Re: RSS/Atom feed [Private reply--off list]

Well said, Michael - and I believe there are also the start and end of a block that are Alt-R for rectangle. That is different from "block of lines", which confused me a little at first reading.

There is a lot of history behind RDi - we saw some of it in CODE/400 - and that can explain where many keystroke combination derive. If one who actually tried RDi were to do a right-click on a selection, that person would see standard Windows options, as well as several like Alt-C and Alt-D and Alt-M that have a sometimes similar sometimes different set of behaviors that I also find useful at times.

Then there are several editor styles - like Brief or SEU - I don't know where Brief was used - but it's an option in RDi.

Could there be improvements? Yes. Is the Rdi team working on things? Yes! Can we influence what they do next? YES!!! Create an RFE and vote on others related to RDi.

Regards
Vern

On 3/27/2017 8:10 PM, MichaelQuigley@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

John,

I don't know but it seems to me a little disingenuous to talk about the
editor being lacking when you don't use it. I generally read your posts
and think, "Sure, it's his prerogative to choose not to use RDi--as much
as I find it priceless and indispensable to my productivity."

If you don't understand what someone is talking about in functionality and
you want to ask to gain understanding, that's one thing. But to whine and
talk it down could be accused of trolling the list. I've read and
appreciated your posts on other midrange lists so I really don't think
that's your goal.

As far as the source selection keys, RDi is not a Windows product. It is
run primarily on Windows but I'll repeat, it is not a Windows product.
That said, the selection process can be different. The LPEX editor has
many options for selection. It used to be (and may well still be) the most
reliable selection method is what is known as block selection. Then there
are many functions designed to operate on a block of code. you select a
block and then select a block action. Other selection methods are
available, but they generally don't enable the block actions.

To start selecting a block of lines, you press Alt+L (as in line). Then
move to the other bound of the block you want to select and press Alt+L
again--this selects the block of all lines between the first and second
Alt+L. You can initiate block selection with an Alt+L then hold the shift
key and arrow up or down to select a block of lines. After that you can
perform any of the numerous block functions by pressing the proper key.
Alt+F7 and Alt+F8, shift left and right respectively. (I believe this has
it origins on IBM mainframe systems where F7 was a back key and F8 was a
forward key. I don't know that this is absolutely the reason, but being
having been exposed to it decades ago, it makes the key combination
logical to me.) You can also select a rectangular block of code using
Alt+R--once to set a corner to the rectangle and once again to select the
far corner.

Have you ever downloaded the free trial and set your mind to give RDi and
honest try? It does take time to learn as it is different than SEU. But
once learned, most people never want to go back.

Michael Quigley
Computer Services
The Way International
www.TheWay.org



From: wdsci-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To: wdsci-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: 03/27/2017 06:55 PM
Subject: WDSCI-L Digest, Vol 15, Issue 119
Sent by: "WDSCI-L" <wdsci-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

----- Message from John Yeung <gallium.arsenide@xxxxxxxxx> on Mon, 27 Mar
2017 18:55:46 -0400 -----
To:
"Rational Developer for IBM i / Websphere Development Studio Client for
System i & iSeries" <wdsci-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject:
Re: [WDSCI-L] Shortcuts Indent/Unindent
On Mon, Mar 27, 2017 at 5:18 PM, Buck Calabro <kc2hiz@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 3/27/2017 4:47 PM, Tools/400 wrote:

Does RDi (9.5.1) provide functions and shortcuts for
indenting/unindenting selected source lines?

Yes!
It may seem a bit clunky but I got used to it.

It seems a little odd to me that this isn't one of the core,
streamlined, unclunky functions of a programmer's editor. And odd that
any experienced user would even have to ask their peers on a mailing
list if it exists.

That wasn't meant as a knock on the user.

First, select the lines to indent/outdent with Ctrl-L, not with the
normal Windows stream selection keys.

Sorry, I didn't understand that sentence. It's probably because I
don't have or use RDi; I imagine it should have made sense to most
readers of this list. To my way of thinking, Windows doesn't so much
have stream selection "keys" as it has one stream selection key, which
is Shift. (Fine, there are two of them, so you could say the keys are
LShift and RShift.) The other keys that could be involved in selection
are anything that moves the cursor (arrow keys, PgUp, PgDn, Home, and
End), but their function is orthogonal to and not necessary for
selection. For that matter, you don't even really *need* Shift since
you could select entirely with the mouse. But if keyboard keys are
involved, the one that matters is Shift.

So now I'm struggling to understand how it is that Ctrl+L could be
used in place of Shift. Especially since Ctrl+L is either a two-handed
or right-handed operation for a home-row typist, making simultaneous
use of the cursor-positioning keys (or right-handed mouse)
astoundingly awkward. I guess the least crazy option would have to be
use the left hand on RCtrl and L, then the right hand for cursor
movement. (Wow, you are working my long-dormant pianist fingering
synapses here.)

Everything in that previous paragraph is pretty ludicrous, which
leaves the most sensible possibility that Ctrl+L (and release) is kind
of a "set marker" function. OK, but then:

I usually Ctrl-L the top line,
then Shift-Cursor Down to inclusively select lines. Although Cursor
Down to the bottom then Ctrl-L will also include all those lines too.
I'm just so used to Shift-Cursor to select that it's automatic.

So, what does "Ctrl-L the top line" mean? Does pressing that key combo
mark the whole line? When you do it, does the whole line get
highlighted, or is the marker specifically just at the cursor? And
then what's this about "Cursor Down to the bottom and then Ctrl-L"? So
is it that you set one marker, move the cursor, and set another
marker? Then any lines that contain either marker or are between the
two markers comprise the indentation selection?

But then you can "Shift-Cursor Down"... *instead*? So... once one
marker is set, holding down Shift creates a second marker which
follows around the cursor as you move it? In other words, an
alternative is to set just the one marker (via Ctrl+L), then use the
normal Windows selection process, which in this case will be an
indentation selection rather than a regular selection? Or perhaps it
will be both an indentation selection *and* a regular selection?

Oy.

Then:

To indent: Alt-F8
To outdent: Alt-F7

Wow. You have to go to the trouble of making some kind of *special*
selection, not just a regular selection, and then these are not simply
Tab and Shift+Tab, respectively? Are they at least easily rebindable
to Tab and Shift+Tab, or would one have to resort to AutoHotkey for
this?

To remove the selection, Alt-U

While the indentation selection is active, can you make a regular
selection somewhere else and do regular operations on that selection?

This whole indentation selection thing... is this something that was
implemented specifically for RDi, or is this how it's done in Eclipse?
I would be surprised if it's an Eclipse thing, but then I would also
be surprised that RDi should have to have its own way to do this.

John Y.