software remapping of caps lock, control, etc.

[Peter Evans peterev@xxxxxxxx]

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

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Peter Evans, mailing list pest
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