Lex

lex at cc.gatech.edu wrote:
> There are more than two proposals.  I don't think they are documented
> anywhere outside the mailing list.  The thread starts at:

So my question is if somebody wouldn't mind to summarize the proposals in
a neatly readable fashion.


>
http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/squeak-dev/2004-December/085261.html



> The current Squeak settings map as follows (at least, I think this is
> what they do):
>
> 	duplicateControlAndAltKeys = dupMain
> 	swapControlAndAltKeys = swapMain
>

What is dupMain and swapMain? There are methods named
#duplicateControlAndAltKeys and #swapControlAndAltKeys
in the image but dupMain and swapMain?


> In particular, what do you think of making
> duplicateControlAndAltKeys be turned on by default, on all platforms?
>

I would like that the first impression new users get of squeak is that
the cut/copy/paste/select_all keyboard shortcuts _work_ as expected.


This means on a Mac

clover key (http://www.jargon.net/jargonfile/f/featurekey.html)

<clover key>  x    --> cut
<clover key>  c    --> copy
<clover key>  v    --> paste
<clover key>  a    --> select all


and on Windows

<ctrl>  x    --> cut
<ctrl>  c    --> copy
<ctrl>  v    --> paste
<ctrl>  a    --> select all


and on Linux the shortcuts which are common there which you know better
than I.

If the keyboard shortcuts are not like this people think Squeak is very
experimental software as the developers didn't even care of providing
shortcuts for most often used commands. Or they just call it a bug what it
probably is.


Regarding your proposal of giving up the distinction between the <alt>
and the <ctrl> key altogether: I do not consider this to be a good idea as it gives away
future options without a need.

On windows it is very commons to have a lot of different shortcuts

(ctrl plus aKey)  does not give the same thing as (alt plus aKey)

I certainly need for my work in the future to have still more options for
additional key combinations (for example as we now have Unicode to insert
special symbols).


To summarize:
I prefer that a preference

(swapControlAndAltKeys true)

is set in SmalltalkImage>>setPlatformPreferences
(in the Windows section)


if this does not find a majority I still prefer
(duplicateControlAndAltKeys true)

in SmalltalkImage>>setPlatformPreferences (in the Windows section)
to the current solution.


Thank you for giving me your attention

Hannes




NB: Whoever feels that this discussion has reached a conclusion should
create an update of the method
SmalltalkImage>>setPlatformPreferences
produce a changeset and post it on http://bugs.impara.de/

But having only the opinion of 4 people is probably not enough as UI
issues are relatively sensitive (12..14 would be good IMO). This is the
reason why I ask for a neat summary where the proposals are listed
so that people can vote for or against.