Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts
Ron Wold
Proficient use of a software tool only happens after working with the
tool for an extended period of time. The user must become fluent with
the tool.s functions, the toolbars and menus, which commands are best
for a specific task. Many users want to take their proficiency to a
higher level. Often called a .power user., the aim is efficiency and
speed in order to get the job done quickly. Navigating through a
sequence of menu picks to access a commonly used operation can be time
consuming. Repetition of the same task requires the user to traverse
the same menu path every time that task needs to be performed. User
interfaces try to address this issue by adding toolbar buttons, but
GUI based buttons still require a number of steps to execute a
command. Keyboard shortcuts are the fastest and most efficient way to
work.
A keyboard shortcut refers to pressing a specific sequence of keys to
execute an operation. Most programs or software tools have a
predefined set of keyboard shortcuts. However, a tool that has dozens
of windows, hundreds of operations, and runs on multiple platforms
cannot define a set of shortcuts that meet the needs of all users,
especially the power user.
Modelsim is written in Tcl/Tk and was recently enhanced to support
user defined keyboard shortcuts. Users can associate a key sequence
with a menu pick, a toolbar button, a CLI command, or a custom tcl
script. In addition, the new functionality is flexible, allowing the
user to make the key sequence universally available or assign it to a
specific window. Several technical challenges were encountered when
implementing this new functionality. Tcl/Tk has a unique methodology
for processing keyboard events and the solution required an
architecture that functions within the bounds of this methodology.
This paper will discuss the basic Tcl/Tk architecture that was
implemented as well as the technical challenges and their solutions.
Guided debugging with various widgets of TCL/TK GUI
Roshni Lalwani, Amarpal Singh
This paper presents a novel method of how enhanced TCL/TK widgets can
helps users in debugging various design issues of EDA tools.
A callout box and a novel dialog box to display/edit the text ,that
helps user to debug various design issues.
An Efficient Method for Rendering Design Schematics Using Tcl/Tk,
and Distributed Relational Databases.
Manu Goel, Antara Ghosh, Sachin Kakkar
Debugging a design in EDA has always been challenging and is a time
consuming process. Designers need to have access to an efficient tool
which can provide them the design connectivity in a logical and
efficient manner. This paper discusses about various challenges for
writing such a tool for debugging a design and how were they handled
to provide a fast and efficient tool. Schematic browser is a Tcl/Tk
based GUI application, which user can use interactively to debug/understand
the design.
Conference Committee
Clif Flynt |
Noumena Corp | General Chair, Website Admin |
Andreas Kupries |
ActiveState Software Inc. | Program Chair |
Cyndy Lilagan |
National Museum of Health + Medicine Chicago | Facilities Coordination |
Joe Mistachkin |
Mistachkin Systems | |
Brian Griffin |
Mentor Graphics | |
Ron Fox |
NSCL/FRIB Michigan State University | |
Arjen Markus |
Deltares | |
Mike Doyle |
Iomas Research LLC | |
Gerald Lester |
SAP Labs, LLC | |
Donal Fellows |
University of Manchester | |
Jeffrey Hobbs |
ActiveState Software Inc. | |
Steve Landers |
Digital Smarties | |
Kevin Kenny |
GE Global Research Center | |
Larry Virden |
Tcl FAQ Maintainer | |
Steve Redler IV |
SR Technology | |
Contact Information
fox@nscl.msu.edu