list of Free42 keyboard bindings for desktop?

[bxparks]

Something that I've wondered about for a few years:

* Is there a list of keyboard bindings for the Free42 app on the desktop (Windows, MacOS, Linux)?

I searched on these forums, the https://thomasokken.com/free42/ website, and inside the Free42 app itself, but couldn't find anything.

My ideal solution would be a "Keyboard Shortcuts" menu item under the the Help menu. Bonus points if the '?' key on the keyboard activated this menu item as well. The '?' is currently bound to the '/' operator right now.

[Didier Lachieze]

first link.

[bxparks]

(12-12-2024 09:36 PM)Didier Lachieze Wrote:  first link.

Well, the first link is this post.

The second link is "HP41 USER mode - HP42 CUSTOM menu - Free42" (https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-15871.html) which does not seem relevant.

The third link is "Key Mapping for Free 42s" (https://www.jeffstuff.org/free42/Free42KeyMapping.html), which I assume was your intended response in the most obtuse way.

I suppose my problem was that I searched for "site:www.hpmuseum.org free42 keyboard shortcuts", since I no longer use Google Search. Its results are basically useless now due to the flooding of SEO-optimized and AI-generated spam sites.

[Thomas Okken]

(12-12-2024 08:35 PM)bxparks Wrote:  My ideal solution would be a "Keyboard Shortcuts" menu item under the the Help menu.

Beat you to it...
https://github.com/thomasokken/free42/is...2528211108

I suppose I could make an acerbic comment about how nobody reads the README file that has been included with the download packages for the desktop versions since forever, but since it's the holiday season, I won't.

I will admit that the Help -> Keyboard Shortcuts thing is a good idea, and long overdue. Not only is it a lot easier to discover than a README file, but it also shows the keymap that is actually in effect, including any customizations that may have been made, and any mappings that were added or overridden by the skin. It is a funny coincidence that this question has come up here just as I am working on this feature! I've already completed it for the Mac, iOS, Windows, and GTK versions; I'll do the Android version tomorrow. It will be in the next release, probably in January.

[bxparks]

(12-13-2024 01:38 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Beat you to it...
https://github.com/thomasokken/free42/is...2528211108

Heh, that looks nice, but seems like a LOT of work. Really, I would have been happy with just a modal dialog box bound to a menu item under "Help".

(12-13-2024 01:38 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  I suppose I could make an acerbic comment about how nobody reads the README file that has been included with the download packages for the desktop versions since forever, but since it's the holiday season, I won't.

I have always installed the `free42-nologo` package using `apt` under Ubuntu Linux. I had no idea it came with a README file.

It was only today that I downloaded the `Free42Linux.tgz` from your website. But holy crap, I didn't even notice the `README` file in there. My brain seems to completely filter out files with no extensions, perhaps assuming that such files are binary files? Maybe a `README.txt` would have a better chance of being noticed? But in truth, I think this illustrates that anything not embedded in the app itself will likely never be found.

Finally, since *this* thread is now #1 on Google Search and DuckDuckGo, I want to point out that the https://www.jeffstuff.org/free42/Free42KeyMapping.html page seems buggy and incomplete. The most current keyboard bindings are located here:

* https://github.com/thomasokken/free42/bl...gtk/README (Linux)
* https://github.com/thomasokken/free42/bl...README.txt (MacOS)
* https://github.com/thomasokken/free42/bl...README.txt (Windows)

[Thomas Okken]

(12-13-2024 01:59 AM)bxparks Wrote:  It was only today that I downloaded the `Free42Linux.tgz` from your website. But holy crap, I didn't even notice the `README` file in there. My brain seems to completely filter out files with no extensions, perhaps assuming that such files are binary files? Maybe a `README.txt` would have a better chance of being noticed? But in truth, I think this illustrates that anything not embedded in the app itself will likely never be found.

In days of yore, when Unix users were still downloading and building everything from source, it was normal for README files to be called just README, with no extension. Maybe it still is!

Of course this was when you had to type something like "vi" or "more" if you wanted to view a text file. You couldn't double-click on files while logged in on a character terminal. But the lack of an extension on the README file in the Linux package is in that tradition. Maybe that is a bit out of date by now...

[bxparks]

(12-13-2024 02:19 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  In days of yore, when Unix users were still downloading and building everything from source, it was normal for README files to be called just README, with no extension. Maybe it still is!

Of course this was when you had to type something like "vi" or "more" if you wanted to view a text file. You couldn't double-click on files while logged in on a character terminal. But the lack of an extension on the README file in the Linux package is in that tradition. Maybe that is a bit out of date by now...

Ha, I'm also old enough to remember that some time in the late 1980's (or early 1990's?), corporate lawyers commandeered the README files for their legal babbles, and the README files became useless as a source of actual information. After opening dozens and dozens of useless README files, I stopped doing that. Maybe I still have that habit of never opening a README file.

Around the late 2000's (?) the convention seems to have changed to use the LICENSE file for legal things, and the README file regained some usefulness. But not really. Hardly anyone reads the distribution README files. The most useful usage of a README is now the README.md file on GitHub which acts as the "index.html" file of a folder when viewed in a web browser.

[Thomas Okken]

I created a new release with this functionality. At first I thought I'd implement some more items from my to-do list first, but this one was a lot of work, and I could use some time off over the holidays, and there's no point in just sitting on this in the meantime. It also includes new functions for direct matrix and list item access, and improved Dark Mode support for the MacOS and iOS versions.

[AnnoyedOne]

(12-13-2024 02:36 AM)bxparks Wrote:  Hardly anyone reads the distribution README files.

I'm one those rare people that actually read README files. I always have. I assume that the author(s) have something useful to say. Sometimes true and other times not.

The same goes for any "manual" (printed or electronic).

If I don't find an answer to some question I turn to the internet. I do not use a ChatBot/AI/etc.

A1

PS: As an aside I often download/read the manual for something I'm thinking of buying. Also research (e.g. reviews) on the internet. As a result I know what I'm getting.

[bxparks]

(12-13-2024 05:11 PM)AnnoyedOne Wrote:  I'm one those rare people that actually read README files. I always have. I assume that the author(s) have something useful to say. Sometimes true and other times not.

Not every README file, right? There are 2927 packages installed on my Linux machine right now, of which `free42-nologo` is one of them. I don't know how many come with a distribution README file, but I can confess that I haven't read any.

[AnnoyedOne]

(12-13-2024 05:49 PM)bxparks Wrote:  Not every README file, right?

It depends. Sometimes I read documentation before installation. Other times after.

A1

PS: Sometimes there in no documentation at all.

https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/thread-22177.html

[johanw]

The README reminds me of the notes Google shows for updates. Sometimes, like for Free42 and Plus42, this contains useful information. Other projects have always a line like "This update contains improvements and bug fixes", which is of course utterly useless (what did I expect? A developer who writes "This update contains more bugs and less features?")

[Thomas Klemm]

(12-13-2024 05:11 PM)AnnoyedOne Wrote:  I do not use a ChatBot/AI/etc.

Yeah, that’s exactly what a chatbot wants us to believe.

(12-13-2024 05:11 PM)AnnoyedOne Wrote:  A1

We won't fall for such a clumsy disguise.