Re: Keystroke switching in multitasking environments

[wolfie@xxxxxxxx (Wolfgang Bechstein)]

Martin Johnson wrote:

>I am also running Windows 95 and whilst I can configure the keyboard to open
>xyWrite, every time I activate the short cut (once xywrite is open) it opens
>another copy. How do I prevent this?

I've just verified it several times, but in my setup, pressing the
shortcut key combination for XyWrite opens the program only when it
is not yet open. After the DOS/Xy window has been opened, pressing
Shift-Alt-Y from anywhere else in Windows just takes me to the Xy
window, it does not start another copy of the program. HOWEVER,
this is only true when I use the keyboard. If I click on the shortcut
icon for Xy/DOS that I have placed on the desktop, another copy of the
program is opened. (To use the mouse for moving to an already opened
Xy/DOS window, one has to click on the corresponding task bar icon.)

One possible factor that may account for different behavior in your
system is this: I have assigned a keyboard combination only to the
SHORTCUT ICON for Xy/DOS, not to the program itself (when I say "the
program", I mean the batch file that starts it).

I'm afraid this is about as much info as I can provide. As for how to
assign keyboard shortcuts to programs in Win95, the procedure I use
is as follows: create a shortcut icon for the program (which you can
place on your desktop or in any folder), then right-click on the shortcut
icon, open "Properties" and find the entry for "Shortcut key". You can
use shifted or unshifted function keys or any Ctrl-Alt-
or Shift-Alt- combination--but watch out for conflicts
with key combinations already used by application programs themselves.

Incidentally, my shortcut key for XyWrite for Windows also works just
as described above: it opens the program only once and then switches
to it from anywhere in Windows (including the desktop or another DOS window).

Sorry if this is not very helpful. Given the cornucopia of possible
hardware and software combinations these days, I sure am glad I am not
making my living as a tech support person.

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Wolfgang Bechstein                   
Technical translator            Japanese / English / German
Sakura, Japan          Tel 81-43-461-5911 Fax 81-43-461-5910
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