Feature redesign of function keys+Shift/Ctrl

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SanskritFritz
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Post by *SanskritFritz »

2Black Dog
S> Hey that seems to be a good idea, even though not all the
S> shortcuts are stored in the menu files (actually none of
S> them, only the ones modified).

What exactly prevents you from distributing your shortcuts along with menu?
Now THAT is exactly what Hacker is talking about :D! We love you Black Dog!!!
I switched to Linux, bye and thanks for all the fish!
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Post by *Hacker »

:?: Err, what exactly am I talking about?

TIA
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Post by *Black Dog »

[face=courier]On 22-03-2004 10:50:51 +0000 Hacker wrote:

H> I'm think icfu wanted to say that the dialog is too
H> difficult for The Average User - ie suitable for you.


Well, I don't use it, ergo following this logic that dialog is OK for that poor guy... %)[/face]
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Post by *SanskritFritz »

2Hacker
Err, what exactly am I talking about?
That Black Dog doesnt need any fancy gui, or sophisticated export options. He is fully satisfied with a menu file and merging shortcuts into existing ini files. But most people wouldnt call this portability or "exporting keyboard settings". Not all of us have the quality of Black Dog :-)
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Post by *Black Dog »

[face=courier]On 23-03-2004 10:46:30 +0000 SanskritFritz wrote:

S> He is fully satisfied with a menu file and merging
S> shortcuts into existing ini files. But most people
S> wouldnt call this portability or "exporting keyboard
S> settings".


I'm sorry, but what are you actually want to get from Commander? If you want to make and distribute some configuration scheme, you can do it now. If you don't like the way you can do it now, well, ask Christian to make Commander doing it via "fancy gui" w/ "sophisticated export options". But actually I can imagine what would be the answer %).

So SOGOTP, buddy.

BTW, I really like the Spartan way Christian treat fancy gui lovers, it would be the real disappointment for me if he'll change it one day (actually I'm quite sure he won't %).[/face]
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Post by *Sheepdog »

icfu wrote:
People who need different shortcuts can mostly change them via the configuration.
That's exactly what a complete newbie to TC does NOT wanna do....
Icfu
My first thought was too, not to change anything because I also find it annoying when shortcuts all the time change. :wink: But on the ohter hand I think Icfu is completely right, that a newbie would (and could) not change the shortcuts. His suggestions
  • F2: Renaming operations only, pressing Alt-F2 in "my" logic should start Multi Rename Tool for example
    F3: Viewing operations only
    F4: Editing operations only, Shift-F4 opens external viewer, Alt-F4 opens external viewer by extension, in analogy to F3
    F5: Copying operations only
    F6: Moving operations only
    F7: Creating operations for folders and files only
    F8: Creating operations for links, hard links, junctions only
make absolutely sense. And I like the thought of a keyboard layout file.

TC could look for the layout-file at start an use it if it's there and else use the inbuilt layout.
A sample file with the actual layout could be distributed at Ghisler.com so all the old users could easily save the old layout (and perhaps adapt it ), and the newbies could use a more intuitive one.

The only shortcut I don't want to have changed - and I don't know if it's possible - is ALT F4. I guess it is a MS Win wide shortcut to close the active window. And from time to time I need it to shutdown the PC when the display crashed. (press many times ALT F4 and then in XP 'a' +'n' or w98 'n' and the PC reboots)

sheepdog

2icfu Knowing it's not my business I'm curious if you're really retired :?:
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Post by *icfu »

Knowing it's not my business I'm curious if you're really retired
I will continue to read and answer threads I am already involved in (like this one) and will continue to propose alternatives and workarounds for the ever growing list of feature lacks and bugs ignored by ghisler.

My hope for fundamental improvements of TC to keep up the flag "best file manager ever" has been buried some time ago, therefore I don't waste my time arguing for improvements anymore.

