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    Implemented Constraint to move selections

    IV allows us to move selections by pressing and holding the right (or the reversed left) mouse button inside the selection area and dragging it to a new position. AFAIK it has no way to constrain the move so we can keep it on a horizontal or vertical path other than by hitting the arrow keys, which is in most cases very slow.

    I think a faster way to make those constrained moves would be assigning some key to combine with the dragging, like Ctrl is used in CorelDRAW.

    What do you think?
    Desktop PC: Windows 10 Pro - 64-bit • Intel Core i7 • 12 GB RAM
    Laptop PC: Windows 10 Pro - 64-bit • Intel Core i5 • 6 GB RAM
    IrfanView 4.60 • 32-bit

    #2
    This is a no-brainer, if it can be implemented fairly easily, so I have forwarded the suggestion straight to Irfan Skiljan. However, it's not often as easy to implement features as one might think, unless one knows the code, which I do not.

    Meanwhile, you can use Shift + C, then enter an X or Y offset for the selection to move it directly to another position, but it involves making an accurate guess of how far you need to move it. Measuring first with another selection would give you a better estimate of the change needed for the offset before making the actual selection
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    Last edited by Bhikkhu Pesala; 22.12.2016, 10:13 PM.
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      #3
      Originally posted by Bhikkhu Pesala View Post
      This is a no-brainer, if it can be implemented fairly easily, so I have forwarded the suggestion straight to Irfan Skiljan. However, it's not often as easy to implement features as one might think, unless one knows the code, which I do not.

      Meanwhile.....
      I think that might be a big "if". I well remember the problems Irfan Skiljan had trying to sort out the bugs involved with moving a selection in this thread.

      In fact I often use that method ( Ctrl+C to save to clipboard and Ctrl+Shift+Left click to paste the selection to a new position ) instead of trying to drag it there.
      At present you cannot easily align the selection horizontally or vertically to where it came from, as the OP is seeking to do. I notice in the features list though that v4.44 offers a new option to show mouse coordinates. Perhaps that will provide another way of achieving the objective if the "meanwhile" lasts as long as some of us have had to wait for requested features.
      Last edited by Mij; 23.12.2016, 11:54 PM.

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        #4
        I forwarded this feature request to Irfan Skiljan like this:

        Originally posted by Bhikkhu Pesala
        I don't know why nobody suggested this before, but it seems like an obvious improvement.
        One can move a selection one pixel at a time with the cursor keys, but it's much faster with the mouse, right-click drag.

        How hard would it be to allow vertical/horizontal constraint of the movement with the Shift modifier?

        As a work-around I suggested Shift + C, then edit the X or Y co-ordinates, but it's rather hit or miss, and not visual like using the mouse would be.
        Even after a second email, he didn't understand what the request was, so I sent the OP's request as it stood. I haven't heard back again yet.

        Since he has a family, and it's Christmas, I am sure he has other things to do for a while, having worked hard to get 4.44 released prior to the break.

        So, expect to wait for any further response.

        Off-topic, but the length of time that we have been waiting for some feature requests is too long. Instead of customisable shortcuts so that we can disable the horrible Set Wallpaper shortcuts, we get another one that we must remember to avoid = Ctrl + Shift + F.
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          #5
          Originally posted by Bhikkhu Pesala View Post
          I forwarded this feature request to Irfan Skiljan like this:
          ....... How hard would it be to allow vertical/horizontal constraint of the movement with the Shift modifier?......
          I would advise that you do not pursue that suggestion. Using modifier keys to select different mouse actions was the root cause of all the problems in that thread that I linked to above. Irfan had issued a new option to allow drag and drop of the current image to another program (a GUI alternative to setting up External Viewers). He had assigned the Shortcut Ctrl+Shift+left mouse click and drag to the new option. The trouble was that it could also be activated by Shift+left click and drag, Ctrl+left click and drag or even by click and drag without any modifiers if you had a shaky hand.

          As I understand it, unlike other keys, pressing a modifier key does not itself generate a trigger that can be used to change software actions. They can be polled when something else provides a trigger to determine their status but if the user is dragging the mouse, triggers are coming in a constant stream for which the priority action has to be to erase and redraw the selection in a new position so that it keeps up with the cursor movement on screen. Despite various people saying that it must be possible to fix Irfan was not able to come up with a good solution, so Shift+left button click and drag is now the official shortcut for the new drag and drop to another program option, Ctrl+click and drag option was fixed by inventing a new feature (Ctrl +click inside a selection now erases the selection - at times quite useful) and click and drag with a shaky hand and no modifier was fixed by increasing the delay in startup of the new option.

          Instead I would suggest using Right mouse click on a side of the selection and drag the double headed arrow. Left click and drag on a side already does half the job as the side is constrained to only move in the direction of the arrows. With right click the only difference is that the opposite side moves with the dragged one to maintain the size and shape of the selection box. Right clicking and dragging the 4 headed arrow inside or the hand outside the box, would not be changed.
          Last edited by Mij; 01.01.2017, 05:07 PM. Reason: Clarified suggestion and removed a repitition.

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            #6
            Irfan Skiljan sent me a test version. Hold down the Shift key while dragging a selection with the right mouse button to constrain the movement to horizontal. Hold down the Control Key while dragging to constrain the movement to vertical.

            Extract the zip file and copy the contents to your Program files folder.
            Attached Files
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              #7
              Use Shift key for both directions

              Originally posted by Bhikkhu Pesala View Post
              ... Hold down the Shift key while dragging a selection with the right mouse button to constrain the movement to horizontal. Hold down the Control Key while dragging to constrain the movement to vertical....
              Could the shift key be used for both directions? It would make IrfanView consistent with drawing programs like Visio and PowerPoint. I'm guessing those programs detect the initial motion and if it is mostly vertical (or horizontal) constrain motion to be exactly vertical (or horizontal).

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                #8
                Originally posted by cwb3106 View Post
                Could the shift key be used for both directions? It would make IrfanView consistent with drawing programs like Visio and PowerPoint. I'm guessing those programs detect the initial motion and if it is mostly vertical (or horizontal) constrain motion to be exactly vertical (or horizontal).
                I brought that up, but Irfan said that it's easier with two different modifiers. Presumably, he meant easier to program.
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                  #9
                  I was quite surprised at what Irfan offered, especially using both Shift and Ctrl modifiers with right click and drag.

                  He frequently replies to a request to introduce a new shortcut saying how precious the few still available shortcuts are, and that he only lets them be used if he considers the new feature to be very important. As well, while discussing ways around the problem of conflicts that arose from having too many actions using left button click and drag with moderator keys, which I referred to in posts #3 and #5 above, the possibility of using the right button instead came up several times. Irfan though persevered with use of the left button until the problem was solved. Again I thought that was to preserve these precious available shortcuts for something very important.

                  So I thought that the suggestion I made in #5, dragging the double headed arrows on the sides of the box, might appeal to him since it did not use up shortcuts likely to prove useful in the future for something else.

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                    #10
                    Feel free to contact Irfan with your suggestions. Since this is still just a test version, it's not problematic to change the shortcuts at this stage as it would be later.
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