| Discussion: Could keybindings be improved for mouseless usage? [message #202115] |
Thu, 28 April 2005 08:12  |
 Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
Messages: 27
Registered: July 2009 |
Junior Member |
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I have noticed that the keybindings used in eclipse are somewhat
arbitrarily chosen, and that some very seldomly used commands have first
class shortcuts (Ctrl-R for example) while others I use regularily
require a complex key sequence or a very precise mouse click.
I belive that this is due to the evolutionary development of eclipse,
and I think that it would be a good idea to use the gathered experience
to try to make Eclipse more powerful for the users who would like to
keep their hands on the keyboard while working.
I am aware that there is a Emacs keybinding, but I think that the Emacs
keybindings suffer from the same evolutionary symptom, except that they
from the start found the need to work with multiple keystrokes of
variable length for commands, and to have mode-specific keymaps (Ctrl-C
....).
When thinking of all the editors I have used through the years, the
WordStar keybindings are the one who comes to mind as being the most
logical and efficient for the typist. It was designed for a keyboard
without function keys however.
I would therefore like to discuss the following points, before reaching
a conclusion to open enhancement requests upon:
* There should be a paradigm shift from using Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Something
to use multi-key sequences based on the Emacs model.
* It should be possible and easy to have mode/view specific keybindings,
and they should go in a common keysequence. Ctrl-B for bold does not
have much meaning in Java code, and could be used for a keymap. Similar
with Ctrl-U, as the Ctrl-something is comparatively easy to type.
* The key strokes Ctrl-Q, Ctrl-R, Ctrl-N should be released from their
current functionality and turned into keymaps. Ctrl-Q Ctrl-Q could be
the "Go to latest edit" as it is very easy to type.
* The usage of additional modifier keys (Shift, Alt) in addition to Ctrl
should be minimized, since it requires a complex hand position and is
therefore more difficult to type.
Any comments?
--
Thorbjørn
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| Re: Discussion: Could keybindings be improved for mouseless usage? [message #202118 is a reply to message #202115] |
Thu, 28 April 2005 09:01  |
Max Rydahl Andersen
Messages: 233
Registered: July 2009 |
Senior Member |
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I agree - but is this not already possible to do ?
You could come up with a "less handstrain keybinding", export it
and then contribute it.
I would actually seriously consider also looking at how Idea is doing
their key bindings since it seems to be a key focal point for their
keybindings to be easy to use/remember.
Some of their easiness also require some other actual behavior, but
that is a different talk ;)
/max
> I have noticed that the keybindings used in eclipse are somewhat
> arbitrarily chosen, and that some very seldomly used commands have first
> class shortcuts (Ctrl-R for example) while others I use regularily
> require a complex key sequence or a very precise mouse click.
>
> I belive that this is due to the evolutionary development of eclipse,
> and I think that it would be a good idea to use the gathered experience
> to try to make Eclipse more powerful for the users who would like to
> keep their hands on the keyboard while working.
>
> I am aware that there is a Emacs keybinding, but I think that the Emacs
> keybindings suffer from the same evolutionary symptom, except that they
> from the start found the need to work with multiple keystrokes of
> variable length for commands, and to have mode-specific keymaps (Ctrl-C
> ...).
>
> When thinking of all the editors I have used through the years, the
> WordStar keybindings are the one who comes to mind as being the most
> logical and efficient for the typist. It was designed for a keyboard
> without function keys however.
>
> I would therefore like to discuss the following points, before reaching
> a conclusion to open enhancement requests upon:
>
> * There should be a paradigm shift from using Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Something
> to use multi-key sequences based on the Emacs model.
>
> * It should be possible and easy to have mode/view specific keybindings,
> and they should go in a common keysequence. Ctrl-B for bold does not
> have much meaning in Java code, and could be used for a keymap. Similar
> with Ctrl-U, as the Ctrl-something is comparatively easy to type.
>
> * The key strokes Ctrl-Q, Ctrl-R, Ctrl-N should be released from their
> current functionality and turned into keymaps. Ctrl-Q Ctrl-Q could be
> the "Go to latest edit" as it is very easy to type.
>
> * The usage of additional modifier keys (Shift, Alt) in addition to Ctrl
> should be minimized, since it requires a complex hand position and is
> therefore more difficult to type.
>
> Any comments?
>
--
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