Help w/ new keyboard shortcuts?

[patricks]

Sure would be nice if there were a way to import the old shortcuts from the old text file, since it wipes out all the ones that were set up before.

Anyway, I'm used to hitting "M+spacebar" to invoke the Move command when an object is selected. With my left hand resting on the keyboard, I push M with my index finger, and the spacebar with my thumb. Very little effort, even less than hitting MM (I reassigned the Mirror shortcut).

In the old shortcuts text file, I was able to set this up by putting my MM shortcut in that top-most section of the text file, which were the commands given priority. It appears this new keyboard shortcuts editor has no provisions for such prioritization of shortcuts.

Right now when I hit M+spacebar, the Match Type command is invoked (shortcut MA). I tried changing my Move command to M1, thinking it would put it before MA. No luck. In fact it puts M1 last on the list of shortcuts starting with M. What sort of madness is that?

So are the shortcuts saved in a different type of file now? I noticed my original Keyboard Shortcuts text file wasn't touched, and if I hit Export it creates an XML file.

[luke.s.johnson]

This is SO ANNOYING!!! We can no longer 'sort' the order that keyboard shortcuts show up with 'common' first characters.

And it seems that it is impossible to add a keyboard shortcut for 'Temporary' Hide / Isolate etc. I use these all the time!

So while the update is handy, it is actually causing productivity LOSS at the moment!

Anyone from Autodesk have a comment?

[trombe]

Sure would be nice if there were a way to import the old shortcuts from the old text file, since it wipes out all the ones that were set up before.

Anyway, I'm used to hitting "M+spacebar" to invoke the Move command when an object is selected. With my left hand resting on the keyboard, I push M with my index finger, and the spacebar with my thumb. Very little effort, even less than hitting MM (I reassigned the Mirror shortcut).

In the old shortcuts text file, I was able to set this up by putting my MM shortcut in that top-most section of the text file, which were the commands given priority. It appears this new keyboard shortcuts editor has no provisions for such prioritization of shortcuts.

Right now when I hit M+spacebar, the Match Type command is invoked (shortcut MA). I tried changing my Move command to M1, thinking it would put it before MA. No luck. In fact it puts M1 last on the list of shortcuts starting with M. What sort of madness is that?

So are the shortcuts saved in a different type of file now? I noticed my original Keyboard Shortcuts text file wasn't touched, and if I hit Export it creates an XML file.

Patricks,
I think its hidden ! but, you can look in the Revit Architecture 2010\Program\keyboard shortcuts.log file which lies above the keyboard shortcuts.txt file.
It only notes how many shortcuts have been recorded but does not have any data on the contents.
I agree its a bummer but the new editor is so much cleaner to work with and, its great that this can be done on the fly at last. That, is a welcome improvement.
regards
trombe

[patricks]

And it seems that it is impossible to add a keyboard shortcut for 'Temporary' Hide / Isolate etc. I use these all the time!



Sure you can. All the temporary hide/isolate commands are there in the list. I found it helpful to just type in what I was looking for, like "Hide" and several commands came up, including those. I noticed that nothing was assigned to those functions, or something different, so I changed them back to my familiar HH for hide element and HR for reset temporary hidden elements.


Patricks,
I think its hidden ! but, you can look in the Revit Architecture 2010\Program\keyboard shortcuts.log file which lies above the keyboard shortcuts.txt file.
It only notes how many shortcuts have been recorded but does not have any data on the contents.
I agree its a bummer but the new editor is so much cleaner to work with and, its great that this can be done on the fly at last. That, is a welcome improvement.
regards
trombe

It's not really on the fly. You still have to close out of Revit and restart the program for your shortcut assignments to take effect.

[dcretsinger]

It's not really on the fly. You still have to close out of Revit and restart the program for your shortcut assignments to take effect.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm... works on the fly on my machine. Don't have to close out or anything... just make the change and then it works with no restart.

Odd that you're having to restart to get the functions to work.

