Rest Slider modeless

[rpatters1]

The Rest Slider would be way more useful if it were modeless. Is there any reason it can't be? Also, either way it should show the selected region somewhere.

@cv-on-hub

[cv-on-hub]

For once I agree with you about modeless. I just realised yesterday how much more useful it would be that way. I also think it should replace rest_offsets.lua which offers less functionality less elegantly. Will submit a PR incorporating modeless, selection confirmation and deletion of rest_offsets.lua.

[asherber]

Please don't get rid of Rest Offsets--I find it much more usable than the slider.

[cv-on-hub]

Please don't get rid of Rest Offsets

Good to know. It shall stay.

[rpatters1]

As an aside, I admire your ingenuity in using a single edit control to trigger UI events. It has drawbacks though. It doesn't work very well with Windows. That's because Windows allows you to tab to any control, and once the edit control doesn't have focus, the keystrokes don't work any more. This happens, for example, if you move the slider.

There are a number of other issues with the windows version. The slide covers up half the next line and there are some alignment issues between the text fields and the buttons.

Your approach with keystrokes also fails on macOS if you turn on keyboard navigation in your Mac. You can enable this mode in System Preferences->Keyboard->Shortcuts. At the bottom there is an option "Use keyboard navigation to move focus between controls." When this option is enabled, you can tab between all the controls, not just the text fields. There is a combo keystroke to toggle this mode, but I don't recall offhand what it is.

There isn't an obvious or standard way to accomplish exactly what you want. Keyboard navigation is supported on both OSes just as I have described. It might be a better long term option to use it rather than trying to invent our own that seems a bit hackish if well executed on the Mac half (when the Mac is in the right mode). Stealing characters from an edit box is a snake in the grass waiting to bite some future user of this repo.

[jwink75]

lol I feel like that last was aimed at me, intentional or not :) I was *TOTALLY * planning on reverse engineering some of Carl’s work to see just how he handled those keyboard shortcuts!

[rpatters1]

On Windows it seems like could almost be user-hostile. At best it's not very effective. The situation is slightly less bad on macOS because the keyboard navigation option does not appear to be that well known in the user community. (I didn't know about it until 12-18 months ago.)

[cv-on-hub]

On Windows it seems like could almost be user-hostile

I've been waiting for some response from the Win side! Obviously I hadn't considered Mac keyboard navigation. On Sonoma it's now called Full Keyboard Access and renders pretty much all of Finale usage untenable (IMHO). Unless, of course, you need it for accessibility/disability issues. In which case, frankly, don't use the key commands! (They're optional and otherwise seem benign.) Your daily workflow won't resemble anything I've ever seen on Finale before.

I understand completely your concern about the snake_in_the_grass and if users prefer point-and-click they shouldn't be forced to use the (easier!) QWERTY options. But the unwanted Win slider focus is easily subverted with layer_num:SetKeyboardFocus() in the slider Handler.

rest_slider is a good test case because there's only one Edit control from which keystrokes are being borrowed. (Not quite stolen). Do you feel strongly enough about this to insist on its removal now, or can we let it loose in the wild for a while?

[cv-on-hub]

PS: I find the key equivalents an absolute godsend to speed of workflow.

PPS: maybe Key Commands could be a user-selectable option?

[rpatters1]

But the unwanted Win slider focus is easily subverted with

layer_num:SetKeyboardFocus() in the slider Handler. This would be much worse than the problem it is intended to solve. Keyboard navigation is the norm on Windows. If the focus jumps away every time you move the slider, that would be outright user hostile.

…

On Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 6:51 PM Carl Vine ***@***.***> wrote: PS: I find the key equivalents an absolute godsend to speed of workflow. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#691 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ACYB6XYYWEQAUANQREKOK63YTAIU5AVCNFSM6AAAAABDC2MQ5CVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTSMZXGM3TKMZZHE> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[rpatters1]

I should add that an option is not what's needed. Just leave it as is for now. The issue comes when you come back years later and have forgotten how it works, or someone else decided to work on it because you've abandoned it, that's when the snake bites. Not to put too fine a point on it, it's a hack. It's a hack that works well for Macs in their standard config, and works ok (if you know how it works) for Mac in keyboard nav mode or windows. But hacks have consequences, and the whole thing could stop working because of a change in RGP Lua, Finale, or the OS.

[cv-on-hub]

Just leave it as is for now

Thanks Robert. Will do. The code is pretty transparent (IMHO!) and should remain that way. Also easy to erase the whole Key Replacement chunk in one swoop if needed.

[cv-on-hub]

This must have been completely nailed in #696.