Piece (trigger action) menu commands

Trigger Actions can be activated by
a keystroke command (ie global hotkey), or
a (right click) menu command or corresponding key command (that is usable when the piece is selected).

I understand I can use one or the other, or both to trigger the action.

I don’t fully understand the second option though, are both elements mandatory? can you provide one but not the other?
I get contradictory results when testing (CS would say I don’t reboot enough).
Sometimes (always?) the trigger action does not work if the key command is not provided.
Sometimes the key command does not appear on the menu even when provided.

I would like to present a clean, streamlined, menu showing just the menu commands but not the key commands
I was wondering if anyone could tell me the general rule, so I can decipher which behaviours are just noise from constant tinkering.

The ‘Keyboard Command’ is what the trait is looking for to take action. If you don’t specify a Keyboard Command the trait can never activate. If you leave the Trigger Action Keyboard Command blank, then the Trigger menu option will not work.

However, the Trigger Action is special in that it looks out for a list of other Keyboard Commands going past that don’t belong to it and will ‘Trigger’ on those. So any Keystrokes entered in the ‘Watch for’ section will always trigger it.

If you want to have the Trigger Menu Command work, but not have an accelerator key displayed, then type a command name into the Keyboard Command field. For example, type in ‘xyzzy’ without pause. This creates a Named Key Stroke that will not appear on the drop-down menu. For use in a single trait, it does not matter what name you use for the Named Key Stroke. But if you want to send Key Command to other pieces, or share Key Strokes, then the ‘xyzzy’ Key Stroke is the same for all traits that define it. This is especially useful in Trigger Actions and Global Key Commands where you do not want to have to try and keep track of what Key Strokes you have or haven’t used yet.

So, in your case, I think you want to

  • Specify a Menu Command
  • Type in a Named Key Stroke, not a single character Key Stroke.
  • Leave the 'Watch section blank.

Hope this make sense.

Brent.

Great, thanks.