Re: Fw: Xywrite list queries re keyboard assignments

["Oun Kwon" kwono@xxxxxxxx]

Dear Anne,

Thanks for your comprehensive information on "hardwired" keys.  

I would appreciate very much if you can show us what these key combinations
perform within Windows Operating System and in the typical Windows programs
(such as Word or Excel) as well as in your NB-Win (if it differs).

Most of these are understandably off our customizing hands to follow
"Windows convention".  However, the key F4 and F6 inconjuction with Ctrl,
Ctrl+Shift, Alt+Shift, C+A+S are simply incongrous and absurd. What happens
if I assign some functions I need to these keys in the kbd file and load it
in the NB-Win?  Will those keys behave as if nothing happened, allow my new
key assignment work, or behave erratic?  Despite my fondness of XyWrite
since my introduction to XyWrite II in mid-8's, with Windows programs
forcing our life into a new world, I have been resigned very much to
Microsoft Word and am thinking of reviving my interest back to NB-Win or to
Xw-DOS (not Xw-Win which is very much unsuable product).  But along with my
aging, I just don't have enought time to spend tweaking my customized kbd
file to work in NB-Win.

Sincerely yours,





>>> aputnam@xxxxxxxx 07/24 9:35 AM >>>
Dear XyWriters,

I have to confess to not reading the XyWrite list for a couple of days.
Upon returning, I was very interested to see the many postings about NB,
starting with Annie Fischer's message on July 18.

We have never had any doubt that the needs and interests of Xy users
differ in some important ways from the needs and interests of most other
NB users. While providing technical support for those with highly
customized keyboards is sometimes problematic (it is often difficult to
reproduce problems that occur on highly customized versions of the
program), we are very interested in providing a product that you will
want to use and support.

The issue of hard-coded keys is one that has been raised by XyWrite
users before, and we have made some changes as a result.  While this is
by no means a complete response to the questions raised by Annie and
others, the following message from Steve Siebert (NB's founder and
designer) may be of interest to many of you.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Siebert" 
To: "Anne Putnam" 
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2001 1:31 AM
Subject: Xywrite list queries re keyboard assignments


Anne,

In regards to the XyWrite list emails you sent to me, I wanted you to
know that we have (in 5.5) made almost all keys available for
reassignment. The remaining exceptions (much smaller in number than
before, and generally involving keys not usually requested in the
various memos I've seen) are:

--Esc and PrtSc/SysRq are not available in any keyboard state
--Tab is not available in C, C+S, A, and A+S states
--F4 is not available in C and C+S states
--F6 is not available in C and C+S states as well as A and A+S states
--Del is not available in C+A and C+A+S states
--The following keys (harmlessly) pull down an NB menu, but can
otherwise take assignments:
 A+W
 A+E
 A+T
 A+I
 A+P
 A+F
 A+H
 A+V
 A+M
 A+Space, A+S+Space
--Pause/Break is accessible as key #90 in C, C+S, C+A, and C+A+S states,
and as key #69 in A and A+S states

I think Windows users will not be suppressed at the restrictions on Esc,
PrtSc/SysRq, Tab, Del, and Pause/Break. (Only F4 and F6 will perhaps be
surprising.)

But note that there are now no NB restrictions, other than the list of
Alt keys noted above (and even that follows a Windows convention). That
is to say, the keys that cannot be assigned by users are keys that are
reserved by Visual Basic for Windows.

SUMMARY OF KEYS NOT AVAILABLE (SAME INFO AS ABOVE IN DIFFERENT FORMAT):
----------------------
 C+Esc
 C+Tab
 C+F4
 C+F6
 C+#69
 C+PrtSc
----------------------
 C+S+Esc
 C+S+Tab
 C+S+F4
 C+S+F6
 C+S+#69
 C+S+PrtSc
-----------------------
 A+Esc
 A+Tab
A+W/E/T/I/P/F/H/V/M/Space
 A+F6
 A+PrtSc
 A+#90
-----------------------
 A+S+Esc
 A+S+Tab
A+S+Space
 A+S+F6
 A+S+PrtSc
 A+S+#90
-----------------------
 C+A+Esc
 C+A+#69
 C+A+Del
 C+A+PrtSc
-----------------------
 C+S+A+Esc
 C+S+A+#69
 C+S+A+Del
 C+S+A+PrtSc


Thanks to all of you for your interest in Nota Bene.

Anne (and Steve)

Anne Putnam
President, Nota Bene Associates, Inc.
aputnam@xxxxxxxx
www.notabene.com
1-800-4NB-ORDER (1-800-462-6733)
212-334-0445
212-334-0845 (fax)