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Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2015 13:27:44 +0200 (CEST)
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From: gedau AT igor2 DOT repo DOT hu
Subject: Re: [geda-user] off-topic: key bindings
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On Sun, 13 Sep 2015, Roland Lutz wrote:

> On Sun, 13 Sep 2015, gedau AT igor2 DOT repo DOT hu wrote:
>> I figured the expectated key combinations of the modifier-based map never 
>> start with an alnum character without a modifier. This makes the following 
>> simple policy feasible:
>> 
>> 1. if the first key is with a modifier, it is a single-stroke hotkey (e.g. 
>> ctrl+z or ctrl+s)
>> 
>> 2. if the first key is not alnum, it is a single-stroke hotkey (e.g. arrow 
>> keys, escape, F1, enter, etc.)
>> 
>> 3. if the first key is alnum without a modifier, it's the first character of 
>> a multi-stroke command
>> 
>> Rule 3 removes 36 keys from the single-stroke world but makes it possible to 
>> use best of both worlds without collision.
>
> Why do you need this distinction at all?  Just define both "ctrl+z" and 
> "ctrl+x u" as hotkeys for undo.
>

I need a policy so that adding key bindings in a new app doesn't end up 
totally random. The multi-stroke hotkeys work best if they don't need too 
many modifiers; this suggests the first character should be plain. If 
there's no policy, single-stroke hotkeys will probably allocate them, not 
leaving room for the multi-stroke ones later. In PCB for example 
afaik there's only 1 alnum without modifier that's not already allocated.

> You could also let the user select between a set of keyboard schemes
> (multi-key/alnum, Windows-like, Emacs-like).

That's a nice idea too. But I'd be definetly happier if they could just 
coexist.