Osnaps and Hot Keys - Is there a way to....?

Bill Mays

I was experimenting with the Customize/ Keyboard menu but I'm not sure if I'm getting this particular idea right.

Is there a way to hook up _Tangent to a hot key?


Reason being that I tend to reach for the "T" key when drawing a line to a tangent.
I figured I would follow through and see if it could be done.
Not critical but just an idea.

Hopefully I'm just missing something...
Thanks in advance for any help.
B

Roy Klein Gebbinck

You need to change the 'Command Aliases' for that. Just go to the appropriate tab in the _CUSTOMIZE dialog and edit the 'T    MTEXT' entry.

Roy Klein Gebbinck

Oops, that does not work inside a command. You really need to use a keyboard shotcut. You could delete the existing Ctrl+T shortcut and append a new one in its place.

Anthony Apostolaros

I have several hotkeys that control osnaps. They're alt-key combinations, using the Alt key in combination with the letter keys that are closest to the Alt key.

Each hotkey is associated with one osnap mode or combination of osnap modes.
- If no command is active, the hotkey sets the osnap mode.
- If a command is active, the hotkey sets an osnap override for the next pick point.

I use a macro utility to assign keystrokes to the hotkeys (perhaps the Keyboard tab of Bricscad's Customize window could be used instead).
For example, pressing alt-X sends the following string to Bricscad:
 'AltOsnap PER
Pressing alt-D sends this string to Bricscad:
 'AltOsnap NOD

AltOsnap is a custom command created with Lisp. Each macro executes AltOsnap and the associated osnap mode transparently.
If another command is active, the AltOsnap command itself returns nil, so nothing is executed transparently except the osnap mode.
[code](defun c:AltOsnap () (if (= (getvar "cmdactive") 0 ) (command "-Osnap") ))[/code]

Bill Mays

I ran through the above mentioned ideas again.. and no luck.
There is no way to assign "just a T" to the snap.
It has to be alt+T or ctrl+T.
(believe it or not that messes me up a bit due to a very minor accessibility issue)

What I did do was dust off my old copy of Hot Keyboard Pro from my gaming days and it works with great success.
After some macro re-education i was able to hook up four snaps so far to simple letters.

If there was an official wishlist somewhere this would definitely be my first submission.
(adding simple letters to transparent commands like osnaps)
These are much faster.
Draw line from T of circle to M of line to Q of circle... etc.

Would love to hear from a dev if this is even doable from within Brics someday.

Attached pics

Thanks for the input gents

hk 02-20141014.jpg

hk 01 - 20141014.jpg

Roy Klein Gebbinck

The problem with single key shortcuts is that many commands rely on keyword options and very often a single letter can be used to select such a keyword. In the case where a command prompts for a point but also allows for the input of a 'T' keyword, having a 'T' shortcut for _TANGENT is problematic.

Just look at the first prompt of the _CIRCLE command:
2Point/3Point/TanTanRad/Arc/Multiple/

:

In short: I believe your wish is not compatible with the way command line input works in BricsCAD.

Bill Mays

@Roy Klein Gebbinck:

The problem with single key shortcuts is that many commands rely on keyword options and very often a single letter can be used to select such a keyword. In the case where a command prompts for a point but also allows for the input of a 'T' keyword, having a 'T' shortcut for _TANGENT is problematic.

Just look at the first prompt of the _CIRCLE command:
2Point/3Point/TanTanRad/Arc/Multiple/

:

In short: I believe your wish is not compatible with the way command line input works in BricsCAD.

Point well taken... Hmmm. Didnt think of that...
Perhaps I should invest in a gaming mouse and assign buttons from there...or an external number pad...
Fortunately its not critical but I am determined to find a solution that works for me.

Thank you for pointing that out

Bill Mays

No wait, i can select by mouse from the command options menu that pops up so it will still mostly work for now.
So if i need a ttr circle its just a click away.

Joe Dunfee

many gaming keyboards can be programmed with macros. programmable Keypads are also around and some have removable covers so that you can re-label the keys.

I have been shopping, unsuccessfully, for a multi-button mouse that is ambidextrous, but they all seem to be right-handed, or in a few instances left handed.  I try to switch mouse hands every few months to avoid problems with carpel tunnel.

