Pen-friendly numeric fields

TheTallGuy · Post by **TheTallGuy** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:39 am

For the happiness of tablet users out there...

One feature I like about Macromedia's Fireworks MX2004 is the numeric sliders they use. These look like standard Windows combo-boxes in that there's a text box and a button with a downward arrow next to it. In a normal combo-box, clicking the button brings out the menu of choices. In a numeric field, it pops up a slider.

Therefore, you can enter a number either by typing or by sliding.

Squeakydave · Post by **Squeakydave** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 10:35 am

I agree. In v4 I am forever putting down my stylus and picking up my mouse so I can use the scroll wheel on text fields. It is a very handy feature and way quicker than trial and effor text entry.

Post by **Lost Marble** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 4:23 pm

It's hard at this point to change the interface layout for all the text input fields. What about this: if you click on a text field with the right mouse button and drag side-to-side, it will increase or decrease the value in the field. Kind of like using the scroll wheel, but with a right-drag instead. My pen has a little button that lets me easily right-click, so it seems like it would be pretty pen-friendly.

What do you think?

Squeakydave · Post by **Squeakydave** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 5:15 pm

Yes please!
That would be more fantastic than a fantastic things fantastic bits!

TheTallGuy · Post by **TheTallGuy** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:38 pm

Hey, that would be great! The only downside I can think of is that it isn't visually obvious. But you could solve that (sort of) with a special tutorial or help section about tablet use.

Great job!

ME

Manu · Post by **Manu** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:24 pm

Lost Marble wrote:What about this: if you click on a text field with the right mouse button and drag side-to-side, it will increase or decrease the value in the field. Kind of like using the scroll wheel, but with a right-drag instead. My pen has a little button that lets me easily right-click, so it seems like it would be pretty pen-friendly.

What do you think?

Yes!

While you're at it, no shame in learning from the "big boys": After Effects does this and it works a treat, on top of that, when holding down the shift key it multiplies the value changes with 10, when holding down the CTRL/Command key the value changes are 10 times less.

Post by **Lost Marble** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:51 pm

Manu wrote:While you're at it, no shame in learning from the "big boys": After Effects does this and it works a treat, on top of that, when holding down the shift key it multiplies the value changes with 10, when holding down the CTRL/Command key the value changes are 10 times less.

Heh, heh. We actually have that too, kind of. Only it's 2 times the amount or 1/2 the amount. Plus, in Moho 5 the keys to activate this are different. Might as well make them the same as AE - we'll change that for beta 2.

TheTallGuy · Post by **TheTallGuy** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 12:51 am

Lost Marble wrote: Heh, heh. We actually have that too, kind of. Only it's 2 times the amount or 1/2 the amount. Plus, in Moho 5 the keys to activate this are different. Might as well make them the same as AE - we'll change that for beta 2.

Actually, this is a bit of an aside, but is it possible to change Moho's key assignments to make it closer to Adobe products? I'm thinking of the way you hold down the space bar and click to increase magnification. That way I don't have to struggle to remember what program I'm in.

I'm not actually suggesting changing the key defaults. I'm wondering if there's some sort of "Adobe/Macromedia compatible" script or config setup that a user can choose if they want to.

ME

Post by **Lost Marble** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 1:25 am

TheTallGuy wrote:Actually, this is a bit of an aside, but is it possible to change Moho's key assignments to make it closer to Adobe products?

You can change the hotkeys associated with tools. Look for the file _tool_list.txt, and open it up in Notepad. You'll see a letter or number assigned to each tool (or ... for no hotkey assignment). You can change these around to map different keys to different tools.

TheTallGuy · Post by **TheTallGuy** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 1:51 am

Lost Marble wrote:You can change the hotkeys associated with tools. Look for the file _tool_list.txt, and open it up in Notepad. You'll see a letter or number assigned to each tool (or ... for no hotkey assignment). You can change these around to map different keys to different tools.

Yes, but can you create a script that intercepts a space bar press and hold, and then moves the display when you drag the mouse, like Adobe products do?

ME

Post by **Lost Marble** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 2:13 am

You could write a script that does that, but only the current tool intercepts key and mouse events, so whenever you're using a different tool, that script wouldn't have any effect.

So, although you could write a script to do that, in practice it wouldn't really work.

TheTallGuy · Post by **TheTallGuy** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 2:14 am

Lost Marble wrote:You could write a script that does that, but only the current tool intercepts key and mouse events, so whenever you're using a different tool, that script wouldn't have any effect.

FEATURE REQUEST!

Manu · Post by **Manu** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 10:56 am

Lost Marble wrote:
Manu wrote:While you're at it, no shame in learning from the "big boys": After Effects does this and it works a treat, on top of that, when holding down the shift key it multiplies the value changes with 10, when holding down the CTRL/Command key the value changes are 10 times less.
Heh, heh. We actually have that too, kind of. Only it's 2 times the amount or 1/2 the amount. Plus, in Moho 5 the keys to activate this are different. Might as well make them the same as AE - we'll change that for beta 2.

Make what the same? the keystrokes or the amount?