Using the keyboard to navigate and perform tasks

[Phil St. Romain]

- here are three utilities which enable hot keys and do other tasks; descriptions from their web sites or versiontracker.com -


Keyboard Maestro (http://www.keyboardmaestro.com/): Shareware

For anybody who works on their Mac, Keyboard Maestro is an essential utility to perform many different tasks simply by pressing a few keys. Keyboard Maestro allows you to spend more time working and less time mousing, clicking, and typing to get the work done. Keyboard Maestro has three core features built into it to make working on the Mac much simpler: Hot Keys, Program Switcher, and Clipboard Switcher.


HotApp (http://www.trufsoft.com/HotApp.html): Shareware

HotApp is a utility application that let you assign any hot key to : activate/run an OS X application.
In addition it provide a simple way to switch between the last two active application by pressing ALT-TAB


QuickKeys X (http://www.cesoft.com/products/qkx.html): Commercial

QuicKeys X performs shortcuts that automate the computer tasks you do each day. Unlike other macro utilities, QuicKeys does not require you to learn a sophisticated programming language. All you have to do is tell QuicKeys what shortcut you would like to create. Then choose a trigger (how you play your shortcut) that best suits you. You can scope your shortcut to play within a specific application or all applications. With a simple hot key, toolbar button, menu selection, or timer you'll be working X times smarter, faster, better.

[deanrd7]

Hi Phil,

I bought a USB Smartboard keyboard but it doesn't have an Eject key. I have scoured every website I can think of but cannot find a way to map the Eject function to an Fkey? I'm not even sure you can do it in Quickeys but even if you could, I wouldn't want to spend $60 for an Eject key. :rolleyes:

Any ideas?

BTW - thanks for your excellent tips/hints in these forums. It is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Dean

[Phil St. Romain]

No Escape key? That would make Force/Quit a problem, too, wouldn't it?

Truly, I don't have a clue what the work-around on that might be. There's lots of brain power floating around on this web site, however, so if there's a way to do it, it will show up here eventually.

Glad you like this section, Dean. I'm just passing on a lot of things I've picked up along the way.

Phil

[xchanyazy]

What happens if you're in the finder and you hold down the f12 key for a couple of seconds?

[Phil St. Romain]

xch, that F12 key opens the CD tray on my Powerbook; it does nothing on my iMac.

I saw somewhere a hack to disable that F12 CD tray situation, as it's sometimes a nuisance with F12 being right by the delete button.

What happens on your computer?

[xchanyazy]

I have a g4 tower, and it ejects both the internal dvd-ram, and my external cd burner. I'm not sure if it ever works with a slot loading drive, though.

[deanrd7]

...that is missing. I know I can drop an eject button on the Finder toolbar but I wanted to have a key to do it so I wouldn't have to go to the Finder. Am I lazy or what? :)

Regarding the F12 key in Finder...same thing: I would rather not have to go to the Finder but thanks for the Tip. I 'll pass that along to my girlfriend. She has a Titanium and will appreciate that Tip.

Thanks folks...

Cheers

Dean

[Phil St. Romain]

Ah, my mistake, Dean. Sorry.

No, you're not lazy! :) No more than the rest of us who diddle with all this, that's for sure.

[deanrd7]

I converted to the Mac last April and have been so blown away with it's design and user-friendliness that this is a trivial thing.

It's amazing to be able to have my computer on 24X7 and never have it crash. I'm luck if I can get thru the day without crashing with my windoze machine at work even with just a couple of apps open!

Cheers! :D

[jswitte]

I've got a Windows keyboard and the Option key (Alt) and Command key (Windows[TM] symbol) are switched in physical layout. It doesn't look like Keyboard Maestro will allow remapping of modifiers. Does anybody know if it can be done (the X equivalent of modifying the KCHR and KMAP resources)?

Thanks,
Jim Witte

[RichB]

I don't know how to do it but the source code is available from the developer of CommandAndControl (www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=12438&db=mac), a freeware which swaps the control and option keys as well as remap the right enter key on a G3 laptop.

[Erik the Red]

A friend had this very problem. The work-around that we figured out was to go into iTunes and then command-E. Hope that helps.

[Phil St. Romain]

I see a new utility on versiontracker called Key Xing (http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=11465&db=macosx) and it looks like another good resource for keyboard control of a wide variety of actions. Just FYI. I haven't tried it. $7.00 shareware, but getting excellent reviews.

[bluehz]

Something not mentioned here - the new MaxMenus has programmable key cmds. This new utility is REALLY starting to grow on me - I disliked it at first, but I am really using it a lot now!

[Elisabeth]

I've a similar keyboard problem... not identical, mind, but similar.

My G3/400 is slaved through a KVM that also handles the WinXP and FC3 machines