Re: software remapping of caps lock, control, etc.

["J. King" jking@xxxxxxxx]

You might try "swapk.zip" at ftp.smartcode.com which states it is for 98/95...
At 10:26 AM 9/10/99 +0900, you wrote:
> Alan Heubert:
>
> > do those software solutions you mentioned for
> > re-mapping the keyboard work both for Windows
> > programs and for DOS programs running under Windows?
>
> Sorry for my tardy reply on this one. (The trouble is that I read the Xy
> list from the one computer that has a Northgate keyboard and thus doesn't
> need any such utility.) The particular program I use works for DOS
> programs running within a Take Command window under Windows. (I don't use
> the MS-DOS prompt within Windows.) It won't work outside the Windows GUI.
> It comes in a package called SWSCN100.LZH, which clocks in at an admirably
> tight 3012 bytes. (I'm sending Alan Heubert a .ZIP version of this in
> private; I'll also send it to anybody else who asks.)
>
> The LZH (or ZIP) consists of two files, SWAPSCAN.386 and SWAPSCAN.TXT. The
> latter is a very lucid explanation of how to use the former. Unfortunately
> (for most of us), it happens to be written in Japanese.
>
> I'd like to translate it (it's not very long), but I don't have time right
> now. So here's the gist:
>
>  It's freeware.
>
>  It's for Win95. (It dates from 1995, before Win98, but
>  I can vouch that it works perfectly for Win98.) There's
>  no mention of NT.
>
>  To use it, copy SWAPSCAN.386 to the SYSTEM subdirectory
>  (typically c:\windows\system\), and, under the [386Enh]
>  section of SYSTEM.INI, insert the line
>
>    device=SwapScan.386
>
>  Add a section titled [SwapScan.386] to SYSTEM.INI and in
>  this write the following:
>
>    SwapLCtrlCaps=yes
>    SwapHanzenEsc=no
>
>     (The first of those lines isn't necessary, as
>     swapping left Ctl and CapsLock is the default.
>     But I suggest that you do it, as it will then
>     be easy to unswitch [for whatever purpose].
>     The default is SwapHanzenEsc=yes, which
>     switches the Escape key with one that appears
>     on a Japanese keyboard but not on a US one.
>     I don't know what would happen if you used
>     this default with a US keyboard.)
>
>   Optionally you can add lines such as:
>
>    MapScan=58 7b
>    MapScan=e01d e052
>
>   The former line maps scan code 58 to 7B; the latter
>   maps E01D to E052; surprise surprise. (Actually
>   I've never used these, but I infer that you could
>   use them to switch any key around.)
>
> Why do I use this program rather than one of its more mainstream,
> English-language rivals? Because of the ease with which it reassigns a
> common but Japanese-specific function (on a US keyboard, the awkward
> combination Alt-`) to the little-used and handy right-Alt key.
>
> Bugs/misfeatures? On one machine (and only one) on which I use SwapScan
> (it's a laptop), left Ctrl activates CapsLock mode but then does nothing;
> to deactivate it, I must hit right Ctl. As I very seldom want caps to be
> locked on, this oddity has never worried me enough for me to bother to
> investigate.)
>
> The author of the software is MATSUMOTO Shigeyuki (Matsumoto is certain,
> but there are other possibilities for Shigeyuki); in '95 he was working for
> a company in Matsumoto (yes, it's also a town in mountainous central Japan)
> called A I Soft and his address was matsu@xxxxxxxx
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Peter Evans, mailing list pest
> http://often.bored.org/


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