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        MIDI-OX >> Wish List >> Spreadsheet Editing
        
(Message started by: good2c on Jan 27^th, 2002, 7:48pm)

Title: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by good2c on Jan 27^th, 2002, 7:48pm

Hello Jamie & Jerry!

What about adding XGC's data entry / rodent control (for smooth real-time editing) concept to the Status monitor of MIDI-OX? The result would be a powerful "no frills" spreadsheet-style editor. I know that I would love it... what about you?

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by Jamie OConnell on Feb 1^st, 2002, 1:42am

Thanks for the suggestion. I've thought about that some over time, and we might be able to do it at some point.

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by good2c on Mar 14^th, 2002, 6:50pm

The missing ;D toothpick

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by good2c on Jul 1^st, 2002, 12:56pm

Big thanks!

Just one small thing: it would be more comfortable to pick the panteeth, if these toothpicks were centered by default :-)

[Later] And another: it would be more convenient to dismiss the slider with Enter, because it is closer to the Arrow Keys, Home, End, Page Up and Page Down.

[Much later] Maybe this is too much already, but it would also be nice if the sliders were initially centered for Brightness, Harmonic Content, Attack, Release, etc. Khm, khm… ;)

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by Jamie OConnell on Jul 2^nd, 2002, 5:54pm

on 07/01/02 at 12:56:45, good2c wrote:

Big thanks!

Just one small thing: it would be more comfortable to pick the panteeth, if these toothpicks were centered by default :-)

I agree that centering would be nice, especially for 14bit values. We could use ENTER for center, or maybe INSERT?

Quote:

[Later] And another: it would be more convenient to dismiss the slider with Enter, because it is closer to the Arrow Keys, Home, End, Page Up and Page Down.

Maybe. Although, I was thinking that ENTER might be good for centering...

Quote:

[Much later] Maybe this is too much already, but it would also be nice if the sliders were initially centered for Brightness, Harmonic Content, Attack, Release, etc. Khm, khm… ;)

If a field has no value (blank), it's much more usual to start at 0. I think that if we made it easy to center any value, then this issue would be moot.

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by good2c on Jul 3^rd, 2002, 4:02am

I think that INSERT would be a good choice for centering and ENTER for dismissing the slider, because I already find myself pressing ENTER after changing a value – I think that it would be the most natural choice.

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by Jamie OConnell on Jul 3^rd, 2002, 4:06am

OK. I tend to agree ;)

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by good2c on Jul 3^rd, 2002, 8:09am

Something new:

See… the DELETE key is still unused… and there is still a function that I’m REALLY missing. It would be great to use the DELETE key to return the slider to the position where it was when the slider was opened (without dismissing the slider)… I guess it means that a slider would have to save its position at the moment of opening. My humble guess is that making this happen may involve a lot of work… in that case save it for the future… just don’t use the DELETE key for anything else!

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by Jamie OConnell on Jul 4^th, 2002, 2:20am

I think Jerry has already added this before I even saw your message ;)

In addition, he has some other surprises for the slider that I haven't even seen yet.

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by good2c on Jul 5^th, 2002, 12:48pm

spreadsheet editing = E - E - E - E - E - Z Y L I - I - V I N ‘ ::)

- you just spread the sheet and do the editing!

- no distracting frills!

- download 6.4.6 Beta 4, if you don’t know what I’m talking about!

[Later] UH...! I’m so glad I still have it! (My played out cassette “The Best of Uriah Heep 70-74", I mean.)

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by not2good2c on Jul 26^th, 2002, 4:58pm

Some future enhancements for the pop-up slider?

When the Slider is displayed, it would be handy to move it to a new cell with keys that are close to Home, Page Up, Enter, Arrow Keys, etc. (especially when using the mouse with your Left hand - when you tweak the settings on the PC-keyboard with your Right hand and your Left hand is holding down keys on the MIDI-keyboard, then it’s often quite painstaking to reach out for the rodent).

I figured that Num7=Left, Num8=Right, Num 4=Up, Num 1=Down, would be quite intuitive. I don’t know whether this is possible, of course...

[Later] Just one more thing: do you think it would be possible to display the column title on the slider? It would be a good reminder when editing the first two channels and it would help to concentrate when editing the other channels...

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by not2good2c on Jul 30^th, 2002, 3:34am

Here’s almost the same function that I was talking about in my previous post, simulated with PowerPro (General Board > Salvation for Power Users).

Key/Mouse tab:

pad2 | *Mouse Move 0 13 | MIDI-OX*
pad4 | *Mouse Move -48 0 | MIDI-OX*
pad5 | *Mouse LeftClick | MIDI-OX*
pad6 | *Mouse Move 48 0 | MIDI-OX*
pad8 | *Mouse Move 0 -13 | MIDI-OX*

I’m almost certain that when (and if) you’ll add a similar function to MIDI-OX, then (contrarily to the simulation) it will be independent of the mouse cursor position and the currently selected cell or its borders (and the value, if there is one) will be highlighted with a customizable color :-|

[Later] … and talking about what you can do with PowerPro, it’s just the tip of the ICEBERG* (read: the tip of the program that changed my life :-)

*NO DANGER AHEAD IF YOU NAVIGATE CAREFULLY

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by not2good2c on Aug 19^th, 2002, 10:31am

A logic bug in 6.4.6 Beta 4+: the Page Up key decreases and the Page Down key increases the value of the slider.

An additional benefit of this ‘bug fix’: the slider will become even more effective – when you take a value to the maximum with End and want to decrease it at once by X times 16, then it’s more intuitive to do so with Page Down.

[Later] The same applies to Up and Down arrow keys – it is always a surprise to see the value increase when you press the down arrow, and to see it decrease when you press the up arrow.

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by Jamie OConnell on Aug 19^th, 2002, 5:03pm

I see your point, but I don't think it's absolutely cut and dry: When you're dealing with a document, Home takes you to the origin (0 - Maximum Up) end takes you to the end (127 usually - Maximum down). PageUp goes towards Home and PageDown goes towards the end. Same with the cursor keys.

I'll agree that a horizontal slider is not a page, so lets look at horizontal scroll bars: in this case Home takes you maximum left and End takes you Maximum right. It follows that PageUp takes you left and PageDown takes your right. So I think this is actually 'as-intended'. Maybe down the road we could make this configurable.

Title: Re: Spreadsheet Editing
Post by not2good2c on Aug 19^th, 2002, 6:18pm

I tend to think about the value, not the slider. The problem is that it is so natural to press a higher key to get a higher value and a lower key to get a lower value.