Cheers,

Dean

[patricks]

hmm yeah it seems to be working for me on the fly now on my work machine. Didn't seem to work like that last night at home.

[cphubb]

hmm yeah it seems to be working for me on the fly now on my work machine. Didn't seem to work like that last night at home.

Works on the fly for me as well.

Anybody know how to check if you assigned duplicate shortcuts? Do you need to restart Revit and look at the log file? Do the log immediatly?

I ma also going to try using Excel on the xml file.

I'll let you know

You can open the xml directly in Excel and sort by the shortcut. This lets you quickly find the duplicates.

I also imported into a table in Access. You can use a finde duplicates query to locate all the duplicates. You can even link the xml directly to Access and it will update as you fix the issues and re export

[patricks]

No need to do all that. You can sort by Shortcut directly in Revit's built-in editor. Just click on the Shortcut column header to sort by shortcut in ascending or descending order.

I got the Move command to work with M+spacebar now, but I had to lose the MA shortcut for Match Type. I never use that tool anyway, so no big deal for me.

[cphubb]

No need to do all that. You can sort by Shortcut directly in Revit's built-in editor. Just click on the Shortcut column header to sort by shortcut in ascending or descending order.

I got the Move command to work with M+spacebar now, but I had to lose the MA shortcut for Match Type. I never use that tool anyway, so no big deal for me.

I found it hard to read in their dialog and missed a bunch of duplicate commands. Excel found them in 30 sec.

[Wes Macaulay]

You guys notice that we can access the different faces of the View Cube using keyboard shortcuts. Not that *I* care any more -- I've gotten used to the View Cube :roll:

Wish I could say the same about the Ribbon :p

[luke.s.johnson]

I thought the temporary commands were gone because I used the filter with 'temporary' I think - and the command does not say temporary anywhere. You have to 'know' that the temporary commands are on the view control bar, whereas the 'permanent' hide commands are on the ribbon - view graphics....

[luke.s.johnson]

Am I going crazy? Because I can't find the 'Temporary - Isolate Element' command anywhere in that dialog...

[brenehan]

Just a slightly different question on the Keyboard shortcuts.

Where is the specific keyboard shortcut file now stored?

The old txt file seems to be redundant now. Is that correct?

Thanks
Brian

[iankids]

Just a slightly different question on the Keyboard shortcuts.

Where is the specific keyboard shortcut file now stored?

The old txt file seems to be redundant now. Is that correct?

Thanks
Brian

Hi Brian

The file is located in:

User\appdata\Local\Autodesk\Revit\Revit Architecture 2010

it is now an xml file and the old txt file is redundant. It can however be imported into the new file system

Ian

[trombe]

Hi Brian

The file is located in:
User\appdata\Local\Autodesk\Revit\Revit Architecture 2010
it is now an xml file and the old txt file is redundant. It can however be imported into the new file system
Ian

Poking around ! good one thanks - that saves everyone else doing the poking !!. lol.
trombe

[twaldock]

Hi Brian

The file is located in:

User\appdata\Local\Autodesk\Revit\Revit Architecture 2010

it is now an xml file and the old txt file is redundant. It can however be imported into the new file system

Ian


The XML file is created automatically in that location only when you exit Revit, not when you exit shortcut editor, (or if you export it). But this is a "user" based location, not a "computer" location (unlike 2010SP2 and previous).

My question is: How are we going to roll out the 'office standard' shortcut file in a large organisation? Do we have to create the xml file then go to each PC and manually import it? No, we can at least copy the xml file to each user settings folder - but it is more complicated to manage than previously (just like the UIstate.dat file for QAT & Ribbon). Every new user logging in will need to get the xml file automatically added to their profile. Updates to XML will have to be rolled out to profiles, not computers?

[brenehan]

My question is: How are we going to roll out the 'office standard' shortcut file in a large organisation? Do we have to create the xml file then go to each PC and manually import it?

This is exeactly where my former question was going!

