Key to another macro, that's good.

However... what about Function keys? Say I have F11 already assigned to a macro. I go in to add a Hot Key to a different macro and F11 still looks available. Only when I select it and click OK does it tell me its already in use.

Can the Function keys be treated similarly here? If some are already assigned, can you make them not show up in the dropdown?

[Marcus Tettmar]

Believe it or not, it's quite complex. We tried to do that a while back and it caused no end of problems. A previous version had that but it caused other problems so we took the mod out. Without going into detail it has something to do with the way the index of the list is used to determine the hot key assignment. So removing items causes a lot of knock-on effects. To be honest we got so tied up trying to get it to work and rewriting the entire hotkey assignment system, we ended up deciding it wasn't worth the effort! Ideally what we need is to build a custom drop down control which will allow us to gray items out. Frankly, in the grand scheme of things this "nice to have" is not worth the days of work it will involve! There are more important things. What often seems simple, often isn't!

[jpuziano]

OK, I seem to remember something like that from a while back, it causing some problems and being removed. I didn't see anything on it here in the Enhancements forum so I thought I'd ask what the latest was.

Sure, if its that involved, it can certainly wait, only a "nice to have" anyway. Having the letters that are assigned not show in the second dropdown takes care of the bulk of the Hot Keys anyway.

Thanks and take care

[jpuziano]

Hi Marcus,

I'm using version 10.002 on XP SP2. Earlier today, when I installed 002, I saw the improvements in the Hot Key assignment dialog.

I also was happy to notice that letters already assigned to a CTRL-ALT-letter combination... were not showing up in the choices for the second dropdown field so... I thought you had done this enhancement and modified my first post in this thread (see above).

Now that behavior has changed, its back to showing all letters all the time in the 2nd dropdown field... Any idea why?

[Marcus Tettmar]

I love that you always want a reason for everything. I don't know why - we didn't change anything regarding not showing letters already assigned - so there should be no change in that regard. I will check it out.

[jpuziano]

Beta 10 Build 003 is now available from registered downloads.

Fixes/Changes since 002:
- Added: Script error messages now display line number
- Added: If allow multiple instances disabled, starting a new instance will activate existing one
- Allow Multiple Instances now defaults to off on first run
- Backed out double buffering on editor - caused some repaint issues
- Fixed: MACRO_RESULT broken in v10
- Fixed: Hotkey list not updating to remove used hotkeys when checking main hotkey checkbox
- Fixed: Bad Numeric Format error stuck in infinite loop

Reason aside, I see its fixed again in v10.003.
I appreciate this may have been a pain to code so.... thanks and take care.