!Restored: Locking Editable Hotspot Palette Values

[Karl Ottenstein]

Suppose you are dragging an editable hotspot with the shift key depressed to constrain direction and then want to enter a value in the pop-up parameter palette.

You have to release the shift key to press the tab key to transfer focus to the pop-up palette (and tab again to go through the different boxes in the palette).

But, as soon as you release the shift key, your constraint is lost and the parameter that you were constraining now has some garbage value in it.

My wish is that Shift-Tab would swith to the pop-up data entry palette, leaving all values exactly as they are (constraints honored). At that point, tab would alternate between the entry boxes to let you type in the value desired.

Using the "R" method does not work to resolve this issue, because the value you want to enter after the constraint may have nothing to do with a length in the current coordinate system. (It could be an angle, a count, a length in 'paper space', etc.)

Karl

[Link]

Would you please post a screen shot of the palette in use, Karl?

Cheers,
Link.

[TomWaltz]

doesn't pressing N do that?

[Link]

Exactly, or you could still just click in there with Shift on, but I am sure Karl knows that and has a more unique problem.

Cheers,
Link.

[Karl Ottenstein]

You guys are good. 😉 Learned something new, have a workaround now ... but still not completely satisifed. So, I am still wishing.

For all below, I'm assuming a parameter palette that has two values...otherwise, there isn't an issue.

Tom wrote:
doesn't pressing N do that?

Thanks, Tom. I hadn't noticed "N" before. A GS designer told me about Tab which almost does the same thing (better IMHO).

Place a cabinet in plan and drag a corner hotspot so that you see the width and depth values without holding Shift.

If you press Tab, focus goes to the first param entry box (text highlighted) and you can type if you wish. Tab again, you're at the second box. Tab again, back at the first. Go back and forth all day if you have nothing else to do. 😉 Press Enter (maybe other options) to complete the data entry and adjust the object.

If you press N (default param key), things start out the same - focus at first entry box. Press N again, focus in second entry box. But, when you press N for the third time, focus doesn't return to the first field as it does with Tab ... instead, it is as if you pressed Enter and the values are stored.

Weird behavior ... wonder why we have both Tab and N?

Link wrote:
Exactly, or you could still just click in there with Shift on, but I am sure Karl knows that and has a more unique problem.

Yeah, most of my problems are pretty unique, but this is too public a place to go into them. 😉 [But, thanks for your trust in my not being totally "out there"... although maybe I am?] So, back to constraining parameter values...

Yes, clicking in the parameter palette entry box works, while the shift key is constraining the stretch in some direction ... but the idea is that I'm trying to avoid moving my mouse ...

Tom's mentioning N gave me a workaround: I defined "Shift N" as another shortcut for the "Object Parameter Value" command (so now either N or Shift N work). Now, if I am holding Shift while dragging, I can press N (which is now Shift N) and jump to the first parameter entry box.

I prefer the way the Tab key works ... and so would prefer that Shift-Tab give the same behavior. But, I don't see Tab as a defined shortcut key and so don't see a way to define Shift-Tab to do the same thing. So, my refined wish is that Shift Tab behave the same as Tab. 😉

Karl

PS The preference for Tab/Shift-Tab is that my left little finger is on the shift key already, so pressing Tab with the next finger is pretty easy..

PPS This example shows the working methods, but because the cabinet width (in the image with shift-constrained dragging) is in normal coordinates, pressing R is a faster way of doing the stretch. The places where this matters is when one value is an angle, or in a GDL part that stretches in discrete unit counts, so you want to enter the unit number (3 units wide, e.g.) which doesn't correspond in any way to a distance entered in R. Or, if the lengths/dimensions are in 'paper space' units ... for example, a layout template that you place on plan that shows you the size in inches (cm/etc) on the layout as you stretch its corners. (Hotspots can operate on an internal value that differs from the displayed/entered value just for these kinds of parts.)