Request: Menu to toggle the creation of linking-phrase

Have new ideas for the next release of IHMC CmapTools and IHMC CmapServer?
We welcome your suggestions and we will carefully consider whether to incorporate them into the software.
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quapurna
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:05 pm

Request: Menu to toggle the creation of linking-phrase

Post by quapurna »

Halo, CMapTools developers.

In Menu > Edit, we have "Select with Lasso" which can be turned on/off.

Can we have that kind of menu for creating a connection without linking-phrase?

e.g. A menu called "New Connection without Linking Phrase" can be selected/turned on, so that we do not have to push-and-hold Shift button again and again when we make many connections with no linking phrases.

Thanks.
acanas
Posts: 753
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:52 pm

Re: Request: Menu to toggle the creation of linking-phrase

Post by acanas »

To permanently change the setting you need to modify the "cmaptools.cfg" configuration file which is located in bin directory in the folder where CmapTools is installed. Locate the entry:


# ==============================================================================
# By default linking phrases are added between concepts. Set this to true to
# not add linking phrases by default. (True | False)
# ==============================================================================
editor.dont.add.linkingphrases=false


With a text editor, change the last line to read:

editor.dont.add.linkingphrases=true

Need to be running the latest version of CmapTools. Recommend that you download the v6 Beta available at: ftp://ftp.ihmc.us/DownloadCmapTools/CmapToolsBeta/
quapurna
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:05 pm

Re: Request: Menu to toggle the creation of linking-phrase

Post by quapurna »

Halo, acanas.

Thanks for showing me how to change the setting permanently which also switches the use of "Shift+drag" to create the linking-phrase.

In cmaptools.cfg file, right below the "editor.dont.add.linkingphrases", we also have "editor.default.connection.end.point" and "editor.default.connection.start.point".
For those two option-items, we can change the values via: CMapTools main window > Edit > Preferences > Cmap Editing > Connecting Lines.
I hope there is a UI item for "editor.dont.add.linkingphrases" as well.

However, I wish those kind of option-items (the three above and the like) can easily be accessed.
Can they be included in the Style Palette?

Thanks.

NB: I do not like using keyboard-button combinations because for many applications I must memorize different combinations for their specific commands. I would rather use my very-limited brain-capacity to memorize something else. :) That is why I love customized-toolbars.
acanas
Posts: 753
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:52 pm

Re: Request: Menu to toggle the creation of linking-phrase

Post by acanas »

CmapTools was designed to construct concept maps, which *always* have linking phrases, by definition. We understand that some users construct other type of diagrams, but we don't intend to make CmapTools a general-purpose drawing program. The style-palette is mean for style definition -- having the linking phrase or not is a structural aspect, not style. Also, we don't want to overload the style-palette with options, making it complex to use. We are trying to add to the configuration file those parameters that users tend to fix for all their maps, e.g. whether they want linking phrases or not, and the default starting and end points of the connectors. Users don't tend to change these during the construction of maps.
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