The biggest CHANGE I am suggesting here involves pressing and holding the ALT key AFTER you have started a drag action. (If ALT is down before you start the drag, you are doing an ALT-zoom.) Right now, adding ALT to a drag results in strange and undefined behaviors, probably as a side effect of the alt-zoom code.
Here are how click and drag actions should affect prims in various states:
Grammar:
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"control+drag" means hold control and THEN start to drag
"control+drag-control" means hold control, start to drag, then release control
"control+drag+alt" means hold control, start to drag, then add alt
"control/shift" means the keys can be pressed in any order
"drag=arrow" means dragging an arrow control element, same for rings, handles, etc
Non-physical objects:
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click -- no movement (though scripts may trigger)
drag -- no movement (though scripts may trigger)
control+drag -- X/Z or Y/Z movement (depending on camera angle)
control+drag-control -- X/Y movement
control/shift+drag -- rotation
control+drag+alt -- X/Z or Y/Z movement and Snap-To-Grid
control/shift+drag+alt -- rotation and Snap-To-Grid
Summary: You can't move non-physical objects unless you start a drag with the control already down or shift+control already down. This is how it is in the 1.6 Preview. But also, pressing and holding ALT after the drag has begun will snap the obejct's position to the nearest grid coordinate. Releasing ALT lets the object free-move.
Physical objects:
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click -- nothing
drag -- X/Y movement
drag+alt -- X/Y movement and Snap-To-Grid
control/drag -- X/Z or Y/Z movement ( depending on camera angle)
control/drag+alt -- X/Z or Y/Z movement and Snap-To-Grid
control/shift/drag -- rotation
control/shift/drag+alt -- rotation and Snap-To-Grid
Summary: Same as with non-physical objects, except that you can start dragging with no modifier keys. This is so you can catch the beach ball with just the mouse. (Fun game, quickly shift+drag a physical prim into the air, let go, then try to catch it when it starts to fall.) Adding alt after the drag has begin also snaps it to the grid. Not as useful for physical objects (as they will most likely move when you let go) but here for completeness.
Edit mode on NON-selected objects:
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click -- selects
shift+click -- adds/removes selection (control behaves like shift, as does both at once)
drag -- starts selection-add box
control+drag -- starts selection-remove box
shift+drag -- same as raw drag
control+shift+drag -- same as raw drag (could add functionality here too)
control+drag-control -- reverts to default drag behavior, selection-add
Summary: Clicking or shift clicking behaves as normal. Dragging or shift-dragging draws a selection-add box. Control-dragging draws a selection-remove box. Combinations of shift and control have no effect. Releasing shift or control after the drag begins has no effect. ALT has no effect, since you are only making selection boxes, not moving prims. I can't think of any use for ALT in this mode.
On selected objects:
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//selections
click -- nothing
shift+click -- deselects
control+click -- starts selection-add box (even though cursor is over a selected object)
control+shift+click -- starts selection-remove box (also though over a selected object)
// freehand positioning
drag -- X/Y movement
drag+alt -- X/Y movement and Snap-To-Grid
control/drag -- X/Z or Y/Z movement
control/drag+alt -- X/Z or Y/Z movement and Snap-To-Grid
control/shift/drag -- rotate
control/shift/drag+alt -- rotate and Snap-To-Grid
Summary: This mirrors physical and non-physical movement and provides an alternate
interface for all the controls exept resizing, while not taking away functionality from them. There is no reason the behavior outside edit mode should stop when inside edit mode if doing so doesn't get in the way of the edit-only controls. And it doesn't.
// control elements dragging -- arrows
drag=arrow -- movement on that axis
drag=arrow+alt -- movement on that axis with (clearer) ruler and Snap-To-Grid (S2G)
shift+drag=arrow -- movement on that axis and duplicate left behind
shift+drag=arrow+alt -- movement on that axis and duplicate, with ruler and S2G
drag=arrow+control/shift -- no change by adding control and/or shift after drag starts
Summary: Dragging arrows moves along the chosen axis. Starting with shift down leaves a duplicate behind. Adding alt after the drag has begun displays the ruler/grid graphics and snaps the motion to the grid. The ruler image could be clearer (it is very hard to read) and should have a clear marker as to the current value of the object on that scale. Suggest the marker is the same color as the axis arrow chosen. Control has no effect before or after the drag begins. Shift has no effect after.
// control elements dragging -- others (all the same as with arrows)
control+drag=rings -- rotation, with same modifier key behavior as with arrows
control+shift+drag=handle -- resize, with same modifier key behavior as with arrows
(this means that resizing snaps to lengths divisible by the grid size when alt is on!!!)
drag=plane -- move in X/Y, X/Z, or Y/Z plane only, with same modifier key behavior
Summary: All the other controls behave the same way as the arrow controls, with the exception that they need starting control and/or shift modifiers to start. Releasing whatever modifiers were needed to start them should have NO effect on the appearance or behavior of the controls. Adding ALT after the drag has begun will display a grid or ruler for each and ALL of them will snap to grid units, even resize. (So if your grid was set to 0.25, a resize action would result in a size that is always a multiple of 0.25)
I hope I didn't make any typos. Edits will be listed here:
