[Geany] revisiting default keyboard shortcuts: a proposed solution

[Nick Treleaven]

On 09/04/2007 12:57:45 AM, John Gabriele wrote:
> [...]
> Geany is a powerful GUI programmer's editor. As such, we should be
> taking advantage of the key bindings available. This means using
> Ctrl-Alt ... as well as Shift-Alt.
> 
I agree. I think you summed up everything well, thanks John.

> [...]
> Now, Geany is also using Alt keys to deal with gui elements 
> (including
> the Alt-1 and Alt-0 combos), and the Shift key to deal with selecting
> text (holding it down while navigating). I propose then, that
> Shift-Alt be specifically used for commands that either have to do
> with the GUI, or else with selecting text. That is, continue to use
> Shift-Alt-{W,L,P} to select word, line, and paragraph, and add to 
> this
> list:
> 
> * Shift-Alt-J to vertically center ("jump") the window view on the
> current line (was Shift-Ctrl-L)

Or maybe Shift-Alt-V for View current line?

> * Shift-Alt-{Up,Down} to scroll the window up- and down-by-line.
> 
I think we can use Alt-{Up,Down} for this. We can use both Alt-[^a-z] 
and Alt-Shift-{x} for GUI-related commands.

> [...]
> Currently, the F-keys are used the way I'm proposing Shift-Alt be
> used. This is fine, and some users who really want certain F-key
> commands really at their fingertips may want to re-assign them to
> unused Shift-Alt key combos. :)
> 
Yes, I think we'll keep the F-keys.

> Finally then, this leaves us with the Ctrl-Alt modifier. I propose
> this be used for how Shift-Alt has previously been used: for special,
> possibly-less-used or advanced features. This would include:
> 
> * Ctrl-Alt-D to insert the date
> 
I guess that's less common, so maybe we could use that even though it 
won't work by default on Gnome.

> And possibly these, having to do with changing case:
> 
> * Ctrl-Alt-U (think "all *U*pper or lowercase") to toggle selection
> between all upper and lowercase.

Not sure about that. It might be best to use ctrl-u for toggle case, 
unless there's something better to use ctrl-u for.

> * Ctrl-Alt-C ('c' for "capitalize") to make the current word start
> with a capital letter and then move the cursor to the end of that 
> word
> * Ctrl-Alt-L ('l' for "lowercase") to make the current word start 
> with
> a lowercase letter and then move the cursor to the end of that word
> 
Maybe - but can you explain what situations would you use that?

> One last problem is possible key combo collisions with desktop
> managers. Geany cannot possibly sidestep collisions with all 
> desktops.

I think it's worth trying (in theory), especially for the most common 
desktops. E.g. we don't use Alt-F-key combos to avoid window manager 
conflicts. But it's probably OK for less common bindings.

<grumble>
It'd be nice if Gnome used the super (a.k.a 'Windows' key) for things 
like show/lock desktop, but maybe they don't want to due to portability 
reasons.
</grumble>

Regards,
Nick