Improve search engine "X" shortcut for more relevant information

[pyroskat]

A search engine for create objects/modifiers its great for working faster, and for discoverability  for new users. But as everything can be improved.

-Dont showcase not usable objects/modifiers. If can not be created should not be on the list.

If the user search for "spline" ALL the results appearing are grey out. can not be created, so... why showcase them? 

"Convertuidestosplines" and "Converthairstosplines" dont do anything if a guide or hair is not selected, so why they are geyedout?

-The user needs to scroll down to fin "Freehand",  If we dont display all the useless "Grey results" first, will be more provable that the user found what he is looking for.

-Why for spline search, "Freehand" is showcased, but not "line"?  Maybe more tags needs to be created for easy discoverability.

-There is a lot of scrolling needed, because very few items are showcased at the same time (plus we have all the useless gray out results),  why not have multiple columns of results and longer lists, like Houdini, to easily found what you are looking for without extrascrolling?

-Here a Bend returns two results "Bend" (modifier)  and "Bend" (spacewarp). But both have the same name, same icon, so its impossible at first glance to know what is what without going to the tooltip (that takes some seconds to appear).  Having a description or coloring to distinguish spacewarps, helpers, modifiers can be helpful.

-Filter by importance.  Most common modifiers should be forced first in line. For example edit poly, here writing edit, we can see edit poly, but behind a lot of useless entries.  If the user write EditP (without space between edit and poly) no result will showcase.  A more inteligent filter will help found always what we are trying to search for, even if we dont write it exactly as expected.

-Previously used modifiers or objects should be also pushed up on the list for faster reusability.

[MartinBeh]

Agreed that this feature needs some more work to be really efficient.

Here is my list of suggestions:

• Since this tool is about speed, its performance needs to be improved; for example I experience delays of one second or more after typing "x"
• The search needs to be smarter:
  • Do not crowd the list with entries that are not applicable in the current context; anything shown in grey right now should be shown at the bottom of the list
  • Search should remember what letters I typed last and which action I chose, so it can show that action at the top when I type the same letters next time
  • Search should remember which actions were chosen in general and use that to sort the list by importance
• To help the user find the proper entry, the resulting matches should visually indicate what kind of action they are: a Geometry creation tool, a modifier creation, a MAXScript action...
• The user should be able to filter the results by category, e.g. only show modifiers, actions or geometry creation
• The tool itself should use some shortcuts, e.g. we should be able to type "c sph" for "Create Sphere", and "c box" for "Create Box"; type "s Hand" to select the scene object whose name starts with "Hand"; "h help" to "Hide Helpers" and "u help" to "Unhide Helpers"; "h sel" to "Hide Selection" etc. 

[Kranos_Orphydian]

a modern UI and UX quad menu/context menus + a fast and reliable search function would make Max make giant baby steps from the button centered UI