FR: All deep-dive menu options available from the Jump Bar & Search

[wing]

I think it’s great the way the Jump Bar will take you to menu option top-level categories, and the option menus are searchable; however, I would think it would be beneficial to all users to be able to access even deeper sub-subcategories and options directly from both the jump bar and all search fields inside of menus.

One option I frequently toggle but have difficulty remembering where it’s located is percussion on single staves (which I prefer for writing) vs. 5-line staves (for presentation). I type “percussion” in the jump bar and it’s not available. I think by now I remember it is in Layout Options but sometimes this old dog forgets how to find it.

Or how about the option to stop hairpins before the barline, you guys know the one which is hidden so far and deep under advanced toggle switches that it’s like a needle in a haystack lol:

Ideally, when I want to change this behavior, I could invoke the jump bar and start typing ‘hairpins’ and it would at least show up as one of the options to take me directly to it. BUT, even if you do know it’s in the envgraving options menu, the search function isn’t terribly helpful since it only works with top-level categories. Anything deeper than that is simply not searchable, e.g. if I start typing ‘hair’ I get no results even though there are numerous options for hairpins in this menu!

I am sure this is much easier said than done as it would require the devs to create a large database of connections, but with so many options as Dorico offers (which is great!) it also comes with a price of getting lost and overwhelmed, easily forgetting where to find specific options which also frequently have similar overlap (layout, engraving, and notation sharing many similarities especially for creative right-brained types who mix that up, not referring to myself of course by speaking for a “friend” ).

[Mark_Johnson]

FWIW, I was able to record scripts of both of those obscure setting changes. I deleted unneeded lines and each one works with one long line of code.

Also, when you’ve selected a category in a settings dialog, you can press ⌘F for a secondary search field within the dialog! See Search pages bar, callout #5. That handles your “hairpins” example.

Of course I don’t know the status of development for the Jump Bar, but Daniel did say, in 2022:

Jump bar + alias… brilliant

“Hide stem” is a property, not a command, and you can’t in general access Properties via the jump bar, though that is something that I definitely thought about when I was building it. Maybe we’ll be able to extend it in that direction in the future.

[wing]

@Mark_Johnson

FWIW, I was able to record scripts of both of those obscure setting changes. I deleted unneeded lines and each one works with one long line of code.

Oh, good idea. I’ll admit I have barely ever used scripts.

@Mark_Johnson

Also, when you’ve selected a category in a settings dialog, you can press ⌘F for a secondary search field within the dialog!

Cool, I was never aware of this function.

I am relatively tech-savvy, but I know many people on these forums might be less so (which is not a judgment, I mean that to say for many users, they probably won’t think nor have the patience to create scripts and code or assume that ⌘F will bring up a secondary search). From a user standpoint having levels of search is slightly more convoluted, even if it makes logical and literal sense – I think of something like Mac’s Spotlight which is thorough and does not discriminate on the ‘type’ showing you anything from files, apps, contacts, emails, even web results. Obviously that is excessive but my point is, many users might think “hairpin” and desire to see all available options at a glance without having to invoke secondary methods, which will also make it easier for newcomers I’m sure!