Is the field search function configurable?

[ShirtUser]

I noticed that the latest version of MLV changed the way the search function for the fields worked. It's played havoc with my use of the program.

Previously, I could tab between fields, enter the first character(s) of a field, use arrows if necessary to zero in on what I want, then tab to the next field and continue. Similarly, clearing the fields was a simple matter of tabbing to the field and then hitting the home key (top of list, empty entry). This was really fast and let me populate or clear a dozen fields in a few seconds without having to use the mouse.

Now, the search feature works fine on first use, but when I shift-tab to go backward and try to change the entry, it often seems to ignore my input. And if I mistype something, I can't just tab in/out or wait a few seconds and try again. Sometimes hitting the backspace helps clear it, or sometimes the delete key, and sometimes home clears it but doesn't update the graph, but sometimes I have to give up and come back to it later. It makes rapid field changes using only the keyboard pretty hard to accomplish cleanly if I make a mistake or if I want to make changes to existing entries. And sometimes jumping around between fields with tab and shift-tab clears them even though I didn't want to clear them.

I understand that some people like the ability to search for characters in any part of a field, and that is nice, but it's come at the cost of speed of entry for me.

Is there a setting somewhere to switch between the new and old methods of field searching? Or, is there a key that will reliably clear a field and/or the current search string so that you can start over without jumping around between fields or having to switch to the mouse?

[LT401Vette]

I did contemplate putting an option to keep the old way, but I didn't quite see where it would need to..

I still don't yet.. I did find issues with it that I believe will resolve your issues.
Currently it is not filtering control keys, so they effectively clear the whole drop down. CTRL, ALT or the Home key.. I believe that is why that doesn't work for you..

I typically used the space key to clear a field, so didn't notice that. I just tried tab, Home on the dev version that filters control keys and we seem to be good there again.
I should have a new release out shortly, just working on 1 other thing..
Let's see if that gets it back to right in your case.

If you are running the HD edition, did you notice the 3 dots in the top right corner of each field group:

mlvGroupMenu.png (2.89 KiB) Viewed 2164 times

That let's you save a group of selected field to apply anywhere. Including a group of cleared. I may add the clear by default..

[ShirtUser]

Ok. Thanks for looking into it. I figured I'm a bit of an edge case since I tend to use the keyboard as much as possible to speed things up.

Yes, I noticed the new saved field groupings (I'm using MLVH HD). That's a very nice feature. I have tabs setup for the main things I look at regularly (like analysis of AE, knock, idle, fueling, etc), but I use a "Temp" tab for examining random things that are specific to a situation or car. Which is where I do most of my field changes to get the specific combination that I'm looking for.

Anyway, thanks again. It's not a huge deal, but if I can get back to the speed with which I was able to update the fields before, that would be great.

[jsmcortina]

I can see the purpose of the new field search, but it has confused me too. I press "A" for AFR and loads of other unrelated fields show up.

James

[LT401Vette]

Do a check for updates.. See if 4.5.05 still does anything that gets in the way of your normal workflow.

[ShirtUser]

It works better now. It looks like there is now a timed reset built in so if you wait a second or so it resets the search? Anyway, it's working for me. Thank you!

[LT401Vette]

Yes, the last version timed out after 2.0 sec, this version is 3 sec.

The last version would show an empty dropdown if nothing fit, currently if there are no matches, it goes back to showing everything.