[PATCH][RFC] BuildingTools: simpler mode switching

[richlv]

BuildingTools/BuildingsTools plugin is activated by the "b" shortcut key.
Sometimes, I accidentally switch into the round building mode. As I never recall how to exit it, each time it's an internet search.

The opposite is true - I cannot recall how to switch _to_ the round building mode, thus I never use it.

Perhaps the plugin can be changed to work in a more discoverable way, that would also be more consistent with other JOSM features.
Similar as "a" switches between the angled/free mode, and "s" switches between rectangular/lasso select modes, "b" could switch between the rectangular and round buildings.

[taylor.smock]

We actually have a ticket open from someone who doesn't like the fact that they can switch between rectangular/lasso select modes with s.

Anyway, Data -> Set building shape to <shape> seems fairly obvious to me. It also shows the keyboard shortcut on the right (on Mac, and I think it should do the same for Windows/Linux).

[richlv]

What's the reasoning behind not liking that selection method?
It took a little while to get used to it when it was introduced, but now I find it pretty convenient.
Moving it all to menu entries does not seem feasible, as it would be at least 4 new entries for a/s modes only.

Thank you for mentioning the "Data" menu - it somehow did not occur to me that it would be hidden _there_.
I checked "Edit", "Tools" and tried all kinds of clicking on the building button in the vertical toolbar :)

[taylor.smock]

Replying to richlv:

What's the reasoning behind not liking that selection method?

I think part of it is that there is a shortcut specifically for lasso mode, and they think there should be one specifically for box mode.

It took a little while to get used to it when it was introduced, but now I find it pretty convenient.
Moving it all to menu entries does not seem feasible, as it would be at least 4 new entries for a/s modes only.

Thank you for mentioning the "Data" menu - it somehow did not occur to me that it would be hidden _there_.
I checked "Edit", "Tools" and tried all kinds of clicking on the building button in the vertical toolbar :)

I'm tempted to move it to More Tools (I think we have that as an option), which would make a lot more sense than Data. But its been that way for <some long amount of time>, so I'm kind of leary about changing it.

I'll go ahead and throw together a quick patch for it. I cannot target it for a specific release (since it is a plugin), but hopefully those who care will see this ticket and give feedback...

[taylor.smock]

@richlv: Let me know if the patched plugin makes sense to you.

[skyper]

Do not find the plugin under Plugins.
Maybe it would help to document the plugin on this wiki as the wiki pages work as internal help pages, too.

[richlv]

Replaced the jarfile in ~/Library/JOSM/plugins , but cannot get 'b' to change modes.

[GerdP]

I think the patch only moves the menu entries from "Data" to "More tools", I see no code to change the shortcut.

[richlv]

Ah, I see - yes, the menu entry was moved, although my main concern is the inconsistent shortcut behaviour :)

[taylor.smock]

That is funny -- it works for me.

Can you start JOSM from the command line, and look for anything that looks like

2023-01-09 05:55:11.602 INFO: Keystroke pressed B is already assigned to org.openstreetmap.josm.plugins.buildings_tools.DrawBuildingAction@a2341c6, will be overridden by org.openstreetmap.josm.plugins.buildings_tools.DrawBuildingAction@5163379c

Speaking of which, it looks like we should look into fixing that. It should still work (since it should be calling the same code, just in a different object).

[richlv]

I always struggle with figuring out / recalling how to run from the CLI with webstart...
But with the posted messages, does that mean the cause is known?

[taylor.smock]

Replying to richlv:

Ah, I see - yes, the menu entry was moved, although my main concern is the inconsistent shortcut behaviour :)

I'm going to assume comment:11 is referring to this as the problem, for which you hope we know the cause.

No, I do not know why you are seeing inconsistent behavior with the modified buildings_tools jar for the shortcut. You haven't changed the shortcut for the action, right?

[richlv]

Downloaded josm-tested.jar, just to be sure. No messages were printed.
For this action, no shortcuts have been changed.

To clarify, I do not see "b" switching between rectangular and circular buildings even with the test version of the plugin.

[taylor.smock]

I've gone ahead and uploaded a rebuilt version of the plugin. Hopefully it was some kind of compile-time issue.

[richlv]

Wondering if there might be some misunderstanding still :)
Same behaviour with the latest custom plugin version.

By inconsistency I meant the original behaviour, where s/a shortcuts switch modes, b does not.

GerdP mentioned they do not see any changes to the shortcut code, maybe no behaviour change should be expected for now?

[taylor.smock]

Yes, no behavior change should be expected for now.

This ticket has two problems

• The buildings_tools actions should be more discoverable
  • So they probably shouldn't be in the Data menu, which is what my patch currently fixes. I anticipate that there will be some confusion in the community, so we'll probably want to put it in the wiki:StartupPageSource to avoid getting bug reports about the moved actions. Even though it isn't a JOSM core change.
  • EDIT: This is what the current patch changes.
• "b" could switch between the rectangular and round buildings
  • The patch doesn't do anything with this yet. It will be a bit more complicated, but still doable.

[taylor.smock]

Ticket #22676 has been marked as a duplicate of this ticket.

[taylor.smock]

Allow toggling between circle and rectangle modes (non-default behavior, requires user to change setting in Set buildings size -> Advanced)

[taylor.smock]

In 36081/osm:

Fix #22623: BuildingTools: simpler mode switching

This additionally moves the building tool from Data to More tools and fixes
some SonarLint issues.

[taylor.smock]

@richlv: I won't be building a dist for it right now -- I want to give translators a chance to do some translating.