> [mailto:CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu] On Behalf Of Eric
Christopherson
> > I learned to touch type about a year or two after getting into
> > computers. I still curse the newer GUI-based platforms for
forcing
> > that (#*$ing mouse onto me. It's seriously slowed down my
ability
> > to use a computer because I have to remove my hand from the
keyboard
> > for so many things, then my hand has to find the home spot again
to
> > go back to typing. Software designers need to make pointing
devices
> > an enhancement to the user interface, not a substitute or
> > replacement for the keyboard which is still the preferred method
of
> > entering data.
>
> Most GUIs have a lot of keyboard shortcuts... you just have to
learn
> them. You should be able to find them in the help for the program
and
> in the menus. They are usually fairly consistent between programs,
too.
They have *some* keyboard shortcuts. Not everything is accessible
via keyboard, and often the "shortcuts" aren't as easy as they could
be. Hitting Tab a zillion times to get where you want is usually
the only mouseless way to work.
> (Unfortunately, in Windows at least, the alt and Windows keys are
> annoying because hitting them puts you in a shortcut mode; if you
> depress one, then change your mind, you get stuck in that mode and
> have to hit a key to get out of it. I do that a lot.)
The Alt keys don't bug me so much as the Windows keys which are
right where they keep getting pressed by accident. I don't know why
they didn't just stick those up with SysReq (Isn't that what this
key was for anyway?) or the almost-never-used Scroll Lock.
> I'm very much in favor of systems that can use the mouse and
keyboard
> shortcuts; I use both all the time.
Using *both* is what I'm trying to avoid. I hate switching back and
forth. It's inefficient as compared with the old days of command
lines and easily navigated menus.
> Unfortunately, where I work I
> have to use two Java programs, one of which has little notion of
> keyboard shortcuts, and the other of which has none. I do a lot of
> repetitive stuff in that latter program, so I have to constantly
> switch from keyboard to mouse, which is highly annoying. (It is
also
> very badly designed in other ways, but I'm stuck with it.)
Just what I was saying. It's the switching. Not only that but I
think the mouse is starting to give me CTS.
> I use a program called AutoHotKey to help with some things. It's
> basically a macro programming language for Windows -- it can
simulate
> clicks and keypresses. I think I might be able to program it to
> simulate clicks in relative areas of the Java programs, but I'm
> worried that it wouldn't work well, e.g. if something else came in
> front of the interface and got triggered accidentally.
I've tried a few macro programs in the past. I'm not too impressed
with any of the ones I've seen. There were some in the old days
when the keyboard was the only input device that did an excellent
job.