[TxMt] Avoiding hidden menu items and buttons

[Daniel Käsmayr]

Michael,


Am 16. Sep 2006 um 13:48 schrieb Michael Henry:

> Certain menu items are hidden from the user unless the user presses  
> the option modifier key while holding the menu open.  Pressing  
> option causes one of the existing menu items to change meaning.

This is standard MacOSX behavior and can be observed in some if not  
many applications. Usually you can expect the alt-key to provide  
alterations on a behavior, such as "paste previous" to "paste next".  
Of course it is not obvious to the user - but just opening the menu  
and pressing alt will educate you; is this mentioned in the manual? I  
know there are many such things, even in dialogue-boxes, such as the  
find/replace box. But just imagine we had extra buttons and menu  
items for all of them -- no thanks.

> Would it be possible to avoid using hidden menus and buttons in  
> TextMate?  Other than trying to keep the menu length a little  
> shorter or the dialog box a bit smaller, I've not come up with a  
> benefit to hiding these items from the user, and in my opinion  
> there are several benefits to making them visible all the time.

I don't see any benefit -- just wasted screen space and cluttered  
interface. After all you are changing behavior by pressing alt, not  
adding new functionalities which would justify new buttons/entries.

TM is complex and I for sure haven't explored all its capabilities,  
which by definition are endless as you can write your own functions  
and bundles. As such it is necessary to keep the UI as elegant and  
simple as it is.

I believe there is a learning curve to TM that is as steep as your  
requirements and wishes make it :(

Dan