Function Buttons

[TenBaz]

I often find myself spending many hours repeating the same operations using the right click menu…Action option.

For example, if all the track’s tags are correctly set already and I just want to rename the MP3 filename from the metadata and add missing artwork I’ve been repeating the following steps over and over again:

1. Open Folder
2. Right-click for the menu
3. Select Action…Match To Release…Match Songs To One MusicBrainz Release
4. Right-click for the menu again
5. Select Action…File And Folder Correct…Correct Filenames From Metadata
6. Right-click for the menu again
7. Select Save…Save Artwork To Filesystem

I don’t know about anyone else, but on my system, using the right-click menu is very hit and miss - if you aren’t very careful moving the mouse.

If there isn’t a quicker way to do what I’m doing already, I would like to suggest an option of having programmable keys for some operations. (I did look through the wishlist and couldn’t see anything similar had already been suggested).

My thoughts were that as the function keys aren’t currently used by Jaikoz, they could be used - Eg: you could set the F1 - F5 keys to to do certain selectable tasks.

So instead of doing steps 3 and 5 above with the mouse, I would only have to hit F1 and F2.

Just those two options would literally save me hours, but the idea could be expanded into a small batch operation system where I could do all of the above 7 steps just by hitting F1!

With the bewildering number of options presented to the newcomer to Jaikoz, life could be made a lot easier if people who know what they are doing could create function key scripts and post them on the forum for us beginners to download and load into Jaikoz.

Something to think about for a future version maybe?..

TenBaz

[paultaylor]

[quote=TenBaz]I often find myself spending many hours repeating the same operations using the right click menu…Action option.
[/quote]
First of all I would like to improve the way the shortcut keys work out of the box, but there are a few things holding me back

On OSX you have the following modifier keys available Cmd,Cntl,Option & Shift but on Windows/Linux you only have Ctl,Alt & Shift, the Windows key can’t be used by 3rd party applications. Quite a few Jaikoz customers use Jaikoz on more than one one platform so I think its useful as far as possible to use the same shortcuts on both operating systems with the following mapping

Command - Cntl
Option - Alt
Shift - Shift

But many of the key combinations on the Mac have already been bagged

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGKeyboardShortcuts/XHIGKeyboardShortcuts.html

Note that most of the Fnc keys already have a function if used with Cntl key and F8 to F12 have an assigned function pressed on own.

Added to this I have the problem that many commands such as Autocorrect make sense to be applied to all songs visible in the table and/or only the selected songs. So because many commands need two different keyboard shortcuts I label my shortcuts as follows:

Main Command: Key - Command
Selected Songs: Key - Command - Option
Relate Command:Key - Command - Shift
Selected related:Key - Command - Shift - Optin

but this only gives me (Key - Command) and (Key - Command - Shift) for any key, and thats if these are not already taken by an existing Mac command.

Additionally if any toolbar button are pressed and the Option button clicked at the same time, it only effects selected songs.

Any idea how I could improve this basoc behaviour ?

For example, if all the track’s tags are correctly set already and I just want to rename the MP3 filename from the metadata and add missing artwork I’ve been repeating the following steps over and over again:

1. Open Folder
2. Right-click for the menu
3. Select Action…Match To Release…Match Songs To One MusicBrainz Release
4. Right-click for the menu again
5. Select Action…File And Folder Correct…Correct Filenames From Metadata
6. Right-click for the menu again
7. Select Save…Save Artwork To Filesystem

Of course you could put all these into the Autocorrecter and then you could do all this just by pressing Option - Command - 1, but you can only configure one Autocorrecter so this is probably not practical if already using Autocorrecter for other things. There is already a request to allow multiple Autocorrecters to be configured.

I don’t know about anyone else, but on my system, using the right-click menu is very hit and miss - if you aren’t very careful moving the mouse.

I don’t have this problem but this has been mentioned before, so if we go back to two menus we either have much longer menus or we remove options from the context menu, what is best ?

If there isn’t a quicker way to do what I’m doing already, I would like to suggest an option of having programmable keys for some operations. (I did look through the wishlist and couldn’t see anything similar had already been suggested).

I think reprogrammable keys, and a customizable toolbar will be done, but that is quite a task.

[TenBaz]

Note that most of the Fnc keys already have a function if used with Cntl key and F8 to F12 have an assigned function pressed on own.

Oh yes - I forgot you have to keep any options Mac compatible as well as Windows. I just know that if I press F1 to F5 on my keyboard nothing happens, so I assumed they were free. I would be happy with just 3 doing what I want!

As for other hotkeys, I have to admit that I am particularly lazy. I’m OK with Ctr+A, X, C, V and so on, but if a shortcut uses three keys, I simply won’t bother with it as I have to stop and look at the keyboard to make sure I’m pressing the right combination - and it ends up taking longer than using the mouse!

I might be complicating things here, but couldn’t the Ctrl key on both systems be used the same and the Mac Command key replicated on the PC using the Alt-Gr key (right Alt key if your keyboard doesn’t have one)?

That would allow you to have more shortcuts with just 2 key combinations as well as programmable keys like Alt Gr+F1 on the PC and Command+F1 on the Mac.

Actually, I’ll have to look into whether or not the Alt Gr key is usable in this way, but I’m sure it is because on my keyboard, I can only get the @ symbol using Alt Gr+2 - and not using the left Alt key.

I don’t have this problem but this has been mentioned before, so if we go back to two menus we either have much longer menus or we remove options from the context menu, what is best ?

If you want the problem, whack your mouse pointer speed up near max as I think that’s what the problem is. I have 2x22" monitors and not a lot of room for the mouse.

At high speed, I think the mouse just moves a tad too far and the menu disappears. It’s a problem I’m happy to put up with as it’s not as bad as a slow mouse pointer on two quite large screens…

but that is quite a task

Yup - that’s why I don’t expect to see it any time soon!

But if the Alt Gr/Command keys can be implemented - meaning the possibility of extra shortcuts - the wait will be all the more bearable…

TenBaz

[paultaylor]

I might be complicating things here, but couldn’t the Ctrl key on both systems be used the same

No Mac users expect to use Command key as primary key modifier

and the Mac Command key replicated on the PC using the Alt-Gr key (right Alt key if your keyboard doesn’t have one)?

I did try out the Alt-Gr key and it seemed to work as if the Alt-key, but maybe this is a bug that could be fixed. In which I case yes I could then make use of the Cntl -key on the Mac.

[TenBaz]

Well the Alt and the Alt-Gr definitely have different scancodes - or at least are independently controlled as far as Windows is concerned as on my keyboard (Spanish), Alt with the number keys just make a ‘donk’ sound.

Alt-Gr and the numbers give me the Alt graphics symbols.

Worth looking into if you are looking at adding more keyboard shortcuts I suppose…

TenBaz

[paultaylor]

Yes but using the Java API there appeared to be no difference.

Im wondering whether I should drop the idea of the main menu working on all displayed records and the context menu working on selected records. Instead only working on selected records always, then if you want it to run on all records would just do Cmd-A/Cntl-A to select all records , this would then mean that most tasks could be performed with just two keys.

But Id love some feedback from more of you on this before I make any changes in this area.

[Alfg]

…Instead only working on selected records always, then if you want it to run on all records would just do Cmd-A/Cntl-A to select all records .

Paul,
I like this idea.