[QtExtended] some things

Lorn Potter lpotter at trolltech.com
Mon Mar 16 02:41:02 CET 2009


Dale Maggee wrote:
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> Lorn Potter wrote:
>> Just hold down on the letter you want to select. You will see a round 
>> 'spy glass' thing pop up with your letter.
> 
> This is all well and good, but it's for all intents and purposes totally
> useless in practical application - typing anything remotely long or
> complex (examples: My mail server address, somebody's surname, a phone
> number, an email address, a street/suburb name, GPS coordinates) takes

Typing numbers are not 'suggested'.

> an *inordinate* amount of time - just try typing out your postal address
> using that method - you'll soon find that you're developing a powerful
> urge to stab yourself in the eyeballs with a rusty fork... ;)

Then you can easily switch to the qwerty keyboard.
I personally do not find the delay all that troublesome.

> 
> If typing your postal address doesn't do it, see how long it takes you
> to type the following (spelling is important!):
> 
> "yo doodz wots up? im sendin this sms cuz i cbf typin an email you ya,
> and cuz i wanna demo jus how goddamn awful it is to type wen it takes 3
> secs for each bluddy letta. Got ne rusty forks lyin round?"

As I said, if you can easily switch to the qwerty keyboard.


> How long does it take you to type 'antidisestablishmentarianism' using
> this method? Don't forget to also include in this figure the time it
> takes to type "antidisestablishmentarianism", only to discover that it's
> not in the dictionary, then delete that, then type it out
> letter-by-letter. For comparison, here are some figures I just worked
> out, using a stopwatch to time myself typing 'antidisestablishmentarianism':

This is not a very valid usecase. How many times are you going to type 
this into your phone in a real world situation?

For a fact, though, this took me exactly as much time to tap it out, 
without having to use the press down method ~10 seconds.


> 
> * My PC - Standard US 101-key IBM Model M qwerty Keyboard - 6.18 seconds
> * My Ipaq - HP Ipaq 6515 with built-in mini-qwerty keyboard - 12.35 Seconds
> * FreeRunner running QT extended, using 'predictive keyboard': 81.95
> Seconds (almost a minute and a half!)
> 
> I can't think of a more dramatic way to point out how slow this method
> is. Obviously I don't expect it to match the Ipaq, but more than 6 times
> slower than the Ipaq is abysmal. It shouldn't take a minute and a half
> to type one word.
> 
> The simple and easy solution is as I noted before: the predictive text
> should always offer you exactly what you type - if I type "pwned", I
> want to see "pwned" and  "owned" in the word list, regardless of whether
> "pwned" is in the dictionary.

Then it would not be suggestive/predictive, and you should use the 
qwerty keyboard.

You can even use this with big fingers and hit in between letters and it 
will still work (suggestively) well. Don't make it something its not 
supposed to be.


-- 
Lorn Potter
Software Engineer, Qt Software R & D, Nokia Pty Ltd.





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