Comments on: InDesignSecrets Podcast 077

By: Martin Dörsch

Martin Dörsch — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:21:13 +0000

Cool podcast and very nice shortcut pdf.
Thanks for the link!
Martin

By: Casey D'Andrea

Casey D'Andrea — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:47:59 +0000

I think it’s just a little annoying as it’s very, very specific, albeit smart.

Example 1 –
Let’s say you switch to the “Basic” workspace which hides many of the extra menu commands. In this case the “Notes > Split Note” command. Unless you are in the Story Editor AND you position your cursor within a note the “Notes > Split Note” will not show up. This is great as it is context-sensitive and doesn’t stuff at you that is not applicable.

Example 2 –
Using the “Basic” workspace above “Text > Type Variables > Define…” becomes hidden. In this case, this command is NOT context-sensitive, and as result, shows up in the Quick Apply list. This is whether or not “Show Hidden Menu Commands” is selected or not.

In other words if you set it to Basic, Quick Apply should consider all menus that are hidden to be truly hidden…

By: Eugene Tyson

Eugene Tyson — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:46:20 +0000

David, as always you come up with the elegant answer. Thanks for the clarification.

By: David Blatner

David Blatner — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:18:04 +0000

Eugene and Casey, here’s another way to look at it: Let’s say you choose Edit > Menus, create a new set, and turn off some menu commands (such as File > Import XML). When you use Quick Apply and type “import” it will not show you Import XML because it’s a hidden command.

However, if you enable Show Hidden Menu Commands in QuickApply’s popdown menu, then it will show you Import XML, even if it’s hidden.

Talk about an obscure feature!

By: Eugene

Eugene — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:57:39 +0000

It’s all very weird. But quick apply is still one the most important functions of the working day.

Is it worth mentioning that I discovered the oddity of the Edit in the Quick Apply while showing someone how to find things, the thing I was looking for was Tabs, that’s when I saw the Include Tables etc. and just thought it was odd, especially when it didn’t do anything, that I could see.

Anyway, thanks for the explanation, makes sense, kinda.

By: Adi Ravid

Adi Ravid — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:47:11 +0000

Hi Eugene,
The Edit Menu > Include are actually the inclusion options of the Quick Apply panel, that you can select from drop down list you mentioned.
I guess they once resided under the Edit menu, next to the Quick Apply command, but where moved/removed in some point. Assigning a keyboard shortcuts to them, will display it in the drop down, but they will function unless the drop down is displayed (bug?!).
Selection or deselecting items on the list will determine the type of items that will display in the Quick Apply panel when searching for a specific string.
Using the parenthesized filtering code assigned to each type in the query string, will filter the results to display only items of the corresponding type. For example: entering “p:Text” will display only paragraph styles that answer to the query string “Text”.

By: Casey D'Andrea

Casey D'Andrea — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:15:40 +0000

Hey David, I’ll definitely be in Seattle! I’ll be harassing Carmine, much like he harassed you in his email… He’s so hyper! LOL

By: Casey D'Andrea

Casey D'Andrea — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:14:42 +0000

Eugene, I’m not making sense of the “Show Hidden Menu Commands” option. I assumed it would hide any menu commands that were hidden when customizing their visibility under “Edit > Menus…” However, that doesn’t seem to have an effect???

Also the “Include…” menu commands appear to be a reference to the actual “Quick Apply” drop-down list…

Some seemingly wonky things!

By: Eugene Tyson

Eugene Tyson — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:59:47 +0000

Hmmm interesting stuff. About the quick apply thing, under Edit Menu, there is a thing called Edit Menu> Include, and there’s a host of things there, like Text Variables, Table Cell Styles.

I have no idea what they are though or where to use them?

What’s also perplexing is that in the Quick Apply window there is a drop down list, and there is an option, Show Hidden Menu Commands. So if you haven’t found all the Hidden Menu Commands, then there’s more there for you in the little drop down arrow in Quick Apply.

Good podcast and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to the host and hostess.

By: Adi Ravid

Adi Ravid — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:46:13 +0000

Great how (as always).

Talking about hidden features, InDesign is full of them, and the Keyboard Shortcuts plug-in makes it easier to find them.
For example, the Recompose All Stories commands, which are shortcut triggered with no menu command, or the CS3 super hush hush, with no menu command and shortcut assigned, Convert Point commands (Corner, Line End, Smooth, and Symmetrical), that will show in the list when you search for shortcuts with the word “point”…
Did you know about them?
I didn’t until I installed your plug-in and stumbled on them while attempting to change the shortcuts for Increase/Decrease Point Size.
They show up as Object Menu:Convert Point commands, but you’ll never actually find a Convert Point sub menu under the Object menu.