[Qgis-developer] Key accelerators vs. key shortcuts.

Tim Sutton tim at linfiniti.com
Sun Apr 9 12:51:19 EDT 2006


Hi
> The big idea is: Right hand for giving coordinates via mouse and
> drawing, the Left hand for panning and zooming within the current view
> frame, according to current mouse pointer position.

Ok but as you said earlier, this is left handed person unfriendly...



> Zoom,Pan keys could  be maybe placed somewhere in the bottom centre of
> keyboard to satisfy both the left and right fraction, still preserving
> ergonomy.
>


Yes this is good logic. How about this proposal (try it in a keyboard
before rejecting it :-):

                  +---+
                   | Y |
             +---+---+---+
                | G | H |
              +---+---+---+
               | V | B | N |
              +---+---+---+
                 SPACE
              -----------------

y : pan up
g : pan left
h : pan right
b : pan down
v : zoom out
n : zoom in
space : mouse locking pan

The keyboard layout above while not mnemonic allows quick access to
all motion operations with one hand, is both left & right handed
friendly. Note however that collides with some existing keybindings so
those would need remapping. I know some localised keyboards shift the
keys about on the keyboard - would it affect these mappings?

If its possible (I havent looked yet), I would also implement the
arrows, + , - keybindings I mentioned previously as IMHO its 'obvious'
and follows 'principle of least surprise', even if as you say its not
the most efficient or suitable for laptop users.



> Just my ideas, for whatever they are worth.

Good thoughts, good discussion - it will be great to have every part
of the user interface given so much careful thought so that it meets
crtieria of convenience, functionality and aesthetic.


Regards

--
Tim Sutton

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