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I encounter this often and I always have to remind myself that it is usually a case of ignorance, not stupidity. Often times, the user simply does not know that there is another way. Granted, there are those that are stubborn and have no desire to change. And then there are those cannot grasp even the simplest shortcuts. And then there are those that will soak up whatever tips and tricks you offer. And then..... well, you get the idea. However, you learn very quickly which are which and have to handle them accordingly. My 2¢. Joe
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I was running a keyboard for a group of programmers. They got a real big laugh out of the fact that I hit alt-tab to switch windows, but never hit alt-shift-tab. They likened it to passing your street on the way home and then traveling around the world to avoid doing a U-turn. David Morris -
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This is absolutely my favorite. I fly through windows with the alt-tab fast enough that you usually cannot see the little selection list come up. Most of my co-workers STILL cannot figure it out even though I've shown it to them a bunch of times. I wouldn't pick on anyone for how they choose to use their own machine, but it does make you wonder about people who work on a machine day in and day out and refuse to do things as fast as possible. My personal pet peeve is a good friend of mine who feels he has to minimize any window he is not currently using before he can open another one. This is exacerbated by the fact that he is veeeerrrrryyyyy ssssslllllooooowwwww with the mouse.... Oh well, to each his own... Cliff is right though, WinDoze fan or not, in the future if you want to be an IT professional, you will need a little more than basic familiarity with a PC environment. My $.0125 JoelComment
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One of my favorites is the people that don't use the TAB key to switch between fields. They have to use the cursor (arrow keys) to get where they're going. These are usually the same people that have to SPACE over a field to clear it instead of using the FIELD+ key clear the field with one key-stroke. Rick Elliott Murray's Discount Auto StoresComment
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One of first things I do when I install CA on my pc is to map the 'END' key to be 'END FIELD'. When you do this, the end key will then position the cursor to the end of the field. I find it to be very handy. It's a lot quicker than using the arrow keys and allows you to keep your hands on the keyboard. JoeComment
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Ditto on the End key. I also am used to having ctl/C = edit-copy, ctl/X = edit-cut, ctl/V = edit-paste, alt/right arrow = tab word, and alt/left arrow = backtab word (apologies in advance if senility is causing me to claim credit for any defaults.) I got tired of trying to remember all my favorites so I keep my .kmp file handy on diskette. Works fine on CA or CA Express. But it makes using anyone else's keyboard a pain since my fingers go for these keys on autopilot. TomComment
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But it makes using anyone else's keyboard a pain since my fingers go for these keys on autopilot. Ditto! And another thing! The key that says "Enter" is the ENTER key! Not the key that says "Ctrl"! I don't give a $(&%$ if that was the enter key on a dumb terminal. The last time I used one of those, Bush was in the White House...Oh, wait... MichaelComment
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My fingers don't care what's printed on the keys. I don't know why they want to use a different key for ENTER when I'm working with the as/400 or the mainframe, but they do. Autopilot. Me, I don't give a !@#$% if the Enter key means ENTER in other windows. On the AS/400, the Enter key means field-escape. "Use the + key on the numpad for field-escape." "You mean ... take my hand off the keyboard???"Comment
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Thanx Barbara, Your response puts my concerns into perspective. You're right on point with your statement about personality strengthening. I should try to be more patient. I started the topic with regards to some of the more extreme cases (which I can't recall any examples of right now) that plague me as I stand by. They joke about me here on the team. They call me macro man b/c I seem to have some sort of shortcut or macro for everything (most notably my C/A sign-on macro. I know that's a no-no but it's on a laptop that I normally keep with me at all times.) I haven't read this thread in entirety yet as I have been off the last two days. I want to thank everybody in advance for their input.Comment
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LOL, That's one I'm guilty of too. Actually I've never even thought about using the shift key to toggle thru windows in the opposite direction.Comment
