Select Edge Loop function not mapped to hotkey, not in keymap? #63612

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Nick · 2019-04-15T02:02:34+02:00

Nick commented

2019-04-15 02:02:34 +02:00

System Information
Operating system: Linux Mint, Mate 19.1

Blender Version
Broken: Current 2.8 Beta, April 14th, also present in a February Beta

Short description of error

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error
Alt+LMB does not appear to be mapped as a shortcut. "Select edge loops" does not appear to be in the preferences->keymap tab when searching for "edge". "Select Edge loops" is also not in the F3 search menu. Thus, it appears to be impossible to use the "select edge loops" function, except if you turn on "emulate three button mouse" and double click, which works.

There does not appear to be any way to select edge loops when "emulate three button mouse" is turned off.

Just open up a new file, insert a torus, go into edit mode, choose edge select, and alt+lmb on an edge. It does nothing.

I have tried the "reset factory settings" options, and with the latest build downloaded today.

**System Information** Operating system: Linux Mint, Mate 19.1 **Blender Version** Broken: Current 2.8 Beta, April 14th, also present in a February Beta **Short description of error** **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** Alt+LMB does not appear to be mapped as a shortcut. "Select edge loops" does not appear to be in the preferences->keymap tab when searching for "edge". "Select Edge loops" is also not in the F3 search menu. Thus, it appears to be impossible to use the "select edge loops" function, except if you turn on "emulate three button mouse" and double click, which works. There does not appear to be any way to select edge loops when "emulate three button mouse" is turned off. Just open up a new file, insert a torus, go into edit mode, choose edge select, and alt+lmb on an edge. It does nothing. I have tried the "reset factory settings" options, and with the latest build downloaded today.

Nick commented

2019-04-15 02:02:34 +02:00

Added subscriber: @lightnb

Marcin Twarowski commented

2019-04-15 08:39:46 +02:00

Added subscriber: @MarcinTwarowski

Marcin Twarowski commented

2019-04-15 08:39:46 +02:00

Select edge loops is "Multi Select Loops" in search menu. https://devtalk.blender.org/t/blender-ui-paper-cuts/2596/2357

William Reynish commented

2019-04-15 14:32:08 +02:00

Added subscriber: @WilliamReynish

William Reynish commented

2019-04-15 14:32:08 +02:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Archived'

William Reynish closed this issue

2019-04-15 14:32:08 +02:00

William Reynish self-assigned this 2019-04-15 14:32:08 +02:00

William Reynish commented

2019-04-15 14:32:08 +02:00

Doesn't appear to be a bug.

Alt-clicking works to select loops by default.

To map it to something different, go to Select > Select Loops > Edge Loops and right click to set a custom shortcut.

Doesn't appear to be a bug. Alt-clicking works to select loops by default. To map it to something different, go to Select > Select Loops > Edge Loops and right click to set a custom shortcut.

Nick commented

2019-04-15 20:09:53 +02:00

Changed status from 'Archived' to: 'Open'

Nick reopened this issue

2019-04-15 20:09:53 +02:00

Nick commented

2019-04-15 20:09:53 +02:00

Thanks for looking into this. It looks like there are several interrelated issues:

Alt+LMB is a window manager function on many Linux systems, which is probably why it isn't working. It gets intercepted before it reaches Blender.
The menu option to select edge loops and alt+lmb are not the same functionality. alt+lmb works when nothing is selected, whereas the menu "select edge loops" option requires one segment of the edge to be selected first. Two-step vs one-step operation.

You can test this by binding the windows logo key + lmb by right clicking on the "select edge loops" menu option to assigning it a hotkey like suggested above. After doing so, with nothing selected in edit mode, try to select an edge loop with win+lmb, it runs the multi slect loops command as if it had run off the menu and it selects nothing. Now, lmb on an edge, then win+lmb anywhere on the screen. It selects the loop. So the menu function is not aware of the cursor position and requires pre-selection of the first edge, where the alt+lmb shortcut is aware of the cursor position and does the initial select and the edge loop select in one action.

They are two separate commands.

The question then becomes, how to remap the alt+lmb version of the edge loops command, since assigning a shortcut to the menu item is not the same.

Here's a screenshot of the keymap tab in preferences with the search term "edge":

"Select Edge Loop" does not appear to be a preference there. Shouldn't it be on that list?

It's actually called "Loop Select" in the key map menu, which is why it's not showing up in a search for "edge". I found that by searching for key bindings with alt + lmb. Of course, that only works if you know what the binding is supposed to be.

