Selection Arrow Shortcut Key

[domcm]

Here is a question for you Alibre gurus. Is there a way to assign a shortcut key for the selection arrow? See attached. As an example, this would be really convenient in drawing mode when you have the dimension tool active but need to get back to the selection arrow to select a view or other geometry. I tried selecting the escape key but it does not work.

 

[MilesH]

You can assign a Shortcut key to any command in 2011 [Tools | Customize Shortcut Keys ] but, ideally, it would be something like this:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1764&p=8749 ?

 

[domcm]

Miles,

Thanks for the tip. Took me a while to find. For those interested, this is the menu location in v2011:

Tools > Customize Shortcut Keys > Drawing Editor > View > Select

Pretty cool - that's a real time saver!

 

[HaroldL]

Is anyone else having difficulty reading the text on the Hot key assignment dialog?
When I go to assign hotkeys for my most used commands I noticed that the text in the HotKey dialog was difficult to read. I asked Support if there is something that can be done to make it more legible. The light blue text and the white/light gray lines passing through the text is difficult for me to read.

The replyI got was "Unfortunately this is not something that can be changed at this point. I would suggest entering this as something you would like to see changed at feedback.alibre.com." So, I'll enter it in the feed back forum. I think the dialog needs to be redone.

 

[denisgb2]

I just got around to checking out new ability to assign shortcuts to any command, and for the life of me I do not know why it is limited to just one character. It is a total disappointment to me, as I had hoped to revive some of my old Generic Cadd habits, and reuse most of the two letter shortcuts that are deeply embedded in my memory.

I do understand that it allows the use of the modifier, such as shift, alt, or whatever, but that is not what I had expected. I was among those who suggested the 2 or 3 letter shortcuts back when it was first being discussed as a desired feature.

So close, and yet so far away....

 

[sigseven]

Is anyone else having difficulty reading the text on the Hot key assignment dialog?
When I go to assign hotkeys for my most used commands I noticed that the text in the HotKey dialog was difficult to read. I asked Support if there is something that can be done to make it more legible. The light blue text and the white/light gray lines passing through the text is difficult for me to read.

The replyI got was "Unfortunately this is not something that can be changed at this point. I would suggest entering this as something you would like to see changed at feedback.alibre.com." So, I'll enter it in the feed back forum. I think the dialog needs to be redone.

Hmm, well, that's definitely not how it should look. What operating system/windows theme are you using? XP with the classic theme?

I just got around to checking out new ability to assign shortcuts to any command, and for the life of me I do not know why it is limited to just one character. It is a total disappointment to me, as I had hoped to revive some of my old Generic Cadd habits, and reuse most of the two letter shortcuts that are deeply embedded in my memory.

I do understand that it allows the use of the modifier, such as shift, alt, or whatever, but that is not what I had expected. I was among those who suggested the 2 or 3 letter shortcuts back when it was first being discussed as a desired feature.

So close, and yet so far away....

To get a better idea of just what additional functionality people are looking for, by a two letter shortcut, do you mean you want to be able to--for example--press 'A', release, then press 'D' to execute the shortcut? Or something more like, press 'A' and 'D' simultaneously? I would suggest putting in a request for this enhancement to the feedback website if it is important to you.

The reason it's limited to one character + modifiers is that allowing multiple would have required changing the shortcut input framework as well, not just providing an interface to customize them. That would have needed a much greater development effort, causing other features and/or bug fixes to fall by the wayside.

 

[denisgb2]

Sorry if I was not clear. The shortcut would be as if you were typing; the letters or numbers entered in sequence. Most of the shortcuts were at 2 characters, with only a few at 3. I do believe that the 3 character shortcuts were somehow unique, in that the first 2 character combination was not the same as any other 2 character shortcut.

This all had to do with using the program without a pointing device, ( a mouse or a digitizer was out of my budget range, around $900 if I remember prices from 1985 correctly) and since I did not have a pointing device, I used the keyboard shortcuts, which proved to be very handy, rather than scrolling up and down the side menus.


Thanks for your comments, sigseven.

Regards,

Denis

 

[HaroldL]

...Hmm, well, that's definitely not how it should look. What operating system/windows theme are you using? XP with the classic theme?

As a matter of fact, yes it is the WinXP Classic theme. That's about the only way I can have fonts, window title bars, etc. show up in a color that's easy on my eyes and fonts that I can read at the resolution my monitor is set at. (17 inch wide screen laptop set to 1440 X 900)

 

[HaroldL]

Sorry if I was not clear. The shortcut would be as if you were typing; the letters or numbers entered in sequence. Most of the shortcuts were at 2 characters, with only a few at 3. I do believe that the 3 character shortcuts were somehow unique, in that the first 2 character combination was not the same as any other 2 character shortcut.
...

Thanks for your comments, sigseven.

Regards,

Denis

Denis,
I'm with you on this; a single letter, even with the modifiers, just doesn't seem like enough. I've used AutoCAD, which had 2 and 3 letter commands in a command line, and I-DEAS Drafting, which had virtually every command and command modifiers/options pre-assigned with a 2-letter mnemonic. It was possible to create, edit, and dimension geometry without having to click on a command icon. It's too bad that they couldn't use I-DEAS Drafting with Alibre. :cry:

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

I'd like to introduce you to my friend - AutoHotkey. Customize how you interact with nearly every and any program you use.

What Denis is talking about is actually known as a hotstring and not a hotkey.
Regardless of which one you actually want, AutoHotkey can do it.

There are some scripts here for use with Alibre: http://forum.alibre.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4311

Why spend time reinventing the wheel?

If you need help getting set up just ask.