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Quick way to open connections without using navigator

Hi

I'm looking to move over to Royal TS from Devolutions free RDM for several reasons.

But there's one rather major show stopper for me (it's a personal preference to be fair).

Basically, is there's a quick way to open a connection without using the Navigation panel? I know I can use it in autohide mode, but it leaves a small bar on the left which I really hate. Screen space is at a premium.

In RDM, I have a button on the quick access bar that opens a filter dialog. I just click it once and start typing the name of the server and it does a fuzzy search. Pressing up/down selects if there's more than one option, pressing enter opens the selected server and closes the dialog.

In RoyalTS (version 5.2.60207) the only way I can see is to open the Navigation Panel then either visually look for the server or press Ctrl + F to go into the search. But once you type something into the search, you have to press enter to select the server before you can use up/down arrows. Then you have to press enter again to open the connection.

If you have auto-hide, it then hides the panel but leaves the little bar on the left.

I tried to put the launch navigation panel button to the quick access tool bar and this does launch the navigation panel, but it doesn't focus the search field. Then after opening the connection, it doesn't close the navigation panel.

So, assuming I haven't missed anything, here are my suggestions to fix this with some user selectable options:

  1. Option to Focus the Search field when the Navigation panel is opened
  2. When in the search field of the navigation panel, pressing up/down arrows should change the focus of the selected/filtered connections
  3. Option to close or autohide the navigation panel when a connection is opened.

I would definitely be looking to purchase a license if this can be fixed. Especially as you have bitwarden support :)



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Hi,


thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure if we can provide this functionality without breaking something else but maybe we can provide a better way to open/switch connections quickly without the navigation panel. We are currently in the process of putting together some V6 features. Just to be sure I understand your use case correctly, you are looking for a way to hit a keyboard shortcut to focus something you can enter an object name, get a list of results, navigate this list using the cursor keys and hit Enter to connect/focus the item. Is this correct? Also, the list of result, is it sufficient if it's a flat list or is it also important to see the hierarchy (tree)?


Regards,
Stefan

Hi Stefan


Yes, that's pretty much correct. A good analogy/example is pressing the Start key on your keyboard, getting the Windows Start menu and just typing the name of the application.


> it also important to see the hierarchy (tree)?

Yes this is important. After all, we put the connections in the hierarchy for a reason :-)

Here are some bullets of some things I think would be essential:

  • Bring up the "launch screen" with a keyboard shortcut
  • It must close and get out of the way after opening the connection(s)
  • Ability to fuzzy search
  • Ability to select a connection with up/down arrows or mouse click
  • Ability to multi-select connections to open simultaneously with shift/ctrl + click or shift/ctrl + up/down (even the navigation pane doesn't have this sadly)
  • Right click on the connection should bring up the same options as right-clicking the connection in the navigation pane (maybe you want to edit/check properties before opening the connection)
  • If you have used up/down arrows to scroll/highlight the filtered connections, pressing backspace or typing should update the search/filter string

I think that's it for now. I do hope something like this will make it in to V6. I'll definitely consider it at that point (and I am sure several users will find this useful)

Hi Mahomed!


Just to let you know, we're working on something like this for V6. Stay tuned...


Regards,
Stefan

Hello Stefan, I am back from RDM! 


Hi Mahomed too, I am also looking for something direct, although I don't mind so much the extra screen space.


Stefan great to see your updated app and happy to rejoin the fold. Can I ask, what's the best way to efficiently find and launch a connection with V6? 


I tried to set a global shortcut to navigator but it hasn't started working yet (maybe more fiddling required with reboots and trying different shortcuts in case other apps use handlers - tips gratefully received but happy plug away and/or start a new thread) 


I also noticed when using the navigator that folders are highlighted by default. Ideally I'd like the first matching connection to be highlighted. So perhaps Mahomed's suggestion is the way to go, when implemented!


All the best,

I think the Global Search feature introduced in V6 is the best and fastest way to invoke new connections. This can even work on a global scale - from anywhere, regardless which app is focused, using a global hotkey.


https://docs.royalapps.com/r2021/royalts/user-interface/commands.html#-global-search



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