Entry
TSE: Configuration: File: .UI: Keyboard: Key: Assignment: How possibly easy remember key assignment?
Mar 5th, 2005 09:08
Knud van Eeden,
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--- Knud van Eeden --- 11 October 2003 - 03:16 am --------------------
TSE: Configuration: File: .UI: Keyboard: Key: Assignment: How possibly
easy remember key assignment?
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If you have assigned hundreds of key assignments in your .ui
configuration file, it might become difficult to remember which keys to
press.
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Using some of the principles below might be aiding to remember and or
to do things quicker.
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You can further combine this ideas and then take from the win.ui file
that Windows key assignments, and from the tse.ui file some other key
assignments, and or the other .ui files, in combination with key
assignments of your own macros, to build that key assignment
combinations which fit your needs the best.
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You will usually have to combine this assignments with the already
existing key assignments. So some planning has usually to be done and
choices to be made, as your fingers and mind are already quite used to
this old key assignments, or that key assignments have already been
reserved for existing similar keystrokes in other applications like
Word, Vi, Wordstar, Brief, and so on.
And most 1 key assignments are taken by the default alphabetic,
numeric, and whitespace characters, leaving only the function keys and
or some special other keys to further assign.
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As you use this key presses thousands to millions of times after some
years, optimalization of this key assignments could certainly be
important.
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The less keys you have to press, and the easier you find them,
the more time you gain. And gaining time is of course a valuable
thing most of the time.
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If you use the direct representation of something which is stored in
your brain memory, than using that is usually quicker than using an
indirect representation. As you can remember that in one step,
and other things might require you to remember two or more steps.
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Ideas:
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Overview:
1. Use a uniform structure
2. Group similar keys around well known keys
3. Assign the shortest key assignments to the commands you use the
most
4. Use mnemonic techniques to easy remember which key is assigned to
which commands
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Worked out:
1. Use a uniform structure
1.1 Group similar keys together (for example all 'Mark' keys together
on the keyboard)
1.2 Put them in a hierarchical order (e.g. from smaller to larger, from
less complicated to complicated)
Hierarchics make it easier to remember and find for the human mind
(that is, in a few steps you eliminate most of the possibilities
and target the correct key).
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For example:
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Group similar keys together: assign one row of keys to similar commands
(=mark).
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e.g.
<CTRL 1> Mark 1 character
<CTRL 2> Mark 1 word
<CTRL 3> Mark 1 line
<CTRL 4> Mark 1 record
<CTRL 5> Mark 1 paragraph
<CTRL 6> Mark 1 file (=select all)
<CTRL 7> Mark between 2 spaces (=0 quotes)
<CTRL 8> Mark between single quotes '' (=1 quotes)
<CTRL 9> Mark between double quotes "" (=2 quotes)
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This is quite easy to remember, as the order is from the
most simple to the more complex.
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And the order is the rather 'natural' order of the well
known digits, so you easy build up in your mind the
strategy of where to find the next key.
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The keys are easy to find, as they are grouped on one row
of the keyboard.
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And having to remember 1 position (e.g. the row of the digits)
is easier then having to remember 10 positions (e.g. you assign
to each <CTRL 1>, <CTRL 2>, ... a different command).
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Only 2 keys are assigned to each command, so less keys to press (than
for example 3 key assignments), in less time.
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Note:
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The 'Mark' (or 'Select') operation is an operation which stands at the
basis of quite a few other operations.
Like copy, cut, paste which you use very often.
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The 'Goto' operation is an operation should in general be the most used
operation.
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So giving this operations like 'Mark', 'Goto', ... a prominent and easy
to find (central) place on the keyboard, and quick to press, might be
important.
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2. Group similar keys around well known keys
If some keys are more frequently used, possibly adapt the TSE keys
to this.
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e.g.
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On a Windows keyboard, you use very frequently:
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<CTRL A> Select all (=Mark 1 file)
<CTRL C> Copy to windows clipboard
<CTRL V> Paste and overwrite from windows clipboard
<CTRL X> Cut to windows clipboard
<CTRL S> Save file
<CTRL P> Print file
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If you, when a Windows user, are very used to this, your mind will
quicker and in 'one step' find this key assignments. If you change this
to another key assignment, there will usually some extra thinking and
more time needed be involved. If you add this up over the years, you
might gain some extra time, if you adapt your key assignments to an
easy to remember principle.
