_____/ On Tue 08 Nov 2005 15:09:51 GMT, [Paul A. Rubin] wrote : \_____
Alex Streit wrote:
Hi all,
I am using LyX 1.3.6 (Mac), although I've noticed the same behaviour on
Linux and Windows builds.
Yes, all are rather uniform in terms of their behaviour.
One thing that keeps getting me is that I find the selection behaviour
un-intuitive. Because it is very much a character - to - character
selection, which makes it hard to select and rearrange whole paragraphs or
whole sections or even just a whole line.
I noticed that too, but never complained. I re-adjusted my mind and got
accustomed *over time*. This behaviour is attributed to the LaTeX/LyX for-
mat underneath, yet a few tweaks could probably correct this. Selections
do not include the structural information that precedes them, e.g. "Sec-
tion".
For example, say I had a list and I wanted to move the first item to the
bottom.
I either have to:
- place the caret at the first position of the first line, select all the
characters in that line, cut them, move to the bottom, manually add a new
line, then paste the selection. The disadvantage is that the bullet point is
not included in the selection, so if I paste it elsewhere I have to make
sure I prepare a bullet point first.
- alternatively i place the caret at the first position of the first line
and then move back one character (which places the caret at the end of the
line preceeding it)
Or you can just place the cursor there directly.
and then select the characters. This will now include
the bullet point in the selection (which is what I would expect), but the
last end-of-line (well, end of paragraph) is not included, so I still have
to insert that, or select up to the start of the next line or something.
If I select from the end of the preceding entry to the end of the
entry being moved, when I paste at the new location I get both a new
bullet and an end-of-paragraph.
I don't know about others that use lyx, but I think that if lyx behaved a
little more like traditional word processors when it came to selections at
the start and end of lines I would be much happier.
I have to say, though, that I love lyx and this is only a suggestion.
I think that committing changes as such would only confuse existing users.
Having said that, I agree that this behaviour, which affects not only bul-
leted lists, is irrational and can deter new LyX users.
Is there actually a "standard" behavior for these sorts of
operations? I just cobbled together a bullet list in Word Perfect and
tried moving an entry. As with LyX, you can't literally include the
bullet in the selection. If I place the cursor at the start of an
entry and cut from there to the end of the line, an empty line (with
bullet) remains, and after placing the cursor at the insertion point
I need to hit Enter to get a new bullet before pasting. Personally, I
prefer LyX's automatic removal of the empty line.
If I cut from the start of the entry to the start of the next entry,
the empty line is not there, but I still need to hit Enter at the
insertion point to start a new bullet.
On the other hand, if I cut from the end of the preceding entry to
the end of the entry that is moving, then I can paste at the
insertion point and get a new bullet automatically (same as LyX).
I guess I'm not clear on what is "nonstandard" about what LyX is doing.
Paul
I can agree with you, Paul, but what people have become to accept as 'cor-
rect' is not necessarily most helpful. If a user highlights the content of
a bulletpoint, he/she probably wants to grab the text as-is, i.e. as a
bullet. It is valuable to form some expectation of what the user wishes to
do next and take the necessary steps (without popping up some doggy or a
paperclip, of course).
Roy
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