number slider request

This is pretty nit-picky, so if it doesn't get picked up it's no big deal, but I have a thought regarding placing number sliders on the canvas.

One current shorthand to define a slider is 0<5<15 which creates an integer number slider from 0 to 15 with an initial value of 5.

most times I don't care what the initial value is, and I'd rather use - than <, so can there be a shortcut like:

0-15

which would do the same thing but give an initial value of 0?

It's a pretty insignificant request, but it does cut the number of keys pressed in half :)

Thanks,

Brian

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on February 14, 2013 at 4:31pm

Currently 0-5 will already create a slider with a default of -5. I'm not sure I'm happy to ditch that behaviour. Any other suggestions for notation?

0..15
0->15
0~15
0 15
???

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on February 14, 2013 at 4:39pm

I like the double dot notation. Could work for both range settings and range+value settings:

0..15 set a range with a default of zero
0..8..15 set a range and a default of 8

Double dots are of course extra keys to press, but since it's the same key twice it doesn't count as heavily.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by °[u on February 15, 2013 at 11:23am

I really like the idea of the double dot notation.

Permalink Reply by Brian Harms on February 14, 2013 at 4:43pm

What about

0\5

0`5

0=5

no shift required and all are close to the number row on the keyboard.

Or .. is really not bad.

Thanks for taking it into consideration :)

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on February 14, 2013 at 5:29pm

0\5 evaluates to a number so that cannot be used.

0`5 would work, but ` is hard to find.

0=5 I think doesn't work because it's clearly nonsense, zero does not equal five.

The dot is close to the numpad numbers, but indeed not to the number row.

I'll add multiple dot notation, see how it works. If I hate it I'll take it out again. If not, we'll do a public test run.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by Brian Harms on February 14, 2013 at 6:08pm

Deal!

I like .. just fine as long as I don't have to set an initial value.

Thanks!

-Brian

Permalink Reply by Hannes Löschke on February 15, 2013 at 7:22am

Please also keep users with non EN keyboards in mind.

' or ` require shift in Germany.

. , < do not.

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on February 15, 2013 at 8:43am

Interesting, < requires shift in English layout.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by Mateusz Zwierzycki on February 15, 2013 at 9:22am

Polish layout :

-=[];',./\` without shift

_+{}|:"<>?~~ with shift

Permalink Reply by phillip on February 15, 2013 at 9:52am

If you are considering a double hit already, how about 1<2<3 and 1 "<" "<" 3 ?

So you can decide while typing and it´s still one key less for Brian.

(Of course this is meant without the ", but if I post this it will convert to 13...strange.)

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on February 15, 2013 at 10:08am

The new approach allows for 3 different ways to specify sliders:

The entered text evaluates to a single number. Examples: "5", "5+5", "Pow(2, 6)", "Pi".
The entered text contains 2 or 3 segments separated by "<" symbols. Examples: "2<10", "2<4<10", "Pow(2, 1)<5*Sin(3)<10".
The entered text contains 2 or 3 segments separated by two or more consecutive dots. Examples "2..10", "2..4..10", "Pow(2, 1)....5*Sin(3)..10".

If only two segments are provided, then the initial value will be the same as the minimum value. If a bounds number or a default value is written as a simple number, then the number of decimal places will be harvested. I.e. "2..4..10" is not the same as "2..4..10.00" as the former will result in an integer slider and the latter in a slider with two decimal places.

David Rutten

david@mcneel.com

Poprad, Slovakia

Permalink Reply by Brian Harms on February 15, 2013 at 10:04am

Maybe both .. And to make everyone happy?