With Alt-F4 you are absolutely right of course.
Thanks for your support, nice to see at least one person reading my proposal. ;)

Icfu
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Post by *norfie »

Last edited by norfie on 2004-09-11, 08:01 UTC, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by *Sheepdog »

norfie wrote: The point is: you wanna change something

I never said so. And if you think I do you got me completely wrong.

norfie wrote: Therefore I don't understand the reason that you force another person (Christian) to change something, what this person don't want to change.
I think it would be a good idea to make TC more attractive for newbies, and I think it is the interest of @ghisler to do so.

BTW I try never to force anyone to do something he won't to do. Actually I think you've got a strange idea of 'to force someone'.


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Post by *jb »

Sheepdog wrote:I think it would be a good idea to make TC more attractive for newbies, and I think it is the interest of @ghisler to do so.
I agree. If TC would be really attractive for newbies then I imagine that TC could become a standard tool in large companies. So Mr. Ghisler could sell many thousands of copies of TC to large companies and write success news for example similar to those of "FinePrint Software". Currently my observation is that many users don't feel comfortable with TC because its default configuration is awful and it looks ugly.

See also "Show TC's beauty & power by default – Config Schemes".
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Post by *JohnFredC »

Currently my observation is that many users don't feel comfortable with TC because its default configuration is awful and it looks ugly.
This is exactly my experience. I get really excited and promote TC to everyone who will listen. Those that actually understand what file management is about will at least try TC, but only the real power users can see past the lack of visual appeal and lack of GUI niceties to the real power hidden inside it. The rest say "that's nice" and go back to Explorer.

Mr. Ghisler may have enough to do already, and may not need the extra business either, so enhancements that make TC more "appealing" to the general public may not be forthcoming.

I have used TC for many years and love it to death. BUT I am also totally sold on the point-and-click + GUI metaphor for computer interaction and rarely use the keyboard, so GUI enhancements to TC are high on my list. That they would make TC more appealing to the general public would just be a bonus.

Some research suggests that a properly designed GUI interface to any computer activity is more efficient for the user than a commandline/keyboard interface. However, the key words are "properly designed". Ain't seen a GUI yet that beats a really good typist with a good knowledge of a powerful command language. Maybe some day.

It sure would be a pain to drive a car via a commandline and a keyboard, though, wouldn't it? That's what steering wheels are for!
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Post by *pdavit »

Well, let's hope that making TC more visually appealing won't affect its speed which is, for most users, the highest factor for preferring TC instead of Explorer. In addition we all know how much Christian loves the small size as well. The forum has proven that the latter aspect is not really a problem for TC users but the first one is!

I guess more advanced visual configurations will need a newer compiler than v2.0 of Delphi which is currently in use for TC. Christian has made some attempts before (with v4.0 if I'm not mistaken) reporting a huge drawback in performance! :(
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Post by *ThurahT »

ZZzzZZzzzZzz.....
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Post by *jb »

pdavit wrote:Well, let's hope that making TC more visually appealing won't affect its speed which is, for most users, the highest factor for preferring TC instead of Explorer. In addition we all know how much Christian loves the small size as well. The forum has proven that the latter aspect is not really a problem for TC users but the first one is!

I guess more advanced visual configurations will need a newer compiler than v2.0 of Delphi which is currently in use for TC. Christian has made some attempts before (with v4.0 if I'm not mistaken) reporting a huge drawback in performance! :(
Speed is surely a key factor and size is no longer that important. The 1.44MB barrier must fall anyway. But I doubt whether a more user-friendly configurability and better default values would affect speed considerably if TC stays more or less within the current visual possibilites. The suggestion was NOT to support every new bell and whistle of the Windows XP GUI.
Apart from that now may be good time to switch to standardized C++ and reimplement TC completely. It seems that TC for Linux got stuck. With a new implementation in C++ there are probably more ways to overcome the current problems (as Mozilla and OpenOffice.org seems to prove). Furthermore when it comes to speed I guess that C++ has more flexibility for optimizations than Delphi.
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Post by *Hacker »

Apart from that now may be good time to switch to standardized C++ and reimplement TC completely.
So you'd want to wait for two years so that you get the same program in another language?

BTW: Something on topic:
pro - it might be easier for newbies to learn TC
contra - with any new installation there would be an added hassle for me (and probably other old-fashioned users, too) to change everything back to what we're used to.

Roman
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