I know that this issue has been raised before, but to the best of my knowledge it has never received a response from RMG. That is the fact that they took a common (and regularly used) Windows function (the macro) and imposed their own infrequently used function of moving around on their history list, something we can already do using the mouse.
Can someone from RMG explain why it was so important to make this change? In most Windows-based applications that use text (Office applications and many third-party ones as well, such as the web browser I am currently using to type this), holding <Arrow (either left or right)> moves the cursor word by word while highlighting the text, a frequent necessity for block deletions or copy-and-paste. This function has been taken away from RMG users without a substitute; I canāt help but wonder if the person who made the change was not aware that they were wiping out a necessary function. It seems like we have the Law of Unintended Consequences here, or the Law of Unnecessary Consequences.
So, here are my questions:
Does RMG have a reason for having made this change?
Does RMG have a plan to create an alternative macro for the highlighting function it used to fulfill?
Does RMG plan to (perhaps) come up with a new macro to allow the RMG history list and give us back our normal Windows function?
If we have a legit answer to 2, we do not need 3, and vice verca. Actually, my personal feeling is that we really do not need a keyboard macro to move back and forth in our history; if we could just have the normal Windows function restored, that would be sufficient.
The non-response to this issue raises a great concern for me. Some time back, RMG would respond to such questions/issues with an explanation or a note that it will be addressed; now, all I see is silence.
This is a relatively small thing, but I feel that creating this āfeatureā was a mistake that could/should be corrected. I do a great deal of copy & paste (and some cut & paste) in my notes, and I use the in many other Windows applications. Why is this one different, removing the function without replacing it, all for a relatively minor function?
Not nearly as important as it appears to be to you. I donāt know what RM you have been using but they generally donāt address much of anything. You may get a quick āreported to developmentā or āon the wish listā but little else.
Just because there are generally accepted shortcuts, it doesnāt mean that every program will make use of them and for some reason, RM doesnāt. That reason is apparently the dev tools that they now use, or at least that was the excuse early on for why certain things were not included.
Personally I would like to know what their development tool chain is. I canāt imagine any modern tools that donāt provide for many of the things that get blamed on dev tools. I have asked more than once what tools they use. Nary a peep from them. It is almost like they are ashamed of their choices.
Iāve used RootsMagic since it was a DOS version of Family Origins, and have been a loyal user, but this might make me look elsewhere. I would imagine that anyone who does much entry (I use the notes much more frequently than most, but I also highlight many facts, places, place details, etc. when making changes; I use it in Word, Excel, etc, and used to use it in Personal HIstorian when I used it.) I also frequently highlight a word or two just to delete them, and this change slows down my productivity.
THAT is probably my main issue. This new āfeatureā actually disrupts and slows normal flow of productivity.
They ADDED this āfeatureā ONLY when they went to RMG8, so it was not an accident, and I would challenge anyone to show me another software that has also usurped such a basic Windows keyboard function (and done so without providing an alternative method). It either happened because someone was unaware that this was a common WIndows function, or they were arrogant enough not to care. I find it hard to believe anyone programming at this level can be that ignorant of such things, so I must lean toward the latter theory. It is not a bug that they got wrong; they intended it as a feature.
And yes, RM used to be quire responsive to usersā suggestions, complaints, and error-spotting. Many of their new versions were in response to user suggestions; many of their upgrades were due to user-reported bugs. Not so much anymore.
Whenever RMG does an upgrade, I check to see what changes have been made, and Iām more and more frequently seeig āminor cosmetic changesā listed as part of the upgrade, so I have to go back and check to see if the three problems Iāve reported over the last six months have been addressed (spoiler alert: they have not).
The only reason I can think that one would want to unify Mac and Windows keys would be for those who use BOTH platforms. It is my guess that the large majority of RMG users do so in Windows, and an even larger majority of that group are absolutely unfamiliar with Mac keys. Those who use both platforms are likely already familiar with the differences, and have adapted to them.
I cannot understand, except perhaps for the convenience of the programmers (as opposed to the users), why RMG would want to force Windows users to use Mac key commands in lieu of those with which they are familiar.
Yes, I am aware that āShift+Ctrl+Arrow is used to move through the History List.ā I am reminded of that fact nearly every time I use the software.And I go through the History List about once every few months.
What I am NOT aware of is WHY that is so, since we already have the ability to move through the History List with our mice, and have had that ability for some time in earlier iterations of the database.
Adding another means of doing so at the cost of another (and IMO, a NECESSARY) regularly used Windows function seems to these eyes (and fingers at the keyboard) to have been a well-meaning, but unnecessary mistake that makes a portion of what we do unnecessarily difficult.
I am following up on this because we are now in Version 10, seven months after I brought this up, with no word as to the reason or rhyme for this.
Again, a very normal pair of Windows Function Key combos, and , used to highlight a word at a time (as when deleting words, or doing a copy/cut & paste) was changed into backward and forward in History. We already have that function with the mouse key in two places (upper right corner, next to the āhomeā icon; the āhistoryā icon in the āPeopleā side window), and do not have an alternate for the functions that were removed.
One or two workarounds have been suggested, but no one has been able to tell me why such a workaround should be needed in the first place. I write many notes into my database, and write some detailed descriptions. I sometimes need to copy and paste, or highlight and delete words or whole paragraphs, and my ability to do so has been diminished by what I believe was an arbitrary and unnecessary change.
Is there a logical reason for us to have THREE ways of accessing the history instead of two, especially at the expense of a very commonly used function? Can we have the highlight function back? Or at least have an alternative function?
It bothers me too when I canāt use my chosen OS as designed.
Why not have a dedicated Mac RM version for Mac and one for windows? This universal compatability is a work-a-round mess.
Again, the issue for me is less the Windows/Mac combo version than it is that a decision was made to wipe out a commonly used Windows key combo function without providing an alternative, and to replace it with a command that is effectively redundant (there were already two ways to move within a sessionās history).
The history back-and-forth command is unnecessary, as it can be done with the mouse in both platforms.
