No more ugly blank window when last document is closed

[lga]

[Guest]

[NathalieT]

cmd-O doesn't seem to work. Is it the same explanation than cmd-N ?

[sardisson]

Cmd-N is slightly more complex because it involves the different document types, but basically the problem is the same.

OOo only draws menus when there is a document open, and so those commands and shortcuts are only available with a document window. So without a window, the command will not work.

== begin long, complex explanation and discussion (summary at end) ==

If you remap Cmd-O to "Open Document" using the System Preferences, it will steal the shortcut from "Open..." in the file menu, but since Open is always Open (unlike documents, where New is Text Document in Writer, Spreadsheet in Calc, etc.), this is not a problem.

I just checked and actually "Open Document" and "Open" seem to *share* the Cmd-O shortcut (I've never seen that happen; "Quit NeoOffice/J" and "Exit" in the File menu would fight and only one would get the shortcut!), so it's safe to assign Cmd-O to the quickstart menu item.

All of the other quickstart items (the document types) seem to keep the Cmd-N association when their given module is active *AND* add any additional shortcut you might assign (if you assign anything Cmd-N, though, it will always call that item and you lose the context-sensitive Cmd-N we have now). So if you can find some keystrokes that aren't used in any module (or ones you don't care about), you can assign "Text Document" a keystroke, "Spreadsheet" a keystroke, etc., in System Prefs and then invoke that keystroke from *anywhere* in Neo/J to get a new ___ document, even when the window is gone.

The problem is, as always, finding a keystroke, especially if you want a range. (Boy do we need the bitrotting patch to enable opt as an additional modifier for cmd-letter!)

The solution, of course, is to use the very modifier key OOo won't let us use with cmd: opt! So in System Prefs, assign Cmd-Opt-1 to "Text Document", Cmd-Opt-2 to "Spreadsheet", etc.

(Remember not to use opt-character or opt-shift-char, since these are reserved for entering "letters" on Mac OS X; i.e., opt-s is ß)

== end long, complex explanation and discussion ==

In short: Cmd-O is OK for assignment (to the quickstart "Open Document") through System Prefs, so you can have that shortcut even when no windows are open. Cmd-N, however, is not OK without breaking things. Use Cmd-Opt-1 for "Text Document" and so forth (read last two paragraphs of the "long" part to explain why we're using Cmd-Opt-char for this).

Edit: I posted a new solution about 15 minutes after my first post, so please re-read if you've not seen this message or the screenshot.


my remapping of the Neo/J quickstart menu items (and a further argument for them going in a "Quickstart" submenu instead of straight in the Neo/J menu)

Smokey

Edit: link in the summary to the Wiki article that gives more detail on using System Prefs to add kybd shortcuts.

[bezvardis]

I would suggest adding the possibility to choose behaviour of Neo when last window is closed to options or preferences as well as adding recently used documents to Quickstart menu. Here is why:

I see that there is a long history of struggling to achieve more "maclike" behaviour of Neo when the last window is closed. At the beginning when one closed the last window, Neo quit. This chould be avoided if one was closing the last window using cmd-w. Cmd-w, however, left the gray empty window open. Purists complained that it was not how Mac applications work. Perhaps, although i-photo (a mac application) closes on hitting the red button). This gave some freedom. One could train himself (like me) to use only cmd-w to close documents and cmd-q to close everything. But I agree - it could give some trouble when Neo quits and has to be restarted

Then it was patched with a "hack" that allowed the gray window stay open at all times when the last window was closed. The program would not quit unless specifically told to. Again complains that this is not how Mac applications work. However, this "hack" allowed me to see all the menus and go to open recently used files directly. It was also very clear that Neo is open when I clicked its icon in dock

The latest patch (6) makes all Neo windows close with the program staying in general open and only a simple menu visible when the icon in dock is clicked. I guess now it is the closest with what the purists describe as maclike behavior. But the downside of this is that 1) there are no other menues visible when all windows closed, which makes Neo in general litttle visible, 2) I cannot access my recently opened documents, which is an important feature. 3) I again have to re-program my mind to get accustomed to the new behaviour - not that difficult but still

Having all this in mind, I would propose:
1) incorporating the last two modes of closing the last window as a special feature under preferences. I.e., that one can choose what is better - to have the gray window or not.
2) add to the Quickstart menu (if that is how the NeoOffice/J small menu is called) the list of recently used files. Then pretty much all the possible functionality apart from visibility would be covered by this menue.

[gand]

[sardisson]

[val1984]

[sardisson]

[bezvardis]

[pluby]

[bezvardis]

That is why I was suggesting to add possibility to choose behaviour of Neo after the last window closes, as an option. But I guess adding another thing to the 'options' would also mean changing OOo's functionality

[gand]

[rays]

[JKT]