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So as you remember the <CTRL V> command quite good for pasting,
you might assign <CTRLALT V> to paste and overwrite from Windows
clipboard,
<ALT V> to paste and overwrite from the TSE clipboard, and so on.
So in general using the <V> key to do something with 'pasting'.
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3. Similar to the idea of Huffman file compression, assign the shortest
key assignments to the commands you use the most.
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For example assign the 1 key assignments to the most frequently used
commands.
Or assign 2 keys to less frequently used commands.
Or assign 3 keys to even less frequently used commands.
and so on.
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As soon as you see yourself repeating some commands really very often
(e.g. marking the characters of an Internet URL, like
http://www.somewebsite.com/somedirectory/download/example/
possibly create a macro for this (=mark text between 2 spaces), and
assign a keyboard assignment to this.
If you only need to press 1 key (e.g. <F3>) then you reduce in general
your needed time to say 1/2 of the time needed for 2 keys, and 1/3
of the time needed for 3 keys, and so on.
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4. Use mnemonic (=memory aiding) techniques to easy remember which key
is assigned to which commands.
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For example:
Start your key assignments with the first letter of the command.
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For example:
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if the command is:
'G'oto, use a key assignment starting with the key 'G'
'M'ark, use a key assignment starting with the key 'M'
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So you use in general something like for a 3 key assignment:
<<CTRL | ALT | CTRLALT>> <first letter of the operation or case>>
<first letter of suboperation or case>
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For example:
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For Windows keys (idea: Donald Kingsbury)
Start each key combination with the 'W' key:
<CTRL W><X>
<CTRL W><C>
<CTRL W><A>
<CTRL W><V>
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For the operation 'Goto' (idea: Sammy Mitchell):
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Start each key combination with the 'G' key:
<CTRL G><B(egin)> mUpToEqualIndent()
<CTRL G><E(nd)> mDownToEqualIndent()
<CTRL G><L(ine)> GotoLine()
<CTRL G><C(column)> GotoColumn()
<CTRL G><A> mGotoByte()
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For the operation 'Mark':
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Start each key combination with the 'M' key:
<CTRL M><C(haracter)> // mark a character
<CTRL M><W(ord)> // mark a word
<CTRL M><L(ine)> // mark a line
<CTRL M><R(ecord)> // mark a record
<CTRL M><S(paces)> // mark text between begin and end space
<CTRL M><sIngle quotes> // mark text between single quotes
<CTRL M><D(ouble quotes)> // mark text between double quotes
<CTRL M><P(aragraph)> // mark a paragraph
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and so on.
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You can so easily build very easy to remember key groups.
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And with the use of HelpLine() command (see TSE help) you can then also
see very easy what for example 3 key assignments you have to press
further.
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The price you pay is for this easy to remember 3 key assignments is
that you now have to press 3 keys instead of one. As the distance
between the keys might also be large, this will take more time. You
also might have to search on the keyboard where to find the second and
third key.
And pressing the keys might ask some more akward position of the
fingers. Possibly you have to use fingers of 2 hands (e.g. <CTRL M><R>
you press e.g. <CTRL> with your left hand, <M> with your right hand,
<R> with your left hand), instead of 2 fingers of only one hand (e.g.
<CTRL D> + <C> your can press quite easily with the 2 fingers of your
left hand). So altogether this might take more time (more than double
the time of pressing 1 key, so if you add this up over the years, you
can do things on average in half or less of the time, if you use only
one key press).
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So all together this will so possibly become some trade off between
what is easy to remember, and what is quick to find and to press (as it
might be mutually exclusive), and the old already existing key
assignments.
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So you could possibly create a separate .ui file for yourself where you
use this principles to build very easy to remember, or easy to use, or
quick to use for you, key assignments.
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Internet: see also:
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TSE: Configuration: File: .UI: Link: Can you give an overview of links?
http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/34317/fid/1007
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