Create nickname

[mhw]

I typed a nickname on a nop. The old create nickname box popped up. Does this mean that it is hiding in the background and I can use it all the time? I prefer the old one because I can enter the memory type that I want to use in the "assign to the first unused element of specified type" and it is done. The new one requires me to enter an element, such as X0, and then do the dropdown and choose the "find next unused". This takes an average of .37 seconds of extra time for each nickname. Costing me an average of 4 minutes on a typical project. Budget buster!

[franji1]

It does show up for complex table/scripting instructions.  We can definitely make it an option.

[franji1]

There is a shortcut key, Ctrl+N

So, when your hand is on the keyboard to change C<whatever> to first unused X, just type
X0<enter>Ctrl+N
No need to move your hand back to the mouse.
That probably reduces the time from 0.37 seconds to 0.25 seconds, an increase of 33% in productivity!   

The other thing you can do, say you have a bank of C's where your alarm bits start, say C1000.  Just type C1000<enter>Ctrl+N and you get the next alarm bit.

[mhw]

There is a shortcut key, Ctrl+N

So, when your hand is on the keyboard to change C<whatever> to first unused X, just type
X0<enter>Ctrl+N
No need to move your hand back to the mouse.
That probably reduces the time from 0.37 seconds to 0.25 seconds, an increase of 33% in productivity!   

I tried this already with no luck. It requires hitting the tab and then the Ctrl N. The problem is that my pinky has not been trained to quickly find the tab button. It would be much easier, for me, if you just give me what I want.

The other thing you can do, say you have a bank of C's where your alarm bits start, say C1000.  Just type C1000<enter>Ctrl+N and you get the next alarm bit.

That will probably give me the 33% increase. Thanks.

[Controls Guy]

Would it be feasible to assume OUT on the right rail, or does it conflict with all the new stuff we have?  IOW, in the old days I could just place the cursor on the NOP, type Y0, and the default interpretation was OUT Y0.  Now it has to be told the instruction and tries to interpret Y0 as the instruction, so you have to explicitly tell it that you want an OUT before entering the address.   Thanks!

[franji1]

Would it be feasible to assume OUT on the right rail, or does it conflict with all the new stuff we have?  IOW, in the old days I could just place the cursor on the NOP, type Y0, and the default interpretation was OUT Y0.  Now it has to be told the instruction and tries to interpret Y0 as the instruction, so you have to explicitly tell it that you want an OUT before entering the address.   Thanks!

It's a mnemonic or an element.  If it's not something that's known (bad mnemonic or element), it errors out.  It could assume it is an OUT coil.  If you fat fingered a mnemonic or element, you would get an OUT of that mnemonic or element.  If you were typing a mnemonic, autocomplete SHOULD have given you a clue that it was wrong, so this possibility is minimal.  If you were typing an element, it was probably an OUT coil element anyway (existing or new nickname), so go ahead and go into a new OUT coil w/that unknown name.  If it's a new nickname, hit ENTER.  If it's a fat finger, edit it (in the OUT coil editor instead of the "token selector" dialog - don't ask me what it's called - that's what I sometimes call it)

To quote Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein...
IT - COULD - WORK!

[Garyhlucas]

I find I don't use that functionality when adding an address because I like to use the documentation editor to add them.  I see all the previously created addresses and how they were worded so that I maintain consistency in both tag names and descriptions.  It also allows me to put new addresses in appropriate places in memory so functions can deal with a range and the HMI can get a range of values with one read which I believe improves the response time.  But hey that's just me!

[Bolt]

I find I don't use that functionality when adding an address because I like to use the documentation editor to add them.  I see all the previously created addresses and how they were worded so that I maintain consistency in both tag names and descriptions.  It also allows me to put new addresses in appropriate places in memory so functions can deal with a range and the HMI can get a range of values with one read which I believe improves the response time.  But hey that's just me!

I tend to follow this logic too when creating new element.  I always head to the documentation editor to find a good place for an element, match existing naming conventions, etc.  I wish the documentation editor had some more keyboard shortcuts, such as Insert to add a new element where your cursor is, for example.