The TAB menu is mostly typing based to access the operators you need. But the history of the TAB menu that shows the recently used operators are accessed using the mouse which is slower compared to typing IMO even with a tablet.

It would be very useful if we can invoke these via hotkeys by their order. So if you press 1 when the TAB menu is open, you invoke the last operator, 2 is the second from the last, and so on.

It could allow access up to 9 items (or 10 if you want to include 0) via hotkeys.

Since the TAB menu is probably one of the most frequently used item, any enhancement would improve the workflow tremendously. Here is a mock up I did showing how it might look like potentially:

this is a very nice idea. I've been trying to find more efficient ways of creating nodes in a a quicker way and this sounds like a good approach.

Right now when you hit the tab menu, it has complete focus of the keyboard. Good. Also right now if you say type in a number and that number happens to be in one of the loaded tool names, you will narrow the selection to that tool. Numbers work.

I'm not sold on this specific request to access history by number though as it may not be the right way to go about accessing a subset of tools used frequently for a task. The numbers will shuffle every time you access a tool other than the first in the list. This means you still have to scan the list of previously executed operations to type the correct number. I would argue that typing the prefix for the tool would be faster as it would be mostly a blind task.

There is already a hot key to repeat the last operation btw: “Q”.

What if you are doing a repetitive task that requires the same tools to be used frequently? Because of muscle memory issues, you want to be able to hit say 1 and always get the same tool.

You can use hotkeys. Most of the hotkeys are already taken but hotkeys are network/viewport context sensitive. If you are working in the viewport in SOPs, the hotkeys are context sensitive to SOPs.

What makes the tab “state” interesting is that it definitely grabs the keyboard focus so all the Houdini hotkeys are ignored and this opens things up in a good way.

Here's a Work-around:
If you find yourself always using the same few nodes in a given context day in and day out. You can take your 10 favourite tools and make duplicate Tools for them then rename these tools with a number prefix from 0 to 9. Right now you have to use one of the shelves to create and modify new tools so might as well make a dedicated shelf as well. Then you can TAB-0 to get say 0_polyextrude, 1_polybevel, etc in your given context.


Then there are the gestural methods of accessing frequently used operators of which many are now no longer protected by patents (10 years on software patents I believe). Perhaps this discussion needs to be expanded further in to how to access more frequently used operators within the “tab” tool context for a given task.

Thanks Jeff for your input. My suggestion was only for optimizing the access to the recently used operators, not the most frequently used operators which is also important but this suggestion doesn't help solve that.

The shuffling is a good point, but in this case if you use the numbers, it wouldn't change the order, by not adding it to the top of the list.

I thought of this idea when I was working where I sometimes find myself using the same operators but necessarily the very same as the last time I was working. So imagine working on an asset where you are adding a lot of VOPSOP, and then AttribCreate, Group SOP while doing a particular task. Right now you have to type them constantly or bring the TAB menu and choose them in the TAB menu history.

The Q hotkey is definitely very useful, but it only works for the viewport TAB menu, right?

I thought the TAB menu didn't accept numbers but since it does we might have to think of something else. Apart from the network editor TAB menu, I don't know any other way to access the recently used operators.

Also Jeff can you please give more info on accessing operators using gestures? I will check the docs.

Jeff,

That number-named idea for the favorite list is really good one I'm implementing it today when I go back home! thanks!

But I also understand when the history numbers would be useful, perhaps the Fkeys?.. they don't seem to be doing anything on TAB mode

pusat,

I'm not sure if I understood well what Jeff was saying about the gestures for frequently used operators, but I imagine it would be something like Maya does by moving the mouse in some direction while pressing the correct key gives you most of the frequent options. Am I right?