Re: [Gzz] A preliminary quasimode-based interface for Fenfire and Loom

[Benja Fallenstein]

Tuomas Lukka wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 23, 2003 at 02:11:27PM +0100, Benja Fallenstein wrote:
> > Tuomas Lukka wrote:
> > > > Pressing Shift while Alt is held down enters a special
> > > > command quasimode. 
> > >
> > > Why not 'Ctrl'? Or one of the other modifiers that microsoft
> > > has excreted on our keyboards?
> >
> > Right, should've said that.
> >
> > Mainly ergonomical reasons. Shift is easiest to type, Alt is next on 
> > most keyboards today-- a nice big key left of the spacebar, which you 
> > can easily reach with the thumb. 
>
> But alt-shift is really bad...

Really? Of all the combinations of two modifiers while typing letters, I 
find Alt-Shift easiest. Alt because of the thumb thing, Shift because I 
use it while typing letters anyway.

> Control, OTOH, can be mapped to be on caps lock.

What?

> Perhaps we should speak of "MODIFIER1" etc and let the user assign them?

I don't see the value in that. Of course the users can reassign the 
modifier keys used for each quasimode-- as well as the individual 
bindings-- but when talking about the default assignment, we should 
think about the ergonomics of each modifier, and saying MODIFIER1 
doesn't help evaluate that...

> > Using the thumb is especially nice as 
> > it may be held down for long periods of time as you navigate the 
> > structure, and the thumb is a) a strong finger and b) easy to use 
> > independently of the other fingers, which you may need for typing the 
> > arrow keys.
>
> The position of the hand is not nice though...

Hm, I don't change my hand position for that.

> > As for the MS keys, they have preprogrammed functions in Win which we 
> > cannot control, plus do you really think we can trap them reliably among 
> > Javas? I somehow cannot imagine they all use the same name for them :-)
>
> This should not preclude their use on platforms where you *CAN* catch them...

But it does preclude there use in a default mapping.

- Benja