[ford347]

I have the subscription pack installed, but there is no keyboard shortcuts in the user interface menu? I can't even find the new keyboard shortcut interface? Do I need to do something to get them to show up?

Josh

[patricks]

I have the subscription pack installed, but there is no keyboard shortcuts in the user interface menu? I can't even find the new keyboard shortcut interface? Do I need to do something to get them to show up?

Josh

Try typing KS, or under the big R icon > Options > General there should be a button for it at the bottom of the dialog box.

[BecFra]

F7 no longer works for spell check. I went into the keyboard shortcuts and it says <Fn7> for the shortcut but its not working.. You can set up another shortcut for it, but I really just want to keep it as function key F7. I already imported in my old .txt. file, I didnt check to see if it worked before that..

Anyone else have this problem?

[mcblum]

I too must be going crazy as I can't find the 'Temporary - Isolate Element' command anywhere in that dialog...anyone....anyone....

[twaldock]

For some unknown reason they changed the default shortcut keys for temp hide to HR (instead of HH or HE). The shortcut list of commands can be really confusing as it is often too brief to explain each command. There are two similar commands for hide:

Hide:Elements (on Contextual Tabs >View Graphics menu) - that is hide in view
Hide Element (on View Control Bar) - that is the temporary hide command you want.

You can look at the XML file in Excel to get a few more clues, but that is a hassle.

This is going to drive everyone nuts, for sure, as most existing users will want to correct the error with the HR shortcut. This method of managing shortcuts is much more powerful, but is not easy to deal with unless you spend a lot of time analysing how it all works.

[mcblum]

I've gotten a handle the "subtle" wording that differentiates some of the commands, which can be confusing at first. My question is that the "Isolate Element" command seems to be missing. If I open the Keyboard shortcut tool and select the View Control Bar (temporary visibility controls) from the filter, among the many commands, I see Hide Category, Hide Element and Isolate Category - but NO Isolate Element. Is is just my machine or what?

Thanks.

[twaldock]

You are not crazy - "Isolate Element" IS missing.
I am going crazy - I can't read the difference between isolate and hide in this thread ;)
I will report the missing shortcut to Autodesk as my penance.

[Wes Macaulay]

Thanks for posting the SR on that -- that's a bug alright

And I confirm that F7 isn't working for spell check any more

[BATx2]

Patricks, how did you get the "M+spacebar" to work in 2010 (before and after the keyboard shortcuts editor). I was able to assign / reassign the "letter + spacebar" shortcuts in 2009 but have had no luck getting this to work in 2010.

Note: We have not installed the service pack / advantage pack yet ... our CAD manager has been facilitating training off-site for much of our staff for the past couple weeks. I'm aiding him this week and have limited ability to do much testing untill I return to the office next week.

[luke.s.johnson]

The only way I know of to get M+spacebar to work for sure is to delete all other shortcuts starting with 'M'.

Another idea is to associate your most common shortcuts to the number keys ie. 1 for Move, 2 for Copy, 3 for Rotate etc (as I posted on my blog at http://whatrevitwants.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-use-new-keyboard-shortcuts.html )

[twaldock]

The only way I know of to get M+spacebar to work for sure is to delete all other shortcuts starting with 'M'.

Another idea is to associate your most common shortcuts to the number keys ie. 1 for Move, 2 for Copy, 3 for Rotate etc

I think we have to say goodbye to single letter shortcuts (unless the factory gives us back a way to order them). If you create any single letter shortcuts (eg. numbers) it really limits your scope to add any two letter ones starting with those characters.

I have got it working well by creating double characters for my favourite shortcuts:
AA - Align, CC - Copy, DD - Measure distance, MM - move, etc
This fits in well with some existing ones like HH or VV. The only ones it compromises are MM for mirror and RR for rendering - these can easily be reassigned to MP for Mirror Pick Line and MN for Mirror Draw Line etc.

