davidl@iSC.intel.com (David Levine) (06/14/91)
I want an INIT (system extension) that will let me manipulate ALL the items in a modal dialog using the keyboard. If you have ever used FrameMaker under SunView (or FrameMaker 1.3 under the X Window System, or possibly other implementations) you'll know exactly what I want. Every dialog box in FrameMaker has a little right-pointing triangle in it. Pressing the tab key moves the triangle to the next item (button, text entry box, check box, radio button, scrolling list, etc.). Pressing Shift-Tab moves the triangle to the previous item. Pressing other keys affects the item pointed to. For example, when the triangle is on a button, pressing the space bar (or any key other than the tab key) presses the button. When the triangle is on a check box, pressing the space bar toggles the check box; pressing 1 or 0 sets the check box to the appropriate state. When the triangle is on a pop-up menu, pressing the up or down arrow key selects the previous or next item in the menu; pressing letter keys selects the first item that begins with the given letter(s). And so on... the complete list is in Appendix A of the FrameMaker reference. In addition to the above, pressing Enter is always equivalent to OK and pressing Ctrl-C is always equivalent to Cancel. These keyboard shortcuts make it (almost) possible to use FrameMaker without touching the mouse, if that's what you want. Of course, everything except typing can be done with the mouse, if that's what you prefer. (I use a combination of techniques.) If this INIT, or one like it, exists, please tell me where I can get a copy. (I don't think QuicKeys can do this... can it?) Commercial software is fine (in fact, would be preferred!). It must work with all applications under both System 6 and System 7, of course. It would be nice if the user could configure what keys perform what actions. If this INIT does not exist, I think it would be a cool hack and might be fun for someone to write. Here's an added incentive: if there's no commercial product that does this, I'll pay $50.00 to the author of the first PD or shareware INIT I receive that works (really works) as described above. How's that? - David D. Levine, Intel Supercomputer Systems Division davidl@ssd.intel.com - or - davidl@isc.intel.com "Inconceivable!" "I don't think that word means what you think it means." (P.S. If this functionality is provided by Easy Access or something obvious like that, you have my permission to call me a bazootyhead in public.)
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) (06/15/91)
In article <1407@ssdintel.isc.intel.com> davidl@iSC.intel.com (David Levine) writes:
I want an INIT (system extension) that will let me manipulate ALL the
items in a modal dialog using the keyboard.
[...]
If this INIT, or one like it, exists, please tell me where I can get a
copy. (I don't think QuicKeys can do this... can it?) Commercial
software is fine (in fact, would be preferred!). It must work with
all applications under both System 6 and System 7, of course. It would
be nice if the user could configure what keys perform what actions.
DiskTop comes with something called "DialogKeys" which does pretty
much what you want. I don't know whether it works with System 7 or
not, however. Pressing TAB cycled you through the buttons in a
dialog; RETURN was the equivalent of clicking in the selected button.
Having used it only briefly myself, you may want to give CE Software a
call and ask if it'll do what you want (or perhaps someone else in
this group could better explain).
--
Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart,
Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you."
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com |
cmcl2!esquire!baumgart | - David Lettermansmittie@beach.csulb.edu (Mark Smith) (06/15/91)
It has been my experience so far that I can usually deal with all dialog boxes without touching the mouse. Tab moves me from scroll windows to edit text regions etc while command and the first letter of the word in the button handles most buttons. Command period always seems to Cancel but there are still a few occasions where two buttons start with the same letter. I haven't figured out how to deal with that from the keyboard yet but I'm looking for it. smittie@beach.csulb.edu Gotta love that JAZZ.
samuels@halibut.nosc.mil (Lawrence J. Samuels) (06/16/91)
I've tried out DialogKeys from CE Software (comes with QuicKeys). Under System 7, pressing a key combo of your choice will advance/ backtrack to items in a dialog box, but the key combo to actually 'click' the item wouldn't work for me. I never use it under Sys 6, though, so I may not have been doing it precisely right... fairly idiot-proof though. An update to QuicKeys and, presumably, DialogKeys, is supposed to come out this month. Larry Samuels samuels@nosc.mil
Jahnke@brahms.biosci.arizona.edu (Jerome Jahnke) (06/19/91)
In article <1407@ssdintel.isc.intel.com> davidl@iSC.intel.com (David Levine) writes: >I want an INIT (system extension) that will let me manipulate ALL the >items in a modal dialog using the keyboard. There is a CDEV by Chris Wysocki which was posted to America Online as part of a hack contest. It allows you to control dialog items (as long as the program calls _ModalDialog. The name of the CDEV is "Escapade." Jer, ---- Jerome Jahnke University of Arizona 602 621-3820