"In place" editing of variables

Nothing is perfect! This is where you can post your ideas and wishes for functions you'd like to see in Help & Manual. Current version only please (H&M7).

Moderators: Alexander Halser, Tim Green

Post Reply
Rainer Oehry
Posts: 102
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2017 12:47 pm

"In place" editing of variables

Unread post by Rainer Oehry »

Upon double clicking on a variable in a topic, the "Edit text variable" popup is opened with the clicked variable highlighted. The popup title is somewhat misleading, because I cannot really edit a variable in this popup, I can only select another variable or access the list of all variables, which makes me lose the focus in the topic I am working on. I would like to have a button "Edit highlighted variable", which then opens just a single line entry field like the ones in the variable view, with the current content of the variable and the possibility to modify the content (saving by pressing Enter). This would allow to modify a variable without leaving the current topic.
Regards,

Rainer
Head of Technical Writing & Knowledge Management
TIG Technische Informationssysteme GmbH, Rankweil, Austria
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: "In place" editing of variables

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Rainer,

You can't do it directly at the moment, but if you click on the More... button on the lower right in the variable editing dialog it will take you directly to Configuration > Common > Variables where you can edit the variable. You can then return to the topic you were editing with the Previous button in the Quick Access Toolbar in the left end of the program title bar (you may need to activate the Previous and Next buttons there with the dropdown menu that you will find there.)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Rainer Oehry
Posts: 102
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2017 12:47 pm

Re: "In place" editing of variables

Unread post by Rainer Oehry »

Thank you, Tim,

I am using the "More" button, and I use the "return" functionality which is programmed into a thumb button of my mouse. But I still have to find the variable in the list of variables. I use names that group them meaningfully and make it easier to locate them in the alphabetically sorted variable list, but with hundreds of variables and no way to search for them but by manually scrolling through all of them, it easily takes up to ten seconds to locate the required variable, plus the maybe three seconds the software needs to display the variable list after clicking on "More". And after returning to the topic, my position is lost and, more often than not, I need to scroll to the location where I was working on.

Currently, whenever I have to modify lots of variables, I have an exported variable list open in a text editor on another screen and edit the variable contents there, and then re-import the variables after having completed the necessary changes. This not only saves time, but allows to continue to see the topic while editing the variables.

But probably not everybody works the same way as I do :)
Regards,

Rainer
Head of Technical Writing & Knowledge Management
TIG Technische Informationssysteme GmbH, Rankweil, Austria
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: "In place" editing of variables

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Rainer,

I understand your needs. I can't promise that this will be added, but it's now in the Wish List. 8)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Rainer Oehry
Posts: 102
Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2017 12:47 pm

Re: "In place" editing of variables

Unread post by Rainer Oehry »

Hi Tim,

thank you very much for considering! :D

May I add another suggestion? What about offering the possibility to open (and keep open) the variables tab as an additional tab (like the user can do it with topics), and not just as the leftmost tab that gets replaced by whatever you work on next?
Regards,

Rainer
Head of Technical Writing & Knowledge Management
TIG Technische Informationssysteme GmbH, Rankweil, Austria
Ga Bowen
Posts: 324
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:05 pm

Re: "In place" editing of variables

Unread post by Ga Bowen »

I would also like to see both of Mr Oehry's suggestions implemented.
Post Reply