I like to use the keypad numbers for 3d view rotations - eg.
11 for Front Left, 22 for front etc - as they logically correspond in location on the keypad to the viewcube. Is there a word for that ?

[patricks]

Patricks, how did you get the "M+spacebar" to work in 2010 (before and after the keyboard shortcuts editor). I was able to assign / reassign the "letter + spacebar" shortcuts in 2009 but have had no luck getting this to work in 2010.

Note: We have not installed the service pack / advantage pack yet ... our CAD manager has been facilitating training off-site for much of our staff for the past couple weeks. I'm aiding him this week and have limited ability to do much testing untill I return to the office next week.

Well at first I thought that shortcuts would go alphanumerically from the first character pressed. So in an effort to give Move a priority when pressing "M" I assigned "M1" to Move. Note: the old way was to just put my Move shortcut, usually MM, in the priority list at the top of the old KS text file.

So I assigned the M1 shortcut, but for some reason when pressing M after selecting an object, (M) A Match Type would show up at the bottom of my screen first. I never use the Match Type tool, so I just deleted that shortcut, and now M1 has priority, so I can just hit M+spacebar.

I tried the same thing with Copy, assigning C1 for Copy so I could hit C+spacebar, but it's not working. When I select an object, then hit C, the first shortcut listed is (C) M Component. Why it does that, I have no clue. If I hit C and then press the left arrow once, it goes back to C1. I don't understand why it would list CM first, unless it's going alphabetically by the command name instead of the shortcut. Component comes before Copy, alphabetically.

[Paul Andersen]

You can emulate the preferred order section of the keyboardshortcuts.txt file (with some exceptions) by editing the keyboardshortcuts.xml file directly. There are several ways to accomplish this; the following steps outline one rather simple work flow:

Create your shortcuts using the new Keyboard Shortcut dialog (which is a very welcome addition . . . thanks factory).
Save your changes and exit out of Revit.
Open the KeyboardShortcuts.xml file directly using your xml editor of choice (Notepad++ is free and works nicely).
Cut your preferred shortcuts from the list and paste them in the order you wish them to launch starting at the top of the xml file.
Save and exit the KeyboardShortcuts.xml file.
Set the properties of the KeyboardShortcuts.xml file to read only (this prevents Revit from returning the shortcuts to their default order).
Open Revit and enjoy

Please note the following: with the xml file set to read only, edits made using the Keyboard Shortcut dialog will only be available during the current session as they are not saved to the read only xml file. Should you need to save the changes simply export them to a different xml file or change the properties of the read only xml file. It is also important to note that if you are sharing your reordered xml file with others you must provide them with the read only version to overwrite their original. Importing / exporting of the xml file using the Keyboard Shortcut dialog results in the shortcuts returning to their default order.

One of the exceptions I have found thus far with regards to the manual ordering of commands in the xml file is as follows: Say you wish to assign DI to all of the various dimension commands (Aligned, Linear, Angular, Radial and Arc Length). Upon entering DI and cycling through the status bar options you will note that you cannot fully control the order in which the various dimension commands appear. Another related point to be aware of is that Revit will not display the shortcut of a command in the status bar if it is not available for use at the moment you began typing the shortcut. Using the above example: if you entered DI in a 3D view Linear would not be available from the status bar.

As others have already requested a way to order the list from within the dialog without resorting to the procedure above would be preferred.

Also a quick way to highlight duplicate shortcuts would be welcome. I enjoy the ability to overload a given shortcut but currently there is no easy way within the current dialog to troubleshoot these aside from sorting by the shortcut column. This falls short however in the case of multiple shortcuts being assigned to the same command (one of which may be duplicated by another command).

[patricks]

eh... sounds like too much work having to coordinate and stay on top of it. I'll just stick to double-letter shortcuts for my "priority" items (same key 2 times). The only thing I used the priority section of the old text file for was so I could use a single letter and spacebar for certain shortcuts, and the same letter key twice works just as well.

