MoreKeys v0.08 ================ (module - v0.04) Introduction ------------ This application provides a method of gaining easy access to accented keys without learning the various keyboard shortcuts. In order to invoke MoreKeys, simply press a key that can be accented while holding down Alt and Ctrl. When you do this, the keypress will be trapped and a window opened to allow you to select an accent. You can use cursors and Enter to choose character you want, or if you did this by mistake, just hit Esc to insert the plain unaccented key. What you will see will be a row of buttons that looks a little like this: .-------------------. | e | | | | | '-------------------' MoreKeys has been designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, while providing you the facilities that are useful with minimum fuss. Alternative: I believe that cursor keys are the most convenient when you are typing, however if you are the sort of person that prefers to reach for the mouse for things such as this, then that's okay too. Simply click a character to choose it, or alternatively right-click to cancel. Note: For lots of boring technical excuses, multitasking is suspended while the MoreKeys window is open. For 99% of you that won't be a big deal, but keep this in mind if you run a server or somesuch in the background. Available keys [example for UK QWERTY Latin1] -------------- a -> c -> e -> f -> i -> m -> ['m' for "maths"] n -> o -> q -> ['q' for "quotes"] s -> ['s' for "symbols"] u -> w -> y -> # -> [other "stuff"] . -> as for '#' Some emulator/netbook combinations may not want to pass on the Ctrl-Alt-# keypress, therefore you may use Ctrl-Alt-. instead (or, if you prefer in any case...). There is also a Latin2 mapping for UK layout keyboards; a Latin1 for French layout (AZERTY) keyboards, plus a UTF8 layout for UK layout keyboards (for those wishing to experiment with UTF8 on RISC OS 5). In addition, Carlos Michael Santilln has provided a German Latin1 mapping for those using RISC OS in Germany. The mappings file format is fairly simple, so custom mappings can be created without too much difficulty (it is fiddly more than anything else). In a short while, I plan to release !MKSetup to assist in making mappings. Version zero-point-something? ----------------------------- Yup. v0.xx. Also known as alpha-test, or panties-ahoy, or oh-my-god-what-the- -hell-dude or any number of other phrases (trust me, they just get worse). Basically, this *should* work. But it might not. You're a guinea pig. Let me know if it all blows up in your face... When it has had a little more testing on a wider variety of systems and works as expected, the version will increment to be v1.xx. It's looking good so far! :-) I'm looking for feedback from: 1. Old RISC OS - anything running on ARM2 or ARM3 [though MoreKeys will *NOT* work on Arthur or RISC OS 2]. 2. Genuine (not emulated) RiscPC running a recent version of RISC OS 4 and/or RISC OS 6. Limitations ----------- Mappings are provided for: UK.Latin1 UK.Latin2 UK.UTF8 France.Latin1 Germany.Latin1 Other countries (keyboard layouts) and alphabets (character sets) will need to be created. In these cases, MoreKeys will tell you so. It just beeps at me! / It does nothing -------------------------------------- If MoreKeys beeps when you try to Ctrl-Alt-, or if nothing appears to happen, this is because the country and/or the alphabet has changed between the time MoreKeys started and the present. MoreKeys will attempt to load an appropriate mapping, but it may not have the correct mapping available, or (less likely) the file may be damaged. In this case you will hear a beep. In addition, periodically MoreKeys will check the current country/alphabet itself, and it will disable MoreKeys functionality upon encountering an unsupported mapping. In this case, you will hear no beep. MoreKeys will have been disabled so pressing Ctrl-Alt- will have no specific effect. If MoreKeys was unable to locate an appropriate mapping, either at startup or later, the system variable MoreKeys$Layout will be set to the mapping that was expected, for example "Spain.Latin1". The full path of the expected file is either: "Choices:MoreKeys.mapping.." or: ".mappings..". The layout/format of the mappings file is described in the UK.Latin1 file. Resources will be looked for in Choices before within MoreKeys itself; this makes it simpler to override the supplied defaults. The internal module test software "TestMorKys" is included as an extra to aid you in determining internal key codes. Simply press keys (with Ctrl and Alt), note the key codes, and press ESC when you're done. That and a notepad are much quicker than messing around with diagrams and tables... You do not need to restart MoreKeys to get your functionality back. Just switch back to a supported layout (say, UK/Latin1) and wait a few seconds. Mappings files are searched for and loaded on demand. Therefore you do not need to restart MoreKeys if you create a new mapping. Simply drop it in to Choices as: Choices:MoreKeys.mappings.. where and are appropriate for the mapping in question. Then use *Country and *Alphabet as appropriate to switch to that mapping. If you need to reload your mapping - say during development if things need to be tweaked; switch to a different supported mapping (ie *Country UK and *Alphabet Latin1) and then back to your mapping. This will cause it to be reloaded. How to quit MoreKeys -------------------- From the Task Manager. Click Select (left button) on the rightmost icon on the icon bar (what it looks like depends upon your OS - a blue blob, an acorn, a 3D box thing, a raspberry...). A complicated-looking window will appear. Up at the top it will say "Application tasks" and one of the items listed will be MoreKeys. Click Menu (middle button) over where it says MoreKeys, and the third (or so) menu entry will be "Task 'MoreKeys' -->". Move the mouse in the direction of the arrow and a submenu will appear saying "Quit". Click on that and MoreKeys will be gone. It unloads the MoreKeys support module as a part of its shutdown. You can now close the Task Manager window. When MoreKeys is quit properly, the support module is unloaded. If MoreKeys quit due to an error of some sort, the module may not have been unloaded and, if enabled, it will continue trapping Ctrl+Alt keypresses. In this case, simply press F12 and enter: *RMKill MoreKeys then press Return. OS support ---------- Written to be 32 bit neutral, so should work on everything (except Arthur and RISC OS 2 ;-) ). Tested on: RedSquirrel and RISC OS 3.70 [ Rick ] A real RiscPC with RISC OS 3.70 [ Rick ] RPCEmu with RISC OS 5.19 [ Rick ] Beagle xM with RISC OS 5.19 [ Rick ] RiscPC with RISC OS 4.02 [ B. Evans, csam ] Iyonix with RISC OS 5.16 [ M. Durham, csam ] ARMini with RISC OS 5.?? [ P. Young, csam ] RiscPC with RISC OS 6.20 [ G. Baxendale, csam ] Licence ------- Copyright 2012-2013 Rick Murray. Free to use. Have fun.