-Joe

Bill Mays

Joe,
Many of ambidextrous gaming mice on newegg.com
Ambi Game Mice Search
The Gamdias Hades GMS7001 looks like it might work and has a great resolution spec.

No issues w/ CT here. Mine is more a post cardiac left arm funkiness that slows me down.
Anything w/ tons of buttons will be my new best friend

Might try the external numpad trick first though.
then i can just keep it handy and ignore the keyboard most of the time.

Anthony Apostolaros

There are a couple of symmetric 5-button mice on Amazon, but I don't know if they're any good.

One is a Bella wireless model. I've never heard of Bella, but it looks promising. The side buttons are large, the shape looks good, and the ad talks about programming all 5 buttons alone or in combination with modifier keys.

The other is the Microsoft Comfort Mouse 4500. It looks pretty good, but I've had bad experiences with that brand. My old Microsoft 5-button Intellimouse is terrible. The shape's uncomfortable, the wheel is a thumper, and all the buttons are stiff.

I still use the old "GE" 5-button optical mouse made by Jasco Electronics, the best mouse ever made. But they're very hard to find now, and they have PS/2 plugs so they have to be run through a converter. The new Jasco/GE 5-button is asymmetric, for right hand use only.

Joe Dunfee

None of the wireless gaming mice seem to support more than 3 buttons.  The only one with 4, has the DPI setting on the 4th, so it can't be used for other things.

-Joe

Richard Sands

Joe have you tried using a mouse with side keys etc?
I have been a lover of Logitech mice for years and just had to semi retire my 3rd MX 1100.
I could not get used to the side and top keys with my large hands. I'm right handed but that's not affecting my key use, just mention.

(I bought a replacement Gigabyte mouse that is large and a comfort fit and not all the buttons but has rather poor connection if not line of sight)

I've been toying with the idea of a gaming keyboard but would like to hear more from those that use such before going that way.

Patrik Sparrman

I have bought a STEELSERIES keyboard with a number of programable keys. The guys wanted it to have shortcut keys. I got one, tested it (worked nicely) and handed it out. A year later still no keys have been programmed. Hmmmm.

http://steelseries.com/products/keyboards#apex

Joe Dunfee

@Richard Sands:

Joe have you tried using a mouse with side keys etc?  

Ideally, the extra buttons would be on top, to make it ambidextrous.  I looked at one that had side buttons, but found it hard to use the buttons with my pinkie.

-Joe

Anthony Apostolaros

I use a keyboard that has 12 extra function keys, and I find it very helpful for things that I do a lot.
I use it in combination with MacroExpress so that some of the keys have different meanings in different applications.
F1 through F6 and F12 are Save, Paste, Copy, Cut, Undo, Find, and Esc in all applications, but the others vary.
In Bricscad, I've kept F8 as a toggle for Orthomode, but all the others are re-assigned.
F7, for example, makes the selection set rotate 90 degrees around its centroid and stay selected, so that 1 to 3 presses of F7 gets any orientation.
Six of the extra function keys are assigned to osnap settings/overrides.
It can be hard to remember which function key does what, but my keyboard is bigger than the Apex so there's room for labels.

Jason Bourhill

There is a bit of info here (at the bottom) from a previous discussion on programmable keyboards.

http://forum.bricsys.com/discussion/23008


Regards,

Jason Bourhill

CAD Concepts

Anthony Apostolaros

Joe, I don't know of any mice with extra top buttons, but I just bought that Bella wireless model with large side buttons and so far I think it's pretty good. In normal position and without moving any fingers from where they would otherwise be, I can just squeeze a little bit with either the tip of my thumb or the middle joint of my third finger to press one side button or the other. And it's completely symmetric, so you can do that with either hand.

The only drawbacks are things that would only apply if you wanted to use it with a laptop that you have to carry around:
- The USB transmitter is larger than some of them (about the size of a small thumb drive), so it doesn't store inside the mouse and it sticks out too much to leave in the USB port while in transit.
- And it uses 2 AA batteries, so it's pretty heavy for a mouse.

I don't know how long the batteries will last. There's no on/off switch, but it might turn off automatically when it's idle. It seems very well-made, much better than what you'd expect at that price.