Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Properties Dialog Access

There are a multitude of ways to open the properties dialog. The most obvious is to select an element and click the Properties Button. Of course you can use the Edit menu > Properties. Doing that should make you aware of the "PR" keyboard shortcut (stock shortcuts).

If you are a "Right Clicker"...then you can choose Element Properties from the list, it's the one all the way at the bottom. Don't be fooled into thinking that View Properties is what you want, "View" in this case isn't a verb.

A couple less obvious items are to use Windows Keyboard shortcut combinations, and there are a lot. I find that I just can't remember enough of them which means looking them up counters their effectiveness. Unless you can manage to replace something else you want to remember with some new ones?

You can use this combination, Alt+Enter to edit the Element properties of your current selection. Once open this combination, Ctrl+Enter will toggle back and forth between the Element and Type properties dialogs.

I should also mention that there is always the ALT key plus menu letters combinations. Depending on your Windows settings pressing the ALT key should display little underlined letters in the menu. Pressing ALT then the underlined letter will expand that menu and then you can do the same for the next level until you get where you want to go.

For properties it would go something like this: select something
Press ALT, press E, press I (twice because I is shared with Resize and Properties)
Press Enter, Press E to open Type Properties dialog.
It is actually much quicker than it looks but no, I'm not suggesting it is faster than just typing PR (keyboard shortcut).

Got properties?

5 comments:

NKramer said...

Nice to know about the Alt + Enter

However, Ctrl + Enter opens the "Load/ Open File" dialogue rather than switching between Element and Type, at least in the out of the box install.

Steve said...

Any chance you are not trying it when the element properties dialog is already open? It works for me in 2009 and 2008, stock installs.

NKramer said...

When I have something selected and use Alt + Enter the element properties opens. If I try Ctrl + Enter then nothing happens.

One in the element properties if I use Ctrl + Enter then the Load from/ Open box opens.

After I click Edit/ New and am in the Type Properties dialogue then Ctrl + Enter closes it and you are back to the Type Properties.

I guess that's what you meant, but it seems like clicking OK would be easier... BTW it does accept any changes that you made.

Steve said...

Interesting, it works for me. I'm using XP on this notebook still though. Are you using Vista or 64bit OS versions?

There is also Alt + E, the underlined text in the Edit/New button.

NKramer said...

XP Pro. Its a 64 bit system but I think we are still running 32 bit windows.

Along these same lines
- Alt + B, I or U dont work in text.
- Ctrl + Enter will hard return text in some items (Rooms but you have to be in a schedule or the EP not the tag and most other tags), but not others (Sheet Names for 1)