jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) (01/17/89)
Some of the suggestions advanced for improving keyboards and
typing efficiency have been fascinating, but I suspect a few of
them, at least, are some years down the road. There is one way
a person can make key work more efficient right now. I
stipulate in advance that most of you have probably already
thought of it, and I apologize to you for what will be, to you,
restating the obvious. But for those few who might not have
thought of it yet, I suggest programming function keys for
character strings as well as commands.
The extent to which you do this, of course, will be determined by
the number of function keys on your board, and the other demands
on them. For instance, a person whose board has many function keys,
and little other need for them, might program some for strings
as short as "tion" or "ful". Thus, the word traction would require
just 5 strokes, instead of eight:
trac<F1> = traction
and bountiful would need 7 instead of nine.
Those with fewer keys and/or more other needs for them might limit
their use to longer strings that are used more frequently. For
instance, a lawyer in Atlanta might have a key programmed to
type in
City of Atlanta, County of Fulton, State of Georgia.
That, obviously, would be a *major* reduction in strokes. Or an RN
might have one that keyed in
The client presented with a chief complaint of
or a politician might have one programmed to key in
I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might tend to
incriminate me.
Another approach would, of course, be templates. That lawyer might
have a separate file that already contained
TO THE ______ COURT OF APPEALS
SECOND CIRCUIT, COUNTY OF FULTON
Now before this Honorable Court comes ______________, seeking
relief both at law and in equity, for __________________________
________________________________________________________________
Entered this _____ day of ______, 19__.
By:
Reginald Van Gleason II
of:
Casper, Jasper, Hobart,
and Puce
Again, a major saving in strokes, by copying that file into a
new one and just filling in the blanks, rather than typing
the constants over and over again.
As I said, most of you probably already use these methods. But
if there's somone out there who doesn't yet, this can greatly
reduce time and effort. Happy programming!
Jeff Daiell
INDEPENDENCE FOR TEXAS!
--
"You should see me when I'm rested."
-- from "Brigadoon"