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Barbara: There are two types of people: Those who divide the world into two groups, and those who don't. Regarding this discussion: To me, there are those who believe programmer productivity arises from being able to bash out characters on a keyboard at a fast rate, and those who believe productivity arises elsewhere. I've seen people argue that use of vi (or emacs, or whatever) increases productivity because it allows them to code faster! But that ignores the quality of what they're pounding out. For me, the time it takes to properly think out something dominates other factors, such as the time it takes to commit the thought to paper (or characters on the screen). The text editor I most often use on my home computer (kwrite) has very limited functionality compared to other editors, but I don't find it limiting at all. (Maybe it's just that cut and paste is so much easier using a 3-button mouse on an X-Windows environment than on a MS-Windows system.) Maybe it's just a right-brain versus left-brain thing. You're right that both camps have to at least tolerate the other. But more importantly, both camps need to understand how to leverage each others strengths.Comment
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Good Point Hans, But more importantly, both camps need to understand how to leverage each others strengths. These are the kinds of words that leave a lasting impression on my mind. I'm frequently guilty of living by the less keystrokes = more productivity theory and not considering how careful coding can offset and outweigh the benifits of macros and shortcuts. This is why I humbly take my hat off to those who do clearly think out every possibility when coding and testing. These are normally the same people who must slowly position the mouse over the minimize button and click it prior to opening or viewing another window. True they may be slower but the tend not to overlook or miss a thing as a result. I guess perfection would be a blend of both styles. In other words knowing and using the shortcuts when available but not becoming overly dependant on them or living by them. A good example is one of the flaw I frequently make when editing a source file in PDM (or any text editor). I sometimes use the batch replace when changing a variable name. This is very convenient but can lead to subtle bugs where as the old fashioned approach of manually looking for and replacing the variable may give you a better chance of catching an undectectable glitch. There are pros and cons to both methods. Thanx again for your wonderfully worded thoughts on this topic.Comment
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What the heck.... this is "Shooting the Breeze" I have had two little incidents along this line that stick in my mind. I use more keyboard shortcuts than most people seem to and I used to try to convert others. Then one day someone was showing me something in Excel, and when he got to the end he said, "I'm sure you probably know smarter ways to do most of what I just showed you." I realized that I had been running my mouth to the point where any chance of it being effective was lost. As sincere as I may have been I was being taken for a know-it-all and alienating people instead. Now I wait until someone asks for my advice on keyboard 'driving'. For the most part it doesn't happen. We all find what we're comfortable with and then tend to stick with it. I was at J.D. Edwards learning OneWorld. I have been working on their RPG version for a long time so OW was quite a shock. Naturally using keyboard shortcuts would be a very poor way to teach GUI on a projection screen so all the instructors are very mouse oriented. I was doing an exercise and had one of those bugs that only a reboot will fix. Not realizing that to be the case I called the instructor over for help. I had quickly tired of grabbing the mouse to click on Select/Find/Add/Whatever and had started using my thumb on the alt key followed by the S/F/A/We key. It nearly drove the instructor mad. I had to start using the mouse just to humor him. Some times it's just easier to go along......... TomComment
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Follow up to Cliff's topic that I think was incorrectly posted in AS/400 Applications. Cliff, the world is divided into two groups. Those that can remember cool ways to save time and keystrokes, and those who just want to remember one way to do something, no matter how long it takes. The former have to learn to stand by and watch while the latter go through their standard procedure. It's personality-strengthening. It has to be the former group that makes the adjustment. If you're trying to get information from someone, the last thing you want to do is rile them by telling them better ways to do unrelated tasks. If you're trying to explain something to someone, the last thing you want to do is confuse them with an explanation of a completely different task. Barbara, mouse-hater P.S. I'm a short-cut junkie, but I usually go through menus rather than use icons. Go figure. I think it's because I find it hard to remember what picture means what, and I don't want to wait for the fly-over help to come up. (Anyway, half the time the menus have keyboard shortcuts that I can remember. P.P.S. Speaking of pet peeves, how about computer professionals who can't fill out simple on-line forms correctly. Snicker.Comment
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