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Entering values

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:43 pm
by lethall
After reading the QCAD book and after using QCAD 3.0 for several hours I feel quite comfortable and productive with it. Many of the two-letter shortcuts for commands and snap modes are now muscle memory to me and things move along quickly to get things done.

One sticking point, though, is the need to enter values. Not the <space> then coordinate values, those are as easy to use as I can imagine... instead, the slow down is the need to enter values such as the distance for a parallel line or the radius of an arc. One must steer the cursor and click the text entry to give it focus before moving back to the drawing to identify the graphical aspects of the command. This breaks the rhythm of drawing. Everything else about the interface is so practical and smooth to operate that I think that perhaps I missed some shortcut in the documentation.

What is intuitive to me is that I think I should be able to type the following at the command line to get what I want (to create segments at an offset of 3.5 units):

Code: Select all

<SPACE>o 3.5<ENTER>
I can almost get what I want with:

Code: Select all

<SPACE>o<ENTER>
But then I need to mouse to the text area and click to focus to enter the 3.5

Am I missing something?

Re: Entering values

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:10 pm
by andrew
You're right.
For Windows / Linux, we can add standard Alt-Key combinations to access these controls (just like menus and other controls can be accessed under these systems). For Mac OS X, we definitely need an alternative solution. Not sure what is best yet.

The command line seems an obvious solution for people who work with it but there are also users who switch the command line off.

I've added a feature request at:
http://www.ribbonsoft.com/bugtracker/in ... ask_id=628

Re: Entering values

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:14 am
by lethall
Thank you. Yes, I am using a Mac.

Now that I know that it really isn't my lack of understanding this doesn't bother me all that much. QCAD is terrific in so many other ways that I can't honestly say that this wrinkle is causing any net productivity issue, I was just thinking that I was being stupid and was hoping for a tip.

Re: Entering values

Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:58 am
by lethall
Thank you for ^space ! I just upgraded and was pleased to come upon that. It will make things flow better.