[ford347]

Try typing KS, or under the big R icon > Options > General there should be a button for it at the bottom of the dialog box.

Turns out I just hadn't downloaded all of the parts to the sub. pack. Thx.

[Phil Read]

So just to be clear:

"Isolate Elements" is missing from the fancy shortcuts dialog.
BUT - you can't even manually edit the XML file the shortcut file is based on to get the shortcut through the back door?

PS. From the Family Editor - Create>Family Editor>Load into Project is missing as well.

-P

[matt.222040]

But why did they eliminate the ability to use the space-bar??? That was a BIG favorite leftover from the autocad days. In fact, it was missing in early versions of Revit, then showed up again, and now gone :(

[cphubb]

But why did they eliminate the ability to use the space-bar??? That was a BIG favorite leftover from the autocad days. In fact, it was missing in early versions of Revit, then showed up again, and now gone :(

Matt,

Space bar still works. Open the keyboard editor and hit <Letter> <Spacebar>. Click Assign. Works on mine for Move ceiling and a few others.

[matt.222040]

That does not work for me for simple things like "move." When I do it, it brings up match attribute, because MA is the closest command to M. My bet is that you're getting lucky and the spacebar "keystroke" is actually being ignored.

[twaldock]

Space bar is working, but we have lost the ability to easily control the sort order of which command comes first in the list - hence you don't always get the command you expect (watch bottom left corner of your screen). Actually there is a sort of workaround (earlier in this post), but I wouldn't recommend it. I don't think it was deliberate, and the Factory know about this, so hopefully it'll be addressed in the next release.

[cphubb]

Space bar is working, but we have lost the ability to easily control the sort order of which command comes first in the list - hence you don't always get the command you expect (watch bottom left corner of your screen). Actually there is a sort of workaround (earlier in this post), but I wouldn't recommend it. I don't think it was deliberate, and the Factory know about this, so hopefully it'll be addressed in the next release.

I changed my move to m<space> and got the problem you described. However I have c<space> for ceiling and cp for copy and I have no issue there.

Must be the order thing on the xml file.

[tonyisenhoff]

Not being able to hit "Z" <Spacebar> to zoom a region/window is going to drive me nuts!!!

And I can't start removing other keystokes that start with "Z" just to make this work.

Come on factory - work with me...

Tony

[twaldock]

The Factory are aware of this, and hopefully will fix it. In the meantime, here are a couple of temporary workarounds:

1. To get "Load into project" shortcut working , add the shortcut you want (say LP) to "Model Group:Load as Group into Projects" - it should work in the family editor.

2. Look for the workaround advised earlier in this thread - re.editing the xml file and making it read only.

[david.kingham]

Thanks for that tip, this also works for Category and Parameter and family types from the conceptual mass shortcuts. I was banging my head against the wall wanting these back

[bulletproofdesign]

Sure you can. All the temporary hide/isolate commands are there in the list. I found it helpful to just type in what I was looking for, like "Hide" and several commands came up, including those. I noticed that nothing was assigned to those functions, or something different, so I changed them back to my familiar HH for hide element and HR for reset temporary hidden elements.

I can't find the isolate command. I too use this frequently. I believe there was a default set up as "HI" to 'hide-isolate'.

All the others seem to be there.....

[Wes Macaulay]

Isolate is missing. I've already submitted a SR for that one ;-)

[bulletproofdesign]

Isolate is missing. I've already submitted a SR for that one ;-)

Yay. This command is integral to how I use revit.... Is there a way of uninstalling the subscription package to restore the keyboard shortcuts?

Whinge, moan.... =D

[luke.s.johnson]

The isolate element command is back in 2011.

http://whatrevitwants.blogspot.com/2010/03/revit-2011-secret-5-isolate-elements.html

[bulletproofdesign]

The isolate element command is back in 2011.

Yay!! this command Is one of my most frequently used (well, while it was working that is...)

Bring on 2011.... Web Update 1 that is....