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Tiny improvement for Code Assist

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jtuchel

Tiny improvement for Code Assist

Hi,

I've come to love code assist. I'm missing it every time I have to work with an older version of VAST.

There is a little thing I'd like to see added: Forcing it to suggest by pressing Alt+Arrow Down.

Why do I want that?
Because there are situations when you dismissed a suggestion (maybe by accident) and press Backspace. Under circumstances that I cannot describe (because I haven't realized the pattern) the list doesn't show up again. So I'd like to help the system and press Alt+Arrow Down to make it search and suggest. Alt+Arrow Down is the Windows keycode to open drop-down boxes.

Joachim

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jtuchel

Re: Tiny improvement for Code Assist

Well, in fact what I am asking for is just another keaboard shortcut for the suggestion list. You can force it by pressing Ctr+Space, so maybe I shouldn't be asking for anything and just get accustomed to pressing the right buttons. Thanks for reading ;-)

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Seth Berman

Re: Tiny improvement for Code Assist

Hi Joachim,

I just want to be sure I understand what you were saying. Do you believe it would be helpful to offer a secondary popup-trigger option, like <Alt-DownArrow> in addition to <Ctrl-Space>? Or is it that you would you like to be able to change the popup hotkey <Ctrl-Space> to <Alt-DownArrow> because that is more intuitive to you? Because there is no universal keymapping configurations in VA, I have to be careful about what hotkeys would be allowed, so it is not in conflict with other actions in the editor or window, but I believe <Alt-DownArrow> is available. Especially if this is a standard in Windows for an action that shares the semantics, I will be happy to look into it. Good tip.

Seth

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jtuchel

Re: Tiny improvement for Code Assist

Seth,

I would opt for a second one. Ctrl-Space is very popular, it's used in many IDEs, so we should definitely keep it. If I have a wish, I'd like Alt-DownArrow as an addition, because it is the shortcut for drop-down lists in Excel, Acces etc. on Windows, and I somehow seem to have memorized it better.

A universal settings dialog for all kinds of keystrokes and such would sure be good for the people who like to customize all and everything, but for me that's not a requirement for Code Assist.

Joachim

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Seth Berman

Re: Tiny improvement for Code Assist

Joachim,

I tried the <Alt-down> for a little bit and I do like it. The only thing I notice is that once the Alt key is pressed, there is some visual feedback in the window menubar, in terms of underlining the first character in the menu items. However, it's so subtle that I don't believe the user would even notice this unless they were looking for it.

The only other issue I can think of, which is nit-picky, is if halfway through the hotkey sequence the user decided not to invoke code assist, but because they already pressed the <Alt> key, the focus is now on the first item in the menubar. This is in contrast to <Ctrl-Space> where pressing the <Ctrl> key, by itself, does nothing. However, this would also happen in Excel and I'm not clear on how often this usecase would occur.

I think this is worthwhile, maybe I'll make sure that this secondary trigger can be turned off easily.

Seth

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