Hi Hussein,
Good idea on simplifying the spec by auto-detecting elements with a
single required attribute.
I would request that you not limit the behaviour to when the attribute
in question has a "???" dummy value. I would like to be able to use
the same series of keystrokes to edit an existing link (with a real
value in the href attribute) and to edit a newly-inserted link (with a
dummy value).
If you prefer, you could implement the option with three radio buttons:
Automatically select required attribute for editing:
* Never
* When attribute value is "???"
* Always
I would, of course, choose the third option.
--
Kevin Yank
Technical Director, sitepoint.com
On 23/07/2008, at 6:29 PM, Hussein Shafie wrote:
> Kevin Yank wrote:
>> I have a killer (I think) enhancement idea for XMLMind XML Editor.
>> In an XXE configuration, it would be nice to be able to specify a
>> ?default attribute? for a given element type. When selecting an
>> element of that type, the specified ?default attribute? would be
>> loaded into the Attributes panel?s editor immediately, without
>> having to specifically select it.
>> An example of how this would be useful would be in editing elements
>> such as link in DITA. 99% of the time, when you want to edit an
>> attribute on a link element, it?s the href attribute that you want
>> to change. Why not make it possible to save users the trouble of
>> selecting that attribute to edit it.
>> Editing a link with the keyboard would then be simplified to these
>> steps:
>> 1. Select element
>> 2. Ctrl/Cmd-E
>> 3. Enter (no typing required to select href attribute!)
>> 4. type new href value
>> Using the Browse button to set a new link target with the mouse
>> would be greatly simplified as well:
>> 1. Select element
>> 2. Click the Browse button in the Attributes panel
>> This would save me and my staff a lot of time in a few common use
>> cases, and seems to me like it would be pretty easy to implement.
>
> This is a good idea. There is even no need to specify a
> the ?default attribute? for a given element type in the XXE
> configuration type as the great majority of elements have a single
> required attribute.
>
> Here's how I rehash your spec:
> * It only works with Ctrl-E.
> * It automatically selects the required attribute, when there is a
> single required attribute and when this required attribute has a
> "???" dummy value.
> * It automatically moves the caret to the "Attribute Value" field of
> the small form above the attribute table.
> * The above behavior is an option which can be turned off.
>
> This gives us:
> [1] Insert a new element which has a required attribute.
> [2] Ctrl-E
> [3] Type the attribute value
> [4] Press Enter
> [5] Continue editing your document.
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