ESC quit VPython?

[Bruce Sherwood]

Someone who has used VPython for some years but only just now upgraded to VPython 6 reported that ESC used to quit VPython but now does not. I wasn't aware of this feature of earlier versions, no one else to my knowledge reported this change, and I don't think it was ever documented. I'm inclined not to implement this, but I'd like your opinion.

[Kevin Karplus]

ESC is a common way to quit programs on Windows, just as command-Q is on Macs and ^C on Linux systems.  These shortcuts are very good to provide, to provide a universal "way out" for programs.

On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 7:56 PM, Bruce Sherwood <bruce.s...@gmail.com> wrote:

Someone who has used VPython for some years but only just now upgraded to VPython 6 reported that ESC used to quit VPython but now does not. I wasn't aware of this feature of earlier versions, no one else to my knowledge reported this change, and I don't think it was ever documented. I'm inclined not to implement this, but I'd like your opinion.

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Kevin Karplus   kar...@soe.ucsc.edu    http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus
Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz
Program Chair and Undergraduate Director, Bioengineering
Vice Chair, Biomolecular Engineering Dept.
Undergraduate Director, Bioinformatics
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[Bruce Sherwood]

I tried ESC in a bunch of Windows programs to no effect (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, Pov-ray, Filezilla, SmartGit, TortoiseHg, Word, Acrobat, Skype, Photoshop, Eclipse, Inkscape, TEXstudio, the Command Prompt). Can you give examples of Windows programs that quit when you press ESC? If ESC to exit is this rare on Windows, it would seem to make some sense for VPython not to exit but to leave it open to VPython programs to do something with the ESC key.

[Eric Zárate]

The most common thing that I have seen with ESC in windows, it`s when you have a pop-up window, with a particular setting, as example when you make changes in Photoshop, or when I`m trying to attach a file using any explorer.

I consider that is not necessary to implement obligatory to close the program, because ESC can be used in different ways to use a vpython program, for stop or pause an animation, change scene, etc. Although if I want it to use for close the program, there are very simple methods using Tk or wxpython for detect an input and take action, and for have a quick response it´s possible to execute this functions in a different thread, so you will get response.

The only case in which I consider that ESC it´s useful to close a Vpython program, it`s when you are checking the examples, because you win a few seconds pressing scape, instead of making click on close button.

In conclusion I consider that is better to keep open the option for that anyone can assign an specific function to ESC key.

2014-07-03 10:22 GMT-04:00 Bruce Sherwood <bruce.s...@gmail.com>:

I tried ESC in a bunch of Windows programs to no effect (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, Pov-ray, Filezilla, SmartGit, TortoiseHg, Word, Acrobat, Skype, Photoshop, Eclipse, Inkscape, TEXstudio, the Command Prompt). Can you give examples of Windows programs that quit when you press ESC? If ESC to exit is this rare on Windows, it would seem to make some sense for VPython not to exit but to leave it open to VPython programs to do something with the ESC key.

[Kevin Karplus]

I don't use Windows (except occasionally in the lab for my circuits course, where there are some old Windows boxes for student use), so I don't know how universal the ESC to close a window is.  It may well be just a general "do something to get me out of what I'm doing" that has very different meanings in different programs.  You have checked several programs (mostly multiplatform ones) and not seen a common theme for what ESC does, so that definitely argues that is a program-specific interpretation.

On Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 7:22 AM, Bruce Sherwood <bruce.s...@gmail.com> wrote:

I tried ESC in a bunch of Windows programs to no effect (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, Pov-ray, Filezilla, SmartGit, TortoiseHg, Word, Acrobat, Skype, Photoshop, Eclipse, Inkscape, TEXstudio, the Command Prompt). Can you give examples of Windows programs that quit when you press ESC? If ESC to exit is this rare on Windows, it would seem to make some sense for VPython not to exit but to leave it open to VPython programs to do something with the ESC key.

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[Derek Symion]

alt+f4 is my preferred way to escape any windows program.
ESC used to work on Vpython but stop with V6.x

[Bruce Sherwood]

And Alt-F4 does indeed exit a VPython program, so here's yet another reason why I'm disinclined to (re)implement the non-Windowish use of ESC to exit.