So here's some possible action items for this, since one of the goals of 2.8 seems to be increased accessibility for new users, and every tutorial just says alt+lmb to edge loop select, when this is broken out of the box on Linux systems, and not easy to diagnose and fix. (I've spent about two days on this issue).

A) Should there be a "Linux compatible" Keymap with win+lmb (or something else) set as the default for select edge loops, and this keymap should be the default for Linux builds? This won't break compatibility with other users, but will make users aware that keys are different on Linux.

B) "Loop Select" should be renamed "Select Edge Loops" in the Keymap section of preferences so it shows in search for "edge". Same for the F3 menu. You might also consider a search alias table where commands can have extra tags based on what people call them.

C) When you search through Keymaps, the scrolling functionality breaks. ie. If the search results are longer than the window height, you cannot scroll through them. Try searching by Key Binding for "alt lmb". The list of results is longer than the screen height and you can't scroll down.

Thanks for looking into this. It looks like there are several interrelated issues: 1. Alt+LMB is a window manager function on many Linux systems, which is probably why it isn't working. It gets intercepted before it reaches Blender. 2. The menu option to select edge loops and alt+lmb are **not** the same functionality. alt+lmb works when nothing is selected, whereas the menu "select edge loops" option requires one segment of the edge to be selected first. Two-step vs one-step operation. You can test this by binding the windows logo key + lmb by right clicking on the "select edge loops" menu option to assigning it a hotkey like suggested above. After doing so, with nothing selected in edit mode, try to select an edge loop with win+lmb, it runs the multi slect loops command as if it had run off the menu and it selects nothing. Now, lmb on an edge, then win+lmb anywhere on the screen. It selects the loop. So the menu function is *not* aware of the cursor position and requires pre-selection of the first edge, where the alt+lmb shortcut *is* aware of the cursor position and does the initial select and the edge loop select in one action. They are two separate commands. The question then becomes, how to remap the alt+lmb version of the edge loops command, since assigning a shortcut to the menu item is not the same. 3. Here's a screenshot of the keymap tab in preferences with the search term "edge": ![noedgeloop.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F6948720/noedgeloop.png) "Select Edge Loop" does not appear to be a preference there. Shouldn't it be on that list? 4. It's actually called "Loop Select" in the key map menu, which is why it's not showing up in a search for "edge". I found that by searching for key bindings with alt + lmb. Of course, that only works if you know what the binding is supposed to be. So here's some possible action items for this, since one of the goals of 2.8 seems to be increased accessibility for new users, and every tutorial just says alt+lmb to edge loop select, when this is broken out of the box on Linux systems, and not easy to diagnose and fix. (I've spent about two days on this issue). A) Should there be a "Linux compatible" Keymap with win+lmb (or something else) set as the default for select edge loops, and this keymap should be the default for Linux builds? This won't break compatibility with other users, but will make users aware that keys are different on Linux. B) "Loop Select" should be renamed "Select Edge Loops" in the Keymap section of preferences so it shows in search for "edge". Same for the F3 menu. You might also consider a search alias table where commands can have extra tags based on what people call them. C) When you search through Keymaps, the scrolling functionality breaks. ie. If the search results are longer than the window height, you cannot scroll through them. Try searching by Key Binding for "alt lmb". The list of results is longer than the screen height and you can't scroll down.

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2019-04-15 23:46:01 +02:00

Added subscriber: @brecht

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2019-04-15 23:46:01 +02:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Archived'

Brecht Van Lommel closed this issue

2019-04-15 23:46:01 +02:00

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2019-04-15 23:46:01 +02:00

These are not bugs. The usability of they keymap editor can definitely be improved a lot, but we do not handle that through bug reports.

Dean commented

2019-10-18 01:32:52 +02:00

Added subscriber: @RedZ

Dean commented

2019-10-18 01:32:52 +02:00

"A software bug is an error, flaw, failure or fault in a computer program or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways." I believe it's bug which causes the software not to perform as expected and documented EVERYWHERE! You can turn a blind eye, but this particular problem shuts down many tutorials and the entire learning process for new users. AND what a pain for those using multiple operating platforms. I work in a large corporate environment where I fight the open source vs. commercial software battle regularly - these "bugs" / flaws / interoperabilities are what makes me loose the argument every time. I have nothing but respect for the people who pour their souls into developing Blender, but pretending it's not a big problem doesn't make it magically go away.

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Select Edge Loop function not mapped to hotkey, not in keymap? #63612