One of my favorite UI/UX aspects of ParaView is the filter search menu (Ctrl+Space on Windows). and with the recent discussions about various improvements I started thinking about if this quick search could be even better utilized.
As I understand it, this menu is limited to only pipeline filters (indeed it can also be launched from the menu bar at Filters > Search). If possible, I suggest:
Adding most menu bar actions (Open File, Save State, Connect, Manage Plugins, Python Script Editor, etc.) to this search widget
Adding any important actions from the various toolbars (Edit Color Map, Rescale, Zoom to Data, Set View Direction, etc.) to the quick search menu if they aren’t available from the menu bar options
Emulate/mirror the properties panel search behavior directly inside the quick search. And perhaps also map “Esc” to clear the properties search text as long as focus is anywhere within the properties panel widget/frame, instead of only when within the search bar itself
I’m basically suggesting converting the filter search menu into a generalized command menu akin to the Ctrl+Shift+p menu in Windows Terminal. I know I’ve seen other tools with a similar menu but can’t think of any more at the moment…
While I think the other recent proposals should still be considered, I think opening up the search menu would make a fantastic alternative to finding/triggering actions and alleviate a lot of issues at once.
Theodore, I really like this idea. Visual Studio Code has a similar Ctrl+Shit+p chord to bring up a menu of commands filtered by search text.
It would take some thinking of how to keep some of the nice things in the filter search dialog such as showing the description of the filter, why it isn’t available, link to help, etc. but that doesn’t seem insurmountable to me.
I think also that having a pop up to display command could be nice, in term of interface it could be like the quick launch but we should not mix them IMHO (this is what vscode or lot of other IDE already do).
For example, Ctrl+Space shows a Quick launch but only for filter where doing a Ctrl + E will shows a Quick launch but only for command etc…
Also if we move forward in this direction, we should also think to a way for new user to discover the Quick Launch and other shortcut more easily
Maybe there’s logical and/or technical reasons to have a few separate menus, but I think generally the fewer the better or the less effective the overall changes are. If the goal is accessibility/discoverability/ease-of-use I think it would still be annoying to have to keep mental track of which key chords open which menu, which commands/features/filters/options/properties are covered by which menu, etc.
Yes! That’s one of the others I was blanking on. I haven’t used VSCode much but it felt like I could do almost anything from that menu.
Another similar tool is the Command Palette in Microsoft PowerToys. Win+Space to launch a search/filter menu to find files, launch applications, shut down, etc.