[Bf-funboard] usability improvements and a feature

[Nathan Vegdahl]

> ctrl-c copies attributes (from a menu) from active to selected; change
> one, box select the rest, then ctrl-c and you're there.

    To be fair, this takes notably more clicks/keystrokes than, say,
the XSI way of doing it.  And also is not, IMO, an elegant solution
with good feedback to the user, and just throws a hotkey/menu-item at
a problem that could have a better solution.

    In XSI if there is a check-box, and there are multiple objects
selected, it shows the box checked if they're all checked, unchecked
if they're all unchecked, and a "?" if they're a mix.  In any of those
cases you can click the box to change it for all selected objects.  In
the case of a "?" it will first toggle them all to the same thing.
XSI does a similar thing for number fields and other primitive data.

    Even my first time using XSI this was an intuitive mechanism that
needed no explanation.  And it also has the benefit that you can
easily get a sort of overview of the state of multiple objects without
having to click through all of them.  Moreover, thanks to that
overview you also get an intuitive and confidence-inspiring visual
verification that what you just did actually worked: if the box is
checked, you know that all the selected objects have that box checked.

    The only down-side I can think of to this method is that it can't
apply to some of the more complex data in Blender (for example, the
modifier stack, node systems, etc.).  But it seems like this is
substantially useful enough--both for visualizing and interacting with
data--that it would be good to use it where it makes sense.  And in
areas where it doesn't make sense (like the modifier stack), the GUI
for that area could be grayed out unless there is only one object
selected.

   I guess the other thing is that this would require certain parts of
Blender's GUI to be reorganized a bit to allow for proper check-boxes.
 But honestly, I think that's worth doing anyway, as Blender does not
IMO make sufficient visual distinction between toggles, buttons, etc.
   Alternatively, we could find another way to adapt the XSI-style
solution to Blender without switching to check-boxes (even if that
would be a good idea on its own...)

>> 3. an alternate way to input the name of a bone in a constraint panel
>> (When there are too many bones Ctrl + C - Ctrl + V gets tiresome)
>> maybe drag & Drop? or a list like the one for selecting parent from
>> edit mode
> well, the fasted way is selecting the target, then the bone and doing
> ctrl-alt-c, which autmatically adds the target

    Incidentally, this reminds me of a slightly related annoyance of
mine in Blender: the ordering of selection for parenting (ctrl-p) and
constraining (ctrl-alt-c) are opposite.
    In parenting you select the parent last.  In constraining you
select the target (sort of the constraint equivalent to a parent)
*first*.
At least for me this is not what I expect at all.  In fact, during
Peach I found myself accidentally getting the order of selection wrong
in both cases all the time due to this inconsistency.  Also selecting
the target first is the least useful ordering because this means you
can't add a constraint to more than one object/bone at a time.  The
order used for parenting makes a lot more sense for something that can
potentially be a one-to-many operation.

--Nathan