Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? Thread poster: Jean Dimitriadis
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Hi, I am not really looking for a CAT tool myself (CafeTran Espresso is my main choice, running on a GNU/Linux laptop), but I thought it would be interesting to gather opinions on this subject. How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool? For those touch typing their translations, being able to avoid lifting the hands from the keyboard to use the mouse or trackpad can be a huge time-saver. Not all CAT tools are created equal in that depart... See more Hi, I am not really looking for a CAT tool myself (CafeTran Espresso is my main choice, running on a GNU/Linux laptop), but I thought it would be interesting to gather opinions on this subject. How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool? For those touch typing their translations, being able to avoid lifting the hands from the keyboard to use the mouse or trackpad can be a huge time-saver. Not all CAT tools are created equal in that department. What’s your take? Are you able to mostly avoid using the mouse? Apart from your CAT tool, what else is helping you keep your hands close to those keys?
[Edited at 2021-01-10 14:29 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | | Dan Lucas United Kingdom Local time: 11:03 Member (2014) Japanese to English
Jean Dimitriadis wrote: How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool? One thing that I find annoying about Studio 2019 is that - as far as I can tell - you can't use keyboard shortcuts to move between parts of the screen, such as the different panes, or the filter panel. (Source/target movement is possible.) This makes navigation tricky when you want to script something using AHK. I have found that relying on absolute positions (x, y) is not reliable over time, as small changes in position will throw a script right off. Other than that, Studio's not bad. Most things have a shortcut. Dan | | | Michael Beijer United Kingdom Local time: 11:03 Member (2009) Dutch to English + ... try Ctrl+Tab! | Jan 10, 2021 |
Dan Lucas wrote: Jean Dimitriadis wrote: How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool? One thing that I find annoying about Studio 2019 is that - as far as I can tell - you can't use keyboard shortcuts to move between parts of the screen, such as the different panes, or the filter panel. (Source/target movement is possible.) This makes navigation tricky when you want to script something using AHK. I have found that relying on absolute positions (x, y) is not reliable over time, as small changes in position will throw a script right off. Other than that, Studio's not bad. Most things have a shortcut. Dan In Studio, try: Next View: Ctrl+Tab Focus Editor Window: Ctrl+0 Michael | | | Offline-CATs in general | Jan 10, 2021 |
I'm very much with you here, I also hate it if I need to lift the hands from the keyboard for whatever reason, and mouse use should be an absolute no-go with CATs. I find that MemoQ works well for me in this sense, I don't need the mouse for any routine thing, except maybe if I want to insert a TM hit that is not among the first 20. In general, most online CATs seem to be poor in this regard. They are not only relying on mouse input frequently, they are also often too slow for really fast typing... See more I'm very much with you here, I also hate it if I need to lift the hands from the keyboard for whatever reason, and mouse use should be an absolute no-go with CATs. I find that MemoQ works well for me in this sense, I don't need the mouse for any routine thing, except maybe if I want to insert a TM hit that is not among the first 20. In general, most online CATs seem to be poor in this regard. They are not only relying on mouse input frequently, they are also often too slow for really fast typing. A system that takes time for server processes between segments can disrupt my work immensely, I hate it when I already want to type into the next segment and the CAT still contemplates about repetitions of the previous segment or TM activity. I bought a fast PC and I want to use it and not wait for slow servers. ▲ Collapse | |
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Dan Lucas United Kingdom Local time: 11:03 Member (2014) Japanese to English Flawed, unfortunately | Jan 10, 2021 |
Michael Beijer wrote: In Studio, try: Next View: Ctrl+Tab Focus Editor Window: Ctrl+0 Thank you for this reminder Michael. I find that the number of Ctrl+Tabs required ends up taking longer than using the mouse (and I have also found it a bit "sticky" in that the selection of the pane in question travels down the list with a noticeable lag). Ctrl+0 has no noticeable effect on my system. Dan | | | Baran Keki Türkiye Local time: 14:03 Member English to Turkish I hate online CAT tools | Jan 10, 2021 |
Almost 80 percent of the time I seem to confuse the tab opened for the online CAT tool with the non-existent CAT tool (Trados Studio) in the taskbar after having done a Google search in another tab in the same browser window and end up staring at the desktop screen. | | | Samuel Murray Netherlands Local time: 12:03 Member (2006) English to Afrikaans + ...
Jean Dimitriadis wrote: How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool? WFC is so keyboard-friendly that one can actually call the widgets, menus and buttons "bad". Obviously editing the settings is done mostly with the mouse, but the actual translation is done with keyboard shortcuts. The WFC toolbar does contain some buttons for frequently used actions (e.g. next segment) and a menu with many of the actions on it, but those are comfort buttons only -- you're not really supposed to use them. The only time I use WFC buttons for tasks is when I perform a clean-up or I want to launch the data editor (i.e. the TM/glossary viewer/editor) to make manual changes to the TM/glossaries and I can't be bothered to use as text editor in that particular case. | | |
Transit NXT offers an awful lot of keyboard shortcuts: https://www.star-ts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/star-transit-keyboard-shortcuts.pdf Besides these, you can press the ALT key for one second and mnemonics for the menus and submenus will be displayed (I think Studio offers this technique also): Transit also offers a Macro Recorder that allows you to record key sequences (e.g. menu commands, phrases).
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