Hacker News Reader

Comment by jiehong | Hacker News Reader

On desktops, I wish we could just stop wondering “where is that icon?” or “what does this icon do?” entirely.

We should be able to search for any feature within an application in a standardised way instead. Maybe something like what Ctrl-P does in Sublime Text / Sublime Merge.

If this shortcut would work for any application within the same OS, we could get rid of most icons by default, while adding more consistency at the same time!

View on HN

On macOS you can search menu items via Shift–Command–QuestionMark (or by opening the Help menu). Most toolbar actions are also exposed as menu items, so this lets you essentially search for almost every function of every application that plugs into standard macOS frameworks.

Some applications have features that extend beyond what can be surfaced through the standard menu bar but the infrastructure is there for "normal" apps.

Ubuntu used to have something similar in earlier versions of Unity. It would surface Gtk and Qt menu trees in a searchable interface.

> Shift–Command–QuestionMark

Oh my! I knew you could search through the menus. I didn't know there was a dedicated keyboard shortcut for it! I've been using MacOS for 10 years and never knew this… Thanks.

I also figured it out just now after 8 years of Mac usage. But I already knew that I don't know/use most of the dedicated Mac shortcuts (thought I think I should).

Yes! The Ctrl-P convention is the best usability convention to pop up in a decade. It can be so useful. Especially for any complex app like Photoshop, Blender, movie editors.

I was only aware that Atom and intellij had this. Atom has slightly better text matching. I think it keeps synonyms for searchable items. Intellij covers more of the interface. You can even jump deep into parts of the settings dialogue with it.

Other than Sublime Text I also like how Microsoft Office apps and Photoshop does it. I press Alt+Q (it was Ctrl+F on PS), type something in and press enter. If they have a search like that, then it doesn't matter where they hide the functionality.

Google will more reliably return what you're looking for than any hand-built documentation system.

That is missing the point. The Ctrl-P shortcut is for all those actions that you are aware of but use seldom enough to not warrant learning the keyboard shortcut. Or features that you are vaguely aware of should exist. The fact that it can provide a bit of documentation is a bonus.

Google is a competitor to this kind of feature as much as your hard drive is a competitor to your memory.

You're right actually. I was missing the point. Yes, this would be very useful.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com