A number of times while editing a reference or manually creating one I have hit the key. This causes the record to be instantly closed and all edits -- including text, category selections and links -- to be lost, with no prompts or warnings. This has nailed me several times.
This is deadly behavior. Can it please be changed?
The best course would be for the key to beep and cause no action, in contexts where it has no function in reversing a prior action.
The Esc key is the shortcut
The Esc key is the shortcut for the Cancel command. Why did you press the ESC key? Did you want to do something else instead of cancel changes?
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> Why did you press the ESC key?
Force of habit. I was editing a field and decided to stop editing it. I do this all too frequently, as a habit from using other programs. It is a habit that I will probably never break, having had it for decades. This is the only program where I have run into this problem though.
There should be a confirmation before deleting the user's input for a whole record, in my opinion.
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I think generally what I have been doing when I hit the key was editing in a highlighted field, such as creating or renaming a Category (i.e. working in the right-hand pane) or having clicked in the Abstract or Memo field on the left side of screen (which highlights the whole field -- which I may have clicked in inadvertently, or may have inadvertently tried to edit there instead of with the abstract Tab in the right-hand pane).
There could have been, as well, other kinds of processes that I tried to back-out of with the key at one time or another. An ingrained habit.
I thought the undo shortcut
I thought the undo shortcut is Ctrl+Z for Windows editor from the begining. We want to keep prompting to a minimum in Biblioscape. Thanks, Paul
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Ctrl-Z (undo) is not the kind of action I thought I was doing; instead I was trying to exit from an editable field. is standard for "close the current operation." The operation I wanted to close was the proximate one of editing a particular field within the record, and was not to quit the whole record itself.
I understand the importance of keeping prompting to a minimum; however, I think this is one place where it is necessary.
The last record I lost is one that I had spent over half an hour creating manually (no downloadable citation available), including abstract, memo, links and setting categories. Then -- all gone -- with no warning. And this has happened to me a number of times.
My suggestion for action is: (1) if there is no unsaved data, close the record without a prompt; and (2) if there is unsaved data, prompt the user on whether or not to save the record. This is very standard, user-friendly action among programs that edit text or data.
To move out of a field, you
To move out of a field, you can use Tab to go to the next field, or Shit+Tab to move to the previous field. The ESC key is assigned to the command "Cancel" which will cancel the changes users made. Thanks, Paul
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> "The ESC key is assigned to the command "Cancel" which will cancel the changes users made."
Exactly, but that's also exactly the problem. Which is (in two possible forms of mistake): (1) are the user's changes that the program cancels the ones the user is intending to cancel (i.e. the field or all changes in the whole record), or (2) did the user type the Esc key inadvertently, with no intent to cancel anything (e.g. tried to press the "1" but missed that key and hit Esc by accident). [ And Shft-Tab isn't the answer -- because the issue is when the user intentionally types Esc, and then whether or not there are unwarned, irreversible consequences from doing that.]
I note that what I am requesting is already implemented for the "X" Close-Button (upper right corner) for the case when a user has edited the record. It produces the prompt box: "Confirm. The record is not saved. Do you want to save the changes. Yes. No." Cannot the function of the Esc key be changed to also have that same action?
Please?
Larry, you are right. Your
Larry, you are right. Your suggestion has been implemented in the latest patch. Please get the patch at http://www.biblioscape.com/download/bsp8_patch.zip
Thanks,
Paul