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From: Kai-Martin Knaak <knaak AT iqo DOT uni-hannover DOT de>
Subject: Re: [geda-user] key bindings
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 02:44:27 +0200
Organization: Institut =?UTF-8?B?ZsO8cg==?= Quantenoptik
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Reply-To: geda-user AT delorie DOT com

Evan Foss wrote:

>> We haven't changed out keybindings because our users are used to them.
>> PCB did add a way to change the keybindings if you wanted different
>> ones, but we left the defaults alone.  If a user wants to fiddle, they
>> can fiddle.
> 
> Ok I forgot that PCB had that.

What is missing though, is a way to make gschem compatible two-stroke 
accels. 

When it comes to efficient use of accelerator keys, it may be worthwhile 
to look beyond the horizon. Video games are also combine mouse movements 
with key strokes. A prime example is starcraft. Players battle it out 
since 15 years in matches where every minor advantage counts.

The user interface of starcraft is highly configurable and there is a 
large active user base. Over time different key schemes emerged. A 
particularly popular one even made it into the default UI. 

I am talking about the "grid" layout. These are keys which are 
deliberately chosen to keep the hand of the player at the same spot. Of 
course, this does away with mnemonic choices like "s" for "Select". But 
with little practice fingers know pretty fast where to go. Once they do, 
they start to move fast and efficient.

Luckily, some aspects of pcb key layout are already reminiscent of 
starcraft: The major tools are on the row of F-keys. And the number keys 
are bound to the layers (in starcraft these access groups of units). 
However, accel keys of pcb are scattered over the whole keyboard. To put 
them all under the fingers of the left presents a problem: There more 
actions than keys. The starcraft solution to this problem is to make the 
accel keys context sensitive. E.g. depending on which mode is active, 
pressing "q" may build a worker, build a hatch, or a hydralisk den. This 
sounds confusing but actually isn't. You choose the "mode" directly before 
the "q" with a different key. So this is actually a two-stroke combo to 
the fingers.

In terms of pcb-GUI the mode would be the currently active tool. So a "q" 
would do something different in via mode than in line mode or in arc mode. 

BTW, starcraft also provides a good GUI way to facilitate learning the 
keys on the fly. On the lower right there is an area with icons of the 
currently available actions. These icons are decorated with the letter of 
the respective accel key. 

Any thoughts?

---<)kaimartin(>---
-- 
Kai-Martin Knaak                                  tel: +49-511-762-2895
Universität Hannover, Inst. für Quantenoptik      fax: +49-511-762-2211	
Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover           http://www.iqo.uni-hannover.de
GPG key:    http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?search=Knaak+kmk&op=get