[Idle-dev] Re: keybindings

[Nicholas Riley]

On Sun, Dec 01, 2002 at 11:00:32PM -0800, Tony Lownds wrote:

> >Option (alt-) keystrokes are not normal on the Mac.  Alt-F2 should be
> >changed to command-/ (slash) which seems to be the de facto standard
> >for window zooming.
> 
> Hmm, I didn't find any apps that use command-/. Maybe the keystroke 
> for zoom-window will change to work better with Linux/X. The Mac 
> keystroke for zoom-window can be adjusted then, as needed. In any 
> case, you can make your own personal changes quite easily, if 
> Option-F2 just isn't memorable or convenient enough!

Using function keys is especially bad on PowerBooks that don't have
separate brightness/contrast/etc controls (everything but Wall
Street/PDQ).  A few monthe ago when I was looking at implementing this
in my own software I did a survey of a bunch of Mac apps and command-/
came out as the consensus for "zoom window".  Most apps have no
shortcut at all - that's also a possibility for IDLE.

> > The other one I see is "Expand word"... not
> >exactly a common command, and the only other example I can find is
> >CodeWarrior, which uses control-. (period).
> 
> Expand word is Option-/. We can eliminate the use of option here; 
> Command-/ is more appropriate than Option-/. I'll change that.
> 
> One other option keystroke is Option-q, bound to format-paragraph. 
> Using option seems necessary, because Command-Q must be quit. I think 
> the unusual use of option here is better than the alternative of an 
> unusually platform-specific binding (Command-.).

People may want to enter non-ASCII characters, and usurping their
ability to do so is not good.  I didn't write Command-. (that's
cancel) above, I said _control_-. above, which should be reasonably
safe.  Option-q is seemingly designed to be a facsimile of Emacs' M-q
for the same operation.

--Nicholas