UI bug: focus is inconsistent

[robduarte]

Please see the attached video where I describe a simple UI problem that is really frustrating - particularly for my students. (Any trivial detail like this that I can't explain often causes them to throw their hands up and dismiss the entire application as unpredictable and flaky). The problem has to do with the focus of elements and for that reason I describe a second issue in the video that has already been discussed on this forum (not being able to select more than one profile when extruding). I'm not sure if they're related but they might be.

I try to make these videos so they can be easily reproduced by anyone, but please let me know if you need more information. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnhaNhxIwiI

[TrippyLighting]

This must have been a recent change to limit having to hold down the CMD/CTRL keys when adding to an existing selection

Prior to that change  the CMD key (mac) or CTRL Key (Windows) has to be pressed to add any objects to the selection, even the first one.

Now when adding the 1st object to the selection the Key does not have to be pressed, but when adding the second object you'll just simply have to hold the CMD/CTRL key and select that second object.

This is pretty consistent throughout the Fusion 360 UI.

[Phil.E]

@TrippyLighting

Sorry to contradict you, but see explanation below.

@robduarte

The focus issue you show, where keyboard numbers are not being accepted by the heads up box, is not known to be generally reproducible. It's been around a while, but to my knowledge is not fixed because nobody can make it happen on purpose. If you have a 100% reproducible case, we should talk about the steps or conditions on your machines that might help us figure it out.

The second issue you point out is not a bug, nor is it new.

Here's why.

1. When you start selections on Fillet edges, or what to extrude, there is no preview.
2. After you add a value, Fusion shows a preview.
3. At this point, you must use a modifier key to a) roll back preview so you can see what you are selecting (for fillet especially) and b) add selections.

Why is this important? Because Fusion allows you to, once a preview has started, to click on other geometry *without* a modifier key for the purpose of snapping.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks, 

[TrippyLighting]

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/30b769b2-cda6-4254-aac5-b3ac1620e829

[Phil.E]

@TrippyLighting

Yes I picked up on that and have never noticed it before. I take your word that it's new, so we may have regressed a little there. I can also see why tests might not have picked it up. I had planned on bringing it up to the team. Thanks for the great video example!

Regards,

[TrippyLighting]

Well, to be honest. I am not sure it is new. I might simply not have noticed in the past.

[robduarte]

Thanks for the info about having to use CMD for subsequent selections. I still don't understand the logic and I would expect that the method of selection would be the same whether you're doing the original Extrude or editing the feature after the fact (particularly because I'm looking at the exact same dialog at the time). Regardless of whether CMD has to be used or not, my original issue with the focus changing and causing mouse clicks to be ignored is still a problem and definitely a bug. Please see this screencast where I demonstrate the issue.

Thanks!

[Phil.E]

Thanks for the new video. I'll work on reproducing the effect using your video and hopefully we can fix one or both of the bugs listed below.

I just want to summarize and be very clear here.

• HUD dimension dialog loses focus. This bug is what has been around a long time and hard to reproduce, and not associated with the more recent find that Trippy showed in the video.
• Inconsistent picking while editing the extrude. This bug is what you just showed in your video, what Trippy showed in his, and is most likely unrelated to the item above.
• The use of modifier key to add selections once a preview is shown.
  • This is what I'm saying is not a bug and is unrelated to both items above.
    • If a preview exists, you simply have to hold down the modifier key to add selections.
  • The two bugs above are not caused by this, rather it's the other way around, they are affecting this standard workflow.

Thanks again for posting your concerns and good videos.

Regards,

[kb9ydn]

There is definitely some weird stuff going on here, although I'm not sure how much of it (if any) is new or not.

The first thing is that it *mostly* doesn't matter whether you are creating a cut/extrusion for the first time or editing an existing one.  What matters is what the feature extent (distance) is set to.  If the extent is set to zero, then you can add or remove sketch profiles without using the <ctrl> key.  This would generally be the case when you first start a cut/extrusion.  But as soon as you set the extent; either a distance, up to, or through all; you can't add or remove sketch profiles unless you hold down the <ctrl> key.  This I think is where the confusion starts, because it's not immediately obvious what is actually triggering you to have to use the <ctrl> key.  I don't do much modelling in Fusion (mostly just CAM) so I had to mess around a bit to figure this out.  Coming from Solidworks (where you can select sketch profiles without ever using the <ctrl> key) this feels a little odd, but now that I understand it it makes more sense.  Or at least it would if it was ALWAYS true.

However the exception to the above (and why I said *mostly*) is that when you go to edit an existing extrusion it will let you add one (and one only) additional sketch profile without using the <ctrl> key, even though the extent is set to somethign other than zero.  This seriously adds to the confusion and I would guess is probably unintended (and likely a bug).

The next bit of odditiy is that when selecting sketch profiles you cannot select, unselect, and then reselect a given sketch profile without the mouse crossing over a sketch boundary first.  This one is is a little hard to describe so I'll show a video.  Here I'm not sure if this is intended behavior or not.  It's strange but it doesn't seem like something that you would want to do intentionally as a user so... not sure.

http://autode.sk/22siAjr

EDIT:  Just saw Phil posted right before I did.  I think he got most of what I just said except for the select, unselect, and reselect thing.

C|

[robduarte]

Thanks for this added info! It doesn't necessarily change the workarounds but hopefully it helps the engineers solve the problems.

[Phil.E]

@kb9ydn

Thanks you got it exactly right.

Let's go point by point for extra clarity.

1. There is actually a clue in the UI. The command prompt tells the user to hold a modifier key to add selections. If the user followed this prompt, they would never experience #2 below.

.

2. Logged as a bug.

• Title "Can select without modifier during edit but for only one profile which is inconsistent"
• The goal with this one is to enforce consistency to avoid confusion. The ability to pick a profile upon edit is the problem. You should have to hold a modifier key because a preview is already showing.

3. Logged as a bug.

Title: "Cannot select and unselect while mouse is on profile"

The goal with this one is to fix all extrude/revolve and other profile commands to avoid this strange corner case. It is indeed a confusing experience, but at least there isn't a command prompt telling the user to select something that cannot be selected until their mouse moves.

Thanks all, I hope this takes care of this for you. Please let us know if you need more information about this.

Regards,

[robduarte]

@Phil.E please see this updated video for an update and a proposal for a pretty distinct solution:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_LwIm8q6vQ

[Phil.E · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the detailed description. I've entered this as a bug for primitive cylinder. Let me know if you can reproduce it for any other workflows. Currently, it looks like primitive cylinder only.

[internal: FUS-23707]