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...Continued from Page 7.
Moving, adding and deleting (could become a new video game).
The physical location of a button can be adjusted by using the "MOVE" command. Buttons can be repositioned with the joystick while the [PAGE] key changes screens. You cannot, however, move a button from one device to another. Arranging buttons is accompanied by the same design obstacle as centering labels: too many positions. Having 43,000 different places to put something can be daunting. Sure, you may like the idea of being able to move pixel-by-pixel, but do you really want or need that much accuracy on the remote by itself? Without guidelines, it’s nearly impossible to keep rows of buttons lined up vertically or horizontally. On the other hand, give me full-fledged PC software with the positioning power of a mouse behind it and we’ve got another story: I want total accuracy there. On the remote I would have liked a simple snap-to grid.
Similar functionality is available for the "COPY" command which instead of merely moving a button duplicates it for use on another screen. One feature neatly hidden in the "COPY" function is a "Favorite Device" page. The main screen can get quite busy with 15 buttons in view at any given moment. If you rarely use some devices or only want a few available to your family, you’ll want to copy them to the "Favorite Device" page. This function basically creates a new link to a device on a second "Main" page that may be accessed by pressing the [MAIN] button twice. On this page you can move the links around, change button styles and even name them something different from the device itself. If a "Favorite Device" page exists, pressing the [MAIN] button while in a device will always return to it first. The same three macros shown on the "MAIN" page are also shown on "MAIN1", and any macros assigned to a device button are maintained on the "favorite" link.
If you find the need for an additional button on a device page, you’re in luck! The "INSERT" command lets you add any number of new, blank buttons to a particular panel. Along with the "CHANGE" command, which modifies the physical appearance of an existing button, you may select from a number of built-in graphical styles. These include left, right, up and down shaded arrows, one third screen width/one line high in normal, VCR transport, 3D and Macro variations, two thirds width/one line high in normal and 3D, one third width/two lines high, one half width/two lines high, plus full-width/one line high, all in normal styles, and, finally, a small round keypad shape, shaded upward curved button (identical to the [LAST PAGE] button) and a remote transmission symbol.
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