LabVIEW Idea Exchange

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
vt92

Use standard Windows keyboard shortcuts to change font styles

Status: Completed

Available in LabVIEW 2018 and later. The Ctrl-B, Ctrl-I, and Ctrl-U shortcuts now bold, italicize, and underline text, respectively. This behavior only occurs while a text field is being edited. Otherwise, these keyboard shortcuts maintain their normal behavior.

It would be nice if you could change a selected font style by using the standard windows (MS office) shortcuts, such as CTRL-B for bold and CTRL-U for underline.  This would save many mouse clicks.

 

I realize that many people don't use Windows, so maybe it could be customized in the .ini file or would be dependent on what OS your are running.

 

font styles.PNG

>

"There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus." - Blaise Pascal
25 Comments
crossrulz
Knight of NI
While I fully agree, keep in mind that Ctrl+U is already used for the Diagram Clean-up and Ctrl+B for removing broken wires.
Message Edited by crossrulz on 07-09-2009 02:12 PM

GCentral
There are only two ways to tell somebody thanks: Kudos and Marked Solutions
Unofficial Forum Rules and Guidelines
"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God" - 2 Corinthians 3:5
Minions
Active Participant

Unfortunately, the Ctrl-B command is already in use for erasing bad wires.

 

It may be possible for the developers to differentiate between the front and block diagram panels.  Keeping the Ctrl-B in the block diagram panel for cleaning up bad wires.

Help the Community (and future reviewers) by marking posts as follows:
If it helped - KUDOS
If it answers the issue - SOLUTION
Darren
Proven Zealot

The best solution would be for the Ctrl-B/I/U shortcuts to work as text modifiers only when a text field is currently being edited.  Any other time they would act as clean up, remove bad wires, etc.

 

-D

Neil.Pate
Active Participant
I agree with Darren, on the FP there are no bad wires to be removed, so Ctrl-B (which is probably used more than Ctrl-I) can be set to make the text bold.
Darren
Proven Zealot

I'm really surprised this idea hasn't received more kudos.  One of the *first* things I noticed when I started programming with LabVIEW almost 11 years ago was the lack of Ctrl-B/I/U keystrokes to bold/italicize/underline selected text.  Come on, people!  Kudo this one!  🙂

 

-D

vt92
Active Participant

Thanks, Darren.  This issue is a HUGE annoyance to me, but I guess not so much with other people.

 

>

"There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus." - Blaise Pascal
AristosQueue (NI)
NI Employee (retired)

I would kudos this idea but only if you can lay out for me all the shortcut rearranging. In other words

 

ctrl+b = bold

ctrl+i = italics

ctrl+u = underline

ctrl+?  = remove broken wires

ctrl+?  = clean up diagram

ctrl+?  = VI Properties

 

If you were mucking about with something like ctrl+d, which I pretty much never use and which few people it seems knows exist, I'd be fine. But you're suggesting changing three of the  shortcuts I use most, and there aren't any other keys still availble. What operations would lose their shortcut?

elset191
Active Participant

Aristos, I think Darren pretty much covered this in an earlier comment

 


@Darren wrote:
The best solution would be for the Ctrl-B/I/U shortcuts to work as text modifiers only when a text field is currently being edited.  Any other time they would act as clean up, remove bad wires, etc.
 

 

--
Tim Elsey
Certified LabVIEW Architect
JackDunaway
Trusted Enthusiast

I like the idea of standard text formatting shortcuts, don't get me wrong. But something just seems fishy about having different context actions for the same shortcut. The documentation on the LabVIEW Quick Reference Card would become a little more squirelly, "This means this here, but this means that there...." which can be a fundamental UI SNAFU.

 

As an alternative, we need flock en masse to the idea of A text toolbar.

AristosQueue (NI)
NI Employee (retired)

> only when a text field is currently being edited.

 

Yeah, I read that. Didn't like it so much... it wouldn't save me much time. I am rarely using LV as a text editor. Usually I'm selecting all the controls on my FP and changing the font of everything, and a ctrl+b to make everything bold face would actually be useful when I'm trying to magnify a front panel for display in a presentation. 

 

I suppose I should kudos the idea anyway on the grounds that I would like this topic to be visited in some form/fashion.