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[TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
- [TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
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[TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
joeNOR > 2020-10-15 09:34
The Problem:
I've been working within the IT-industry for many years, all the way back to when the command line was the norm...then that went out of fashion (but, not really) with the GUIs, and now it is back again more than ever (check out the Windows Terminal by Microsoft), yay.
Using keyboard shortcuts was a must, and for me it stuck. I much prefer using shortcuts and only the keyboard even in GUIs, it is much faster and you don't have to move your hand to the mouse to click on some icony, boxy or something thingy.
But, shortcut conflicts is a hassle, and much more so with a tool like QAP where you can assign shortcuts to everything.
As mentioned elsewhere I have around 200 favourites in QAP (and counting), assigning non-conflicting shortcuts to only a small percent of those and REMEMBER them is not gonna happen, my brain is to old to struggle with that!
So, I started thinking of alternative ways to solve this.
Here is what I did, and is still doing to solve it.
1. QAP on SpeedDial, The CTRL Double Tap:
Go to Customize --> Options --> Popup Hotkeys.
At the bottom, select one or both of the checkboxes for CTRL Double Tap.
I've checked both (but 95% of the time I use the left one).
You can then nuke the main shortcut for bringing up QAP, and using CTRL is much faster.
Easy, fast, and you "release" a shortcut combo to use elsewhere.
QAP is one of very few tools that actually allows you to do this, and not forces you to use some insane shift-ctrl-leftalt-rightalt-letter/number combo that gives you arthritis at the age of 15.
(Another one is VMware-KVM, it uses the Pause button, that no one uses for anything, to cycle through virtual machines)
Brilliant!
2. One (or maybe two) menu(s) to rule them all, QAPmessenger:
Check out QAPmessenger, and it's abillity to load (sub-)menus directly as Jean documents here:
Can I display the QAP menu from the command-line or from a batch file?
https://www.quickaccesspopup.com/can-i-d...atch-file/
With a little bit of planning, some User Variables (if you want) and QAPmessenger you can assign ONE shortcut (I use CTRL-WIN-x) to a special menu with favourites that directly jumps to sub-menus by calling QAPmessenger.
No more bringing up the main menu and using mouse or arrow keys to dive down in to some third or fourth level menu to find that favourite.
Highly recommended!
3. Snippets, Snippets everywhere:
Use Snippets, again as Jean documents here:
What are snippets? How can I use them to paste frequently used pieces of text?
https://www.quickaccesspopup.com/what-are-snippets/
Use the Hotstring (in the Menu Options tab), not the shortcut.
They do not conflict with shortcuts, and they work pretty much everywhere.
I prefer to use the # sign as the first one in every Snippet, it works for me.
Pick one to "initiate" that makes sense to you, and you don't use that often.
F.ex. one of my Snippets is # and W to enter a long username for logging on to several tools running in my lab.
How often have I used a combo starting with # before? Never!
As always, I hope this can be useful for someone........
Regards,
joeNOR. -
RE: [TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
scottkillen > 2020-10-29 15:07
Joe,
I tend to use 'zz' as the prefix for my hotstrings. e.g. zzIRS => Internal Revenue Service
Scott -
RE: [TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
joeNOR > 2020-10-30 09:56
That is the "beauty" of Snippets.
We can all choose our own initiators/triggers.
I use # because it is a common sign for comments, f.ex in PowerShell, and it is easy for me to remember.
But, you could use.... IamAbigDeathMetalFan (as I am), and it would work....
I think that we who dives into the murky waters of QAP more than most, should post about the possibilities, as we do!
-Joe -
RE: [TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
Jean Lalonde > 2020-10-30 11:24
I also use # because it is an easy key to punch at the top-left of my French-Canadian keyboard. This character can be less convenient on other keyboard layouts.
A user suggested to use the comma in my examples (for example ",trigger") since the comma is normally followed by a space, except when used as prefix for hotstring triggers. -
RE: [TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
joeNOR > 2020-10-30 11:51
Nah, I don't think that your examples and descriptions, as creator of QAP, should be dictated by what people "feel".
It is clearly stated by the wording on the website, by the default install of QAP and by how you answer questions on the forum that English is the lingua franca.
Lets keep it how you want it, then it is predictable.
If not..... I'll happily start making noise about old norse (and, yeah, we kicked you arse about 1000 yrs ago).....
-joe(Norseman)NOR -
RE: [TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
scottkillen > 2020-10-30 14:46
Joe,
I have implemented your idea about using IamAbigDeathMetalFan as a trigger. It has made a big impact on productivity.
Thanks much!
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RE: [TIP] Not enough shortcuts, or to many to remember, QAPmessenger and Snippets ftw!
joeNOR > 2020-10-30 15:00
LOL!
You are exactly as nuts as me.........