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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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