Re: Can keyboard assignment use Windows key?

["Martin J. Osborne" osborne@xxxxxxxx]

Carl,

Many thanks---this sounds like an interesting challenge! I'll see what
I can come up with and report back.


Martin

On 1/8/2011 2:52 AM, Carl Distefano wrote:
> 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.


--
Martin J. Osborne
http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/osborne

Theoretical Economics
http://econtheory.org

PoET
http://theory.economics.utoronto.ca/poet