Pressing 'x' should be the equivalent to muliply

[andreaspalmer]

Problem Statement

When quickly calculating some numbers it is very nice to keep your hands on the keyboard instead of reaching for the mouse and hitting the 'x' button on the UI.

Evidence or User Insights

When using the calculator on Google you can easily type "21x9" and it will give you the result. Having this in the Windows App will make the users life easier and more efficient

Proposal

By pressing the 'x' key it should be the equivalent to muliply on the on screen UI

Goals

More efficiency

[MicrosoftIssueBot]

This is your friendly Microsoft Issue Bot. I've seen this issue come in and have gone to tell a human about it.

[HowardWolosky]

Just to be sure, you're aware that * would enable you to do this from the keyboard (and it's available both via the numpad as well as via SHIFT+8)? Your suggestion is that in addition to using asterisk (*), you think it should support x as well?

[BenCoden]

I think we should. Not everyone know * is multiple, and if one doesn't know they will try x. Benjamin

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________________________________ From: Howard Wolosky <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 20, 2019 6:08:51 PM To: microsoft/calculator Cc: Subscribed Subject: Re: [microsoft/calculator] Pressing 'x' should be the equivalent to muliply (#512) Just to be sure, you're aware that * would enable you to do this from the keyboard (and it's available both via the numpad as well as via SHIFT8)? Your suggestion is that in addition to using asterisk (*), you think it should support x as well? — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#512?email_source=notifications&email_token=AKBTMMAFREP3LOSLWWGZC2TPWMOPHA5CNFSM4HOFVP72YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGODV2GSOY#issuecomment-494168379>, or mute the thread<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AKBTMMF6GRJNHVP4Y4VB76TPWMOPHANCNFSM4HOFVP7Q>.

[andreaspalmer]

Just to be sure, you're aware that * would enable you to do this from the keyboard (and it's available both via the numpad as well as via SHIFT+8)? Your suggestion is that in addition to using asterisk (*), you think it should support x as well?

Yes, I think so too as Benjamin already mentioned, if you don't know the shortcut or use a keyboard layout where the asterisk is not easy to access (using ISO-DE I need to press 'shift' and '+')

[MovGP0]

My keyboard layout (Neo2) actually supports both, the • (scalar product) and the × (vector cross product) character. 😅

Not sure if the caracter x is really the best choice to represent a scalar product, since it has the meaning of an variable in mathematics, and the meaning of position in physics. 🤔

[michael-hawker]

@MovGP0 now I want a Vector/Matrix Mode! 😊

[grochocki]

By pressing the 'x' key it should be the equivalent to muliply on the on screen UI

This will conflict with using key 'x' to represent the variable 'x' in #338. Since that mode also supports multiplication, it can lead to a confusion when switching between modes.

[ghost]

Thanks again for submitting your idea! However, after reviewing this pitch more closely, we do not believe it is a great fit for the product at this time. Thank you for your contribution to Calculator!

[grochocki]

"x" is already mapped to "Exp" in scientific mode and will be mapped to the variable "x" in graphing mode, so sometimes using it to refer to multiplication may be confusing. I believe the implementation for #519 might lead to free-form input, which would allow for natural input of expressions, and there are also pitches tracking improved input entry (#519) and parsing (#526), which should help out here too. Finally, we are looking to improve support documentation (including keyboard shortcuts) via #157.