Kirk,
The short answer is that the Enter key on the keypad would close the dialog, and the Return key would enter a new line.
It turns out PM already does this on a MacBook Pro, so it would involve changing only the function of the Enter key on a full-size keyboard.
The long answer:
I did some comparisons between PM and PS, and included LR but it has its own set of quirks and inconsistencies. Note that these comparisons are made on Mac systems. Windows may likely have its own set of inconsistencies (perhaps a Windows user can do something similar to verify this).
Here's what the comparison shows:
- PM is inconsistent with PS regarding the use of the Return and Enter keys on a full-size keyboard. The above posts seem to be asking for consistency between PM and PS, a reasonable request.
- PM is inconsistent with itself between full-size keyboards and laptop keyboards. The Enter key on a full-size keyboard is a new line; the Enter key on a laptop keyboard (fn-Return) closes the dialog.
- PM is also inconsistent with itself between full-size keyboards and laptop keyboards regarding the Ctrl-Enter keystroke.
Here's the comparison:
Full-size keyboard with keypad (Return key on full keyboard, Enter key on Keypad):
Keystroke | PM | PS | LR |
Return | NL | NL | NL |
Enter | NL | OK | OK* |
Cmd-Return | OK | OK | Slideshow |
Cmd-Enter | OK | OK | N/A (Beep) |
Ctrl-Return | NL** | NL | NL |
Ctrl-Enter | OK | OK | NL |
Laptop keyboard (on a MacBook Pro fn-Return is equivalent to Enter):
Keystroke | PM | PS | LR |
Return | NL | NL | OK*** |
Enter(fn-Return) | OK | OK | OK* |
Cmd-Return | OK | OK | Slideshow |
Cmd-Enter(fn-Cmd-Return) | OK | OK | N/A (Beep) |
Ctrl-Return | NL** | NL | NL |
Ctrl-Enter(fn-Ctrl-Return) | NL** | OK | NL |
* In LR there isn't an actual dialog with an OK button; the Enter key exits data entry in the Metadata panel.
** A new line is entered into the field, but when you close the dialog the following message appears:
"Some of the characters cannot be represented in the default encoding and will result in data loss.
Would you like to save in the Unicode format which will preserve all of your data?"
I guess the question is do I have a preference incorrectly set, or does Ctrl-Return put in an invalid character?
*** LR is inconsistent between keyboards, and IMO this is broke and needs to be changed to match LR's full-size keyboard behavior.