Why is Find in Baseline view ctrl SHIFT f?

[B Kh]

I only just now realized that "find" is indeed possible in the Texts&Words/Baseline view but you have to press Ctrl+Shift+f. In the Lexicon/browse view you can press Ctrl+f which is the universal find shorcut.

Is there a way to change this so that ctrl f works in both places. I realize that technically these are two different search functions, but I don't think I will ever be able to keep it straight which place I have to use Shift and which place I don't.

This is kind of a trivial thing, but it stands out because of how wonderful the software is in the first place

[Ann Bush]

Pressing Ctrl+f in the lexicon brings up the find lexical entry dialog box.  The find entry in the baseline brings up a different dialog box.  If the different shortcut confuses you, you can click the binoculars icon on the toolbar.

 

Ann

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[B Kh]

They may be different boxes, but they are both for finding things. If you are in the lexical section then you want that find box. If you are in the baseline section, then you want that box. If clicking ctrl + f in the baseline view brought up the lexical find box, then it would make sense to use different shortcuts. But it doesn't. It does nothing. And vice versa. 

If there are going to be different shortcuts, then the shortcuts should always do the thing they do regardless of where you are. Either that or they should do the context sensitive type of find depending on where you are.

I'm not complaining, just giving user experience feedback. I don't think I have used software that handled shortcuts in the way flex does.

Thanks!

[asi...@yahoo.com]

Shortcuts do not always do the same thing in many programs. Look at, for example, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook. In the new version of Outlook, the Ctrl+F shortcut forwards emails, not searches for text. To find text within a single email, you can try pressing Ctrl+F while the message is open. To perform a broader mailbox search or find text, use Ctrl+E or Ctrl+Shift+F to open the search bar.

 

You just have to learn the shortcuts for each program – even in programs from Microsoft.

 

From: flex...@googlegroups.com <flex...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of B Kh

Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2025 11:32 AM
To: FLEx list <flex...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [FLEx] Why is Find in Baseline view ctrl SHIFT f?

 

They may be different boxes, but they are both for finding things. If you are in the lexical section then you want that find box. If you are in the baseline section, then you want that box. If clicking ctrl + f in the baseline view brought up the lexical find box, then it would make sense to use different shortcuts. But it doesn't. It does nothing And vice versa. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/flex-list/8b2fd3f5-53e5-43fb-a84c-578cf157b889n%40googlegroups.com.

[Craig]

At first I thought your concern made sense -- Ctrl-F should always do a context-appropriate find -- however, I did a bit of digging and found that Flex is indeed consistent *within* itself. If you go to Lexicon Edit | Dictionary view you will see this in the Edit menu:


Here, Ctrl-F brings up the find lexical entry dialog as in other places while Ctrl-Shift-F does a text-based find in the full dictionary display. So, this actually matches your statement saying, "If there are going to be different shortcuts, then the shortcuts should always do the thing they do regardless of where you are."

BTW, I've used Flex for over 10 years and didn't realise there were these find-in-text options!

Kind regards,

Craig.

[B Kh]

Ah! Interesting.

In that case the question should instead be: Why doesn't Ctrl + f work in baseline view. You should be able to look up  a lexical entry while you are there, no?

Craig, I'm glad you learned something from my question! I have too. Thanks

[B Kh]

And while we are talking about shortcuts… I just realized that no only is there no shortcut key to create a new entry in the analyze view (or any way at all that I can see) but pressing Ctrl + E does something totally different. You can end up approving a gloss for the whole document when you try to create a new entry. Seems less than optimal.