There are 8 shortcut-keys every programmer should know when programming in GE iFix. Not only do these increase the speed of your programming but it also creates better programming form. Here are the short cuts:
Number 8: Shift + click – Dig into
Hold down the shift key, while you are selecting an object. This will let you see if the current object has a group, and it will also go inside the group of objects. From there you can let go of the shift and you should be able to select the objects individually within the group. You can then edit their animations/properties . Or create new ones.
Number 7: Ctrl + W – Switch to Workspace or Run Mode
Switch between workspace and run mode without having to look for the menu ribbon. This is highly functional, when needing to edit the current screen your working on. You just hit Ctrl + W and your in workspace, want to see how the edit’s look? just hit Ctrl + W again.
Number 6: Ctrl + draw – Draw a straight line
While your drawing shapes sometimes you notice that your lines are not perfectly straight. One simple trick is to hold down your Ctrl key while your drawing and you will have 45 degree intervals only accepted. So you can either draw a line that is at a 0, 45, 90, 135, 190, and 235 deg.
Number 5: Ctrl + G – Group together
Select several objects together and hit Ctrl + G. This will group those objects together. Now you can create additional animations for your group of object and change properties of the entire group.
Number 4: Ctrl + R – Ungroup
When you have a group selected, you can also ungroup that group of objects. This can be done easily by hitting Ctrl + G, be carful though, ungrouping objects means that you the groups animations and properties will be lost for ever. So use caution when ungrouping your grouped objects. Check be for you break.
Number 3: Ctrl + S – Quick Save
Saving is one of those things that people usually forget about while working in an application. Developers have gone as far as implementing auto-saves things up to date. I definitely recommend that you hit Ctrl + S whenever you finish a step and need to check if it works. You never know what will cause the system to crash, better safe then sorry.
Number 2: Ctrl + D – Duplicate
Rather then going copy and paste why not skip a step and duplicate. Duplicate does it all in one step, it copies and pastes the new object just underneath the previous one.
Number 1: Ctrl + A – Select All
This function is typically used when trying to create another picture that looks exactly the same, but does not include the picture scripting. Use Ctrl + A and all the object in the picture will be selected. Even the ones that you don’t seen on the screen. This can be very powerful and helpful.
More tips to come.
Originally published on www.slawekwolski.com
