Fast access in lists vs short cut keys

[K.Daube]

Dear friends.

I'm still struggling with this problem

It seemed not possible with ExtendScript to have both fast access to UI elements with shortcut keys and fast access to list elements by typing characters.

• For a single list in the UI I had no problem, but in FMfindRepl there is a great mix of UI elements.
• Typing a character for the list access may inadvertently press a button. In case of D this deletes the current item in the settings list. Other characters (R, E, A etc.) are also dangerous. For this to happen it is sufficient to have button labels with the & notation for t shortcut key - no need for the shortcutKey definition in the UI element. → The combination of list access and shortcut keys is very dangerous!

I experimented more than a week to conclude, not to implement the shortcut keys: the benefit of the list navigation with characters seemed greater than that of shortcut keys. But working alternately with the original FM panel and the script panel demonstrated the need for short cut keys. And after half a month I thought to have found the solution to the problem:

•  On activation of drop downs and edit fields: inactivate the short cuts.
•  On de-activation/onChange of drop downs and edit fields: activate the short cuts

But it turns out that this is not reliable. For example,

• Typing F in the Find type drop down list to go to Footnote the item is selected in the list and immediately a Footnote is searched (because the F also triggers the Find button).
• Typing A in the Find type drop down list to go to Anchored Frame (the default selection is Text), button A (Change All) is triggered - and fortunately has no effect, because no replacement is defined.

So my problem is to decide which function is more important:

• Fast acess in the drop down lists
• Short cut keys for the buttons

→ Please give me your preferences - I can not implemenet both...

Edit 2022-11-14 17:54

Even change/eliminate the property shortcutKey from a control does not remove the trigger, as long as the label contains the & notation! Hence it is quite difficult to switch the shortcutKey off/on (the shortcut character and the label depend on the UI language)

[LinSims]

Which do you expect people to use most, the drop-downs or the menus? 

I generally do not use the menu-accessing shortcut keys, if you're talking about things like pressing Alt+F to open the files menu. I may be an outlier, but my preference for program functions is either the Esc codes or the mouse, depending on what I've got memorized. I don't think I've ever used the Alt+ to access any menu items, except by accident. So for me, the type ahead in the drop-down would work better.

Mileage may vary.

[Winfried Reng]

Hm. I usually do use the ALT shortcuts. And I also like to jump to an item in a list by pressing the first character.

When I would have to decide, then I prefer the ALT shortcuts.

[K.Daube]

Even more tests and experiments (again a full day) demonstrate the fact, that it is not possible to have reliable short cut access to buttons in ExtendScript. I had code which worked a while, but suddenly the typing of a character in the panel opened a top  menu. It seems to me that the windows function 'shortcut to menus' has precedence over the ES triggers.

So it is my conclusion after more than a month of back and forth and walking in circles:

→ It is not possible to have reliable short cut access to buttons in ExtendScript. Someone may prove the opposite.

[Fightergator]

Despite 40+ years of using computers for word processing, I have only recently become aware you can use the Alt key combinate to activate the drop down menus.  When it's happened to me by accident in the past, it was generally an irritatation.  That said, I use key combinations quite extensively to automate tasks; e.g., Ctrl+f, Ctrl+c, Ctrl+v, etc., but each for a specific task that is more quickly accomplished using key combinations.  For me, it comes down to the key combinations that save me time.  As a Microsoft Office instructor once said, if you are using more than two actions to accomplish something that can be done with fewer, you are doing it wrong!

[K.Daube]

Well, my point was «It is not possible to have reliable short cut access to buttons in ExtendScript. Someone may prove the opposite.»