Some time ago (in R7) I’m sure I was able to use the ’ key (circled below) in command aliases. Most other programs allow this as well. I actually modified my CAD standards because Rhino doesn’t/didn’t allow number-only aliases. I’m getting back into setting up my customization and have found that I unfortunately cannot use it in my aliases anymore. This would be a pretty huge killer for me and I don’t think there’s any reason not to allow it. Both Revit and AutoCAD allow it in their command aliases. Sketchup doesn’t really have commands but it utilizes this key as well. It’s super handy being near the top left.
v8 has changed in these regards, regardless if this specific symbol worked or not, i used , and . to act as shortcuts and it worked in v7, in v8 not anymore. there are some debates going on but no conclusion as to what is actually going to happen in future as far as i can remember without checking these topics.
I tested it in R7 as well recently and it doesn’t work. But I’m almost sure it used to work because I remember implementing it deliberately to make my AutoCAD and Rhino shortcuts the same. I’m 95% sure it used to work. R7 has had A LOT of updates since then.
I might have a work around in that I could use an event to listen to the command line, and trigger the command when I get the error message (in the command line) saying the command doesn’t exist. You can do something similar with AutoCAD. I can’t find anything in the API for Rhino so far.
It is indeed the back-tick. On a US keyboard it’s the default key (no need to hit ‘shift’ or anything) and therefore makes for a good alias being so close to the numbers.
Way back in R7 in my early days I was porting my CAD customization (or trying to) into Rhino. I had recently changed my leader shortcuts to just “1”, “2”, “3”, etc… This wasn’t allowed in Rhino. I do recall being able to use the back tick however. Maybe my memory is a bit pootched here the reason I’m not giving up is because I remember that’s why I reverted my aliases to include the back tick. But if you’re sure that it hadn’t been updated then I’ll concede… but it’s not important anyways because the backtick should work in an alias unless there’s a good reason for it not to work.
I know that R7 still receives a lot of updates. And who’s to say if it did or didn’t work in R7 at some point just because it doesn’t work in R6.
it’s only important for logging this correctly. If it was possible before, it is a regression.
I cannot find any evidence that this was once possible in Rhino, so for now I’ll just log it as a request RH-83383 Allow backtick as command alias
I tried both the backtick and just entering numbers (“11”) but I get the “command did not register” error. I think I went full-blown Mandela effect (unless it worked in R6 or R7 but I doubt that). Now that I think of it I may have changed to the numbered alias without the backtick because an AutoCAD clone I was trying to use that didn’t like the backtick either.
I kind of realized that I just need to give up and move onto something else. I can just use the “Q” key instead (“Q1”, “Q2”, etc…) but it sucks to have to give up a convention I’ve used for years and possibly even revamp my AutoCAD alias structure.
It was a bit disappointing not to be able to get this because I threw a lot at it. I tried the “CommandWindowCaptureEnabled” but I’m not really sure how this even works and I suspect it’s not even the same “command line” that I’m thinking of (maybe the one inside the script editor?). I also tried Keyboard Events but they appear to not be working or has some sort of conflict with the command line.
I use the keyboard for 100% of input but only have a handful of aliases. Autocomplete(with the awful “fuzzy” feature turned off)means you just start typing something and oh there it is in 3 or 4 keystrokes usually. As a bonus, if I find myself at someone else’s Rhino install I can actually use it! I find this business of making so many aliases and shortcuts you’re bumping into these limitations just odd. Rhino is not an e-sport.
You’re describing a situation so far removed from my goal here. I’m not aiming for anything related to an eSport of any kind. Like you I type and have no trouble typing full command names. But I’ve saved so much time creating aliases for commonly used commands. Recently I’ve added “S1” and “S2” for sweeps as Rhino always picks the wrong one. I’m thinking about adding additional macros for chaining edges just to make the behavior more consistent. Sometimes it’s not so much about outright speed but rather mitigating mental fatigue.
The end goal here is a tool for creating leaders. And it’s not just limited to the command line nor something that can be achieved through “typing”. You actually have to go into the properties and go through a whole process instead of just using the shortcut. This is a tool I’ve used for AutoCAD which saves tons of time. But it’s even more important for Rhino because leaders require that you either create a different annotation style if you want to use different arrowheads, or go through the properties to change the leader head.
My disappointment lies in the fact that I attempted to retain the shortcuts from AutoCAD via multiple paths but neither of them work. And my concern is that future projects will encounter similar fates.
