ProZ.com Translation Forums

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? | Transit NXT

CafeTran Trainer — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 07:41:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: CafeTran Trainer
Post title: Transit NXT

Transit NXT offers an awful lot of keyboard shortcuts:

[url removed]

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).

[Edited at 2021-01-11 08:34 GMT]

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? | WFC

Samuel Murray — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 18:56:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: WFC

[quote]Jean Dimitriadis wrote:
How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool? [/quote]

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.

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? | I hate online CAT tools

Baran Keki — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 18:13:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: Baran Keki
Post title: I hate online CAT tools

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.

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? | Flawed, unfortunately

Dan Lucas — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: Flawed, unfortunately

[quote]Michael Beijer wrote:
In Studio, try:
Next View: Ctrl+Tab
Focus Editor Window: Ctrl+0[/quote]
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

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? | Offline-CATs in general

Kay-Viktor Stegemann — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 16:08:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Post title: Offline-CATs in general

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.

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? | try Ctrl+Tab!

Michael Beijer — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 15:19:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: Michael Beijer
Post title: try Ctrl+Tab!

[quote]Dan Lucas wrote:

[quote]Jean Dimitriadis wrote:
How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool?[/quote]
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
[/quote]

In Studio, try:

Next View: Ctrl+Tab
Focus Editor Window: Ctrl+0

Michael

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool? | Navigation

Dan Lucas — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 14:37:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: Navigation

[quote]Jean Dimitriadis wrote:
How keyboard-friendly is your preferred CAT tool?[/quote]
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

Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?

Jean Dimitriadis — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 14:28:00 +0000

Forum: CAT Tools Technical Help
Topic: Most keyboard-friendly CAT tool?
Poster: Jean Dimitriadis

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]