[chimerax-users] Hotkeys?

[Oliver Clarke]

Hi all,

Loving ChimeraX! It has got a lot faster on Mac with integrated graphics than the last time I tried it, and I *love* the curved helices and ambient occlusion lighting!

UI seggestion: Would it be possible to allow users to define custom hotkeys to execute particular functions? E.g. swapping between preset display settings, adjusting the contour level of a selected volume, switching the view, etc? Hotkeys have an advantage over command line entries that they are faster and can’t be mis-typed. 

This idea would require a slight tweaking of how the command line works, such that you can only enter commands when the command line is active, but I  don’t think this would be such a bad thing. One could also have a hotkey to activate the command line (e.g. Tab or Ctrl-T). I feel like this would allow expansion and customization of the interface in useful ways.

With regards to the command line, would it be possible to add in tab-completion of commands, like one has in a bash shell? Although the documentation is extensive, I feel like this might improve the discoverability of various commands, and would certainly make them faster to type.

Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing what’s coming next!

Cheers
Oli