Re: Can keyboard assignment use Windows key?

[Carl Distefano cld@xxxxxxxx]

Martin:

> Can key combinations involving the Windows key (located between
> Ctrl and Alt on my keyboard) be (re)assigned in a kbd file?

It wouldn't be straight-forward, but in principle it should be
doable. You'd have to swap one or both Win keys with a Windows
virtual key which generates a key code that XyWrite recognizes *and*
that is different from any other key code currently used in your KBD
file. (In WinXP you can remap keys by editing the Windows Registry;
not sure how it's done in Win7.) The challenge is to find a virtual
key that puts out a key code that XyWrite can use. A couple of years
ago Robert discovered that XyWrite 4 will recognize key codes 115
and 126, and that these codes are generated by Window virtual keys
with hex scan codes C1 and C2, respectively. On my XP Pro machine, I
tried swapping in C1 00 and C2 00 for the Win keys 5B E0 and 5C E0.
This generated key codes 65 and 66 in XyWrite when the Win keys were
pressed and released -- no good). Then I tried swapping in C1 E0 and
C2 E0 for the Win keys. These did not generate key codes in XyWrite
when the Win keys were pressed and released. At that point, I gave
up.

> I see how va $kc gets a key code for active keys, but I can't
> see how to do so for keys like Shift, Ctrl, and Windows.

The key codes for the Shift, Alt, Ctrl, and other shifting keys are
determined the same way as for ordinary keys, using VA$KC (or VA$SC
if the keyboard is in an unshifted state). Just bear in mind that
the key code for shifting keys isn't returned until the key is
*released*. You can see this by running U2 frame SCAN. When you
press an ordinary key, the scan code is displayed right away (on the
down press), but when you press a shifting key, the key has to be
released before the code displays.

--
Carl Distefano
cld@xxxxxxxx