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Re: [Gnumed-devel] SOAP widget navigation


From: Jim Busser
Subject: Re: [Gnumed-devel] SOAP widget navigation
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 14:51:07 -0700

On Jul 15, 2004, at 1:34 PM, Karsten Hilbert wrote:
If that indeed is likely, then is it better for the
default action of return/enter be to create a new line,
It already is if one is *within* the text of one soap line.

Well, more often than inserting within a SOAP element, we are usually positioned at the end of whatever is the current element, appending new lines. It has been sounding like every creation of a new line, when already positioned at the end of a SOAP element, will require a press of Control-Enter.

It was sounding like Enter would in this situation jump to the next element.

IMHO it does not seem like a good design (certainly inconsistent) to have the Enter key function one way when the insertion point is within the text, and a different way when it is at the end of the text. It would be more consistent for it to always create a new line/paragraph *unless* it is made visually clear to the user, as would be the case with the appearance of a colored or highlighted in-line pop-up tool, or a default button that is glowing, that by pressing Enter the user is "accepting" a pending action. Maybe to signal a special action of the enter key at the end-position of a SOAP element, we could have a "hot" position of the same color as the SOAP labels. Then it would be clearer to the user who positions (or Control-down arrows) the cursor into this area, that something special will happen i.e. a jump to the end of the next element. If the user starts to type from this position, the action is ignored (as it would be with the in-line popups), the cursor moves to the left and inserts text. If instead the user presses Enter, they signal their wish to skip past the current element and arrive at the corresponding position in the next element. I guess if a user had jumped to such a "hotspot" but wished instead to create a new line, they may need to press the space bar and insert a space, then when they press Enter they will create a new line with the cursor positioned at its start.

If there is a desire to jump from *anywhere* inside an element (regardless of current insertion point), to the next element, then I suggest that although a combination key sounds "kludgy", it is less work than first having to navigate to the end of the element (with Ctrl-Down arrow) and *then* pressing Enter.




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