[Russell Ault]

Hi Mike!

Not sure how simple this would be to implement, but for those of us using Surface (or equivalent) tablets with the Surface Pen, it'd be really cool if we could take advantage of all the Pen's buttons in the annotation editor. In my mind this could include configuring what the "Right-click Button" does (my initial thought would be something along the lines of 'tap to cycle between two or more configured annotations tools, press and hold to use the "scroll around the page" function', although this is probably pretty complicated), and it would be especially great if the eraser always erased regardless of the active tool.

Is that doable?

Thanks!

-Russ

[Zubersoft]

Those are definitely enhancements I can work on adding at some point.

[Paul M]

yes please

[androidxen]

My own take on the Surface pen is if we could use the pen button to enable annotation mode, and with the same button, save and exit annotation mode. It would be a huge time saver in rehearsal!

[Russell Ault]

My own take on the Surface pen is if we could use the pen button to enable annotation mode, and with the same button, save and exit annotation mode. It would be a huge time saver in rehearsal!

+1 That's really brilliant!

-Russ

[delgado]

My own take on the Surface pen is if we could use the pen button to enable annotation mode, and with the same button, save and exit annotation mode. It would be a huge time saver in rehearsal!

+1 That's really brilliant!

-Russ

absolutely!! a huge leap and a great marriage of hardware+software offering

[Zubersoft]

So I've added what I can in terms of surface pen support. Microsoft did not expose any way to handle the eraser button - the OS handles that and no application can detect it. Microsoft also did not provide any way to handle the right-click button unless the pen is actually touching the screen. This severely limits what it can be used for. What I've done for now is that, if the right click button is held and you tap the screen, it will enter the annotations editor. Likewise, if you hold the button and tap the screen in the annotations editor it will save the changes and immediately exit. I think this provides more value than being able to pan while holding the button. If you guys disagree, let me know. I'd rather not make it customizable unless there are tons of different ideas for how to use it, because it creates a lot of work (business logic, UI changes, translations into all the languages, manual updates, etc). I also added code so that if you switch to the eraser, it will activate the eraser tool while you drag the box, erase the annotations when you let go, and then switch back to whatever tool you were previously using. It works pretty well. When I update the annotations to also support the more traditional eraser (one you can scribble with instead of drawing a box), I will update the eraser to use that.

Thanks,
Mike

[androidxen]

So I've added what I can in terms of surface pen support. Microsoft did not expose any way to handle the eraser button - the OS handles that and no application can detect it.   Microsoft also did not provide any way to handle the right-click button unless the pen is actually touching the screen. This severely limits what it can be used for.  What I've done for now is that, if the right click button is held and you tap the screen, it will enter the annotations editor. Likewise, if you hold the button and tap the screen in the annotations editor it will save the changes and immediately exit. I think this provides more value than being able to pan while holding the button.  If you guys disagree, let me know. I'd rather not make it customizable unless there are tons of different ideas for how to use it, because it creates a lot of work (business logic, UI changes, translations into all the languages, manual updates, etc). I also added code so that if you switch to the eraser, it will activate the eraser tool while you drag the box, erase the annotations when you let go, and then switch back to whatever tool you were previously using.  It works pretty well. When I update the annotations to also support the more traditional eraser (one you can scribble with instead of drawing a box), I will update the eraser to use that.

Thanks,
Mike

Just tested it, works just as you described! Thanks so much Mike.

Are there key shortcuts for certain functions? (I may have missed it since the early days of Mobilesheets) - as in, pressing 'Q' for annotation mode. You can apparently reprogram the surface eraser/button using something like this:

https://windows.gadgethacks.com/how-to/r...t-0166903/

though of course that's a third party solution. If you did implement keyboard shortcuts though, for the common functions (and possibly work out how to implement that kind of hotkey script natively in the app...?), I'd say it might be useful for someone with a laptop, or a pen. It doesn't seem like a priority though, since your solution is great too.

Thanks for all you do!

[Zubersoft]

Unfortunately, I can't do what that AutoHotKey program is doing, because they are intercepting the messages sent by the pen at the OS level. UWP apps are not allowed to do that (they are called keyboard hooks and mouse hooks because they can get the messages before they are delivered to the target application, and can actually stop the message if desired).

As for the keyboard shortcuts, there aren't any like that at the moment (although I did add support for using Delete to delete annotations). You can always use the pedal key mappings to map 'Q' to "Annotate Song". I know some people have requested support for more key/action mappings, so I may try to add that at some point soon.

Mike

[chuckles]

It'd be nice not to have to switch into annotation mode at all while using the surface pen. Should be able to annotate anytime with the pen. This saves time as well as dealing with the issue of accidental marks if your hand touches the screen. There

[Zubersoft]

Yes, that is part of the annotations rework that is coming. I plan on integrating the annotation capability on the main display and adding a radial menu for switching tools, loading favorites, configuring the tools, etc.

Mike

[Dorieke]

+1!

I also notice that, with the surface pen, sometimes capturing the annotation hampers and part of a drawn line is missed. This is really annoying. It forces me to erase the annotation and try again. If you are redoing this part, could you also take a look into that? 

Keep up the good work!

-- Dorieke

[jeffn1]

Yes, that is part of the annotations rework that is coming. I plan on integrating the annotation capability on the main display and adding a radial menu for switching tools, loading favorites, configuring the tools, etc.

Mike

Looking forward to the re-vamped annotations tools, Mike!

[Waldbaer]

I want to second the request of further refinements of the use of a stylus. You seem to have advanced already as I can read from this thread. As completely rewriting the annotation mode is quite complex, I want to suggest a simpler addition: If outside annotation mode a stylus is used, it could just instantly draw using the last settings of pencil/eraser tool in annotation mode and save without any overlay at all. What do you think?

[Zubersoft]

The load time of the annotations editor is too slow, and the code is set up so the annotations editor has to be loaded in order for annotations to be generated and saved in the database. What you are suggesting is closer to what the rework is going to do. It's not a simple task to move the code from the annotations editor and just apply it on the main display. That's part of the work that I need to do for the rework.

Mike