[squeak-dev] The Inbox: Collections-bf.496.mcz

Chris Muller asqueaker at gmail.com
Thu May 23 19:35:34 UTC 2013


>> Bert, could you please explain why you want this?
>
> Cmd-0 is supposed to make something into plain text. Colored text is not
plain text.

Look at the consecutive key-sequence across the top-row of the keyboard.
 In order from left-to-right we have:

  Command+7 = Bold, no color change
  Command+8 = Italicize, no color change
  Command+9 = Kern, no color change
  Command+0 = Normalize, PLUS a color change!
  Command+_ = Underline, no color change
  Command+= = Strikeout, no color change.

I think Command+6 should be the universal, one-stop, "Text Colorization" /
"Decolorization" function and leave the rest of it elegantly consistent by
operating solely on emphasis attributes.

The new Cmd+0 affects the gesture-usage of the system too.  Before, all
combinations of going *from* any *format+color* *to* any another other *
format+color* utilized a consistent sequence of gestures.  Now, we have an
exceptional case for removing emphasis from colored text (e.g., going from
Bold+Red to Normal+Red).

*Question*:  How will users keep the same custom-color when all they want
to do is remove an underline?

This use-case is now very difficult for the user if not impossible.

>> It's already so easy to switch text color to black:   Command+6 + Enter.
>
> Sure, but I don't normally want to set the text to black. I want to make
it plain.

Ok, how about adding "default color" to the Alt+6 menu then?  Or, how about
an alternate key-sequence for "Normalize + Decolorize"?  Shift+Command+0 is
available!  This would be perfect compromise.

>> Isn't that easy enough without making it impossible for folks writing
>> documents in Squeak that contain colored text?
>
> Don't use Cmd-0 if you want to use text containing different colors. It's
*supposed* to make the whole selection look uniform.

But what *do* I use now if want to maintain different colors but just want
to remove *emphasis*?  To do that before, it was the same consistent
gesture-sequence as anything else.  Command+0, Command+6, Enter.  Done.
 Now that's broken, especially for custom-colors.

> For a differently-colored background plain text should be displayed in
color possibly different from black, I agree. But that color should *not*
be encoded in the text itself, it should be a property of its display
container, the one providing the background color.

I'm on-board with having a "nil" color as a text that causes it to render
in whatever it's container says it should and having a gesture to set it
such.  Glad we agree about that.

Would you please compromise with me -- it seems the shift key is used as an
"enhanced" version of several hot-key functions throughout the system, and
so Shift+Command+0 to inject the decolorization and leaving original
Command+0 to remain consistent with [7] thru [=] to only remove emphasis,
seems ideal, what do you think?
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