Peat and repeat

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Hmmm, that wasn't so hard. After selecting the Ω symbol, I just selected or highlighted it, pressed CTRL+C, then kept pressing CTRL+V to my heart's content. Perhaps if I needed to repeat that 100's of times then, I might consider looking for an easier alternative.

I've never had any reason to do that though.

Thanks, Vulcan.

In a sense I should thank you, not only for your kind-spirited insouciance, but also for reinforcing the point of my proposal. Which is to say, I do not propose the added feature (and, after all, features will be added to the shortcut menu) as a replacement for existing capabilities or user habits and preferences. Indeed, different users will have different styles, different approaches, (and different faculties) as to what serves them best (and in changing situations) when composing/editing; use of CTRL key assignments, exclusively or in tandem with menu clicking, is merely "one man's" approach. Such capacity for flexibility is, in fact, a thing that distinguishes powerful word processors (such as Word Perfect and its protege, Word...etc.) from the rest.

Looking at your example in particular (and even considering it's having been contrived to prove [or disprove] a point), you can see that, in all likelihood, the CTRL key approach does not obviate, and might not significantly lessen, the need for one hand to jump from keyboard to grab the mouse...or from mouse to find "home base" on keyboard; and it basically replaces mouse actions with added keystrokes--something which could prove either convenient or inconvenient, depending.... Where avoiding the mouse is often faster, it equally as often is avoided at the cost of increased keystroke count. The trade-off can rub in either direction!

So you see, while there's no harm in your approach, there would be likewise no harm in the proposed approach...or any combination of both. Permit me to offer an example that might explain better.

Sometimes--not always--I have occasion to post passages that contain numerous (say) "dash" characters (it could be quotation marks or anything else, either within or without Omega...take your pick). Now, sometimes it is more convenient for me to quickly "type out" (key in) an entire passage in the manner of a manuscript, in which case (rather than stopping to pop Omega) I might simply key in "hyphenhyphen" (whenever needed) and continue on.... After that is done, during proofing and editing for publication, is when (in this instance) the Omega character set comes into play...as I seek to replace the --'s with —'s better suited for publication. As I see it, this would be a situation (a task within the overall task) where exclusive use of the mouse is preferable to exclusive use of the keyboard. After "picking up and setting" the first dash character from Omega character set, the process of replacing all remaining --'s would only require point-click-click-(next); this as opposed to (indefinite ←↑→↓ [etc.], followed by not less than) seven key stroke/un-stroke actions (in addition to more "indefinite ←↑→↓..."), followed (after the replacement) by even more "indefinite ←↑→↓..."...(and so on) that would be required using keyboard controls exclusively—that as opposed to the other extreme—exclusive mouse control—which, in the given example I have tried to show, can be just as preferable.

CA

If you use IE, an add on like ieSpell or IE7Pro would be nice to use. I did not find one to do what you mean at http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/category.aspx?bcatid=3500.

The CR4 editing tools are not perfect (a clear format would be good for pasting-in formated text) but are far better than for some otner blogs.

For now, could you write your text in your favorite word processor and then paste in CR4?

Sometimes I do compose messages offline in Word, depending.... However, apparently Word was never able for some reason to reproduce Word Perfect's n = 1 feature, even though Word itself arose largely as an emulation of Word Perfect; so the feature is not available there either; and I don't have a copy of Word Perfect installed.

Perhaps you saw the earlier discussion,

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/16598#comment171032,

around January where the upgrades to CR4 edit facilities and shortcut menu were announced. Somewhere I remember also reading that further development—in particular further development of the shortcut menu—was ongoing; and that suggestions are welcome. So my proposal is meant, in part, to be such a suggestion—not regarding an add-on that I can install locally and use personally, but to see if such a thing as the "repeater" facility would be feasible (could be coded) for inclusion as a CR4 editing tool. The idea of incorporating it in the shortcut menu was just one approach that might be possible (in contrast, Word Perfect's repeater, like the tool bar above, does not require opening an unseen menu); and it seems that (using the shortcut menu) would be the better, simpler (and perhaps more easily coded) approach. It could, of course, be added as a control on the tool bar—like the paragraph/outline controls. The choice, seems to me, would be whether it was easier and faster to point at [and/or make number entry] in the tool bar, or to simply click twice at a cursor location (once to open menu, once to perform the repeat action), using the pointer only to "target" the next occurrence where repeat of an edit action is required.

I do realize the repeater facility is something many might never have encountered, so may not be familiar with its benefits. So I'm trying my hardest to explain...even at the risk of perhaps being...unduly un-terse. I appreciate viewers' patience...and interest.

Also appreciate the link and the suggestion, gigaconcept.

Ah clarity!

Yes, I get your point. I guess I was a lot sleepier than I thought last night.

That, plus the fact that I've never used Word Perfect.

yes, ctrl+c works great and so does ctrl+v, and it does not matter if it lower case or upper case, see: &#9&#9&#9&#9&#9&#9, hehehehehe

"Anyone remember n=_ , that wonderful repeater tool in Word Perfect? The reason...That's what came to mind recently when I needed to use the Ω character set in the CR4 tool bar. If one needs to post a character numerous times,"

I'll be on the lookout for long OP's with repetitious characters, phrases, etc. and avoid answering or subscribing to same.

All too many are tedious and either have superfluous information or not enough to reply intelligently.

It should hardly be necessary to have so many repetitions that CR4 would need a repetition function.

Some of the longest threads are repetitious to a fault with long sequences of Off Topic post.

CowAnon:

It would be much simpler to use the clipboard function and use the selection of any one
of the last several items to repeat any or all of them as often as is desired.

Capice? Capice!

Capice, Stirling Stan, and Grazie.

I can't, and never would argue the fact that clipboard is convenient, useful...and easier or harder than my suggestion. To say that it's easy is not to say that something else can't be equally or, depending on circumstance (or even user preference or mood) "more than equally" easy. But whether something else (something that everyone is accustomed to) is a little more easy, or about as easy, or a little less easy...well, that is really not the point, as I see it.

Looking at it closely, what I am proposing is almost the same as using the clipboard (in fact, clip board is itself essentially a repeater, and it could be one way of implementing my suggestion), but without the need for highlighting/selecting, whether by keystrokes or by pointing/dragging. You could, in fact, say that the repeater is a special implementation of "clip-boarding" for just that purpose...to avoid having to select. Why, you ask? I don't know about others, but sometimes just making a selection can be tedious...and requires extra time and strokes; or, when drag selection doesn't cooperate, the extra effort to drop mouse and shift select...that, too, is added effort--effort which my suggestion would eliminate...because there would be no need for selecting in order to initiate or repeat a paste action (even if the repeater included background storing in clipboard). You would only need to have made a last (manual or automatic) "paste" (from anywhere: clipboard, omega set,...), and not have entered any keystroke since...then "click-click" (on mouse button or pad): the same pasted item appears wherever the cursor is located. But my suggestion pertained first and foremost to items in the Omega character set; so the repeater would be a natural extension of how that character set already functions...which is to say, you don't have to copy omega characters to the clip board and then paste them; you simple click a character there and it appears wherever you left off in the text body. If I wanted to use that same character again, it could be easier (either than selecting, copying, and pasting or than going back to omega) to simply click-click again wherever else that omega character wanted to be. Simple! In addition to text, mathematical/algebraic derivations are another instance where I believe repeating (omega characters especially) could come in very handy once people got used to using the repeater.

Finally, yes, we already have manual use of the clipboard--and it's usually easy...no problem. LIkewise yes, the clipboard will still be there even if a repeater is added! A repeater wouldn't prevent anyone from using the clipboard to his/her heart's content. However, anyone who's ever been momentarily stymied by the selection aspect of clip-boarding might find an always-dependable repeater functionality to be a welcome alternative....

See? I'm hoping.

Different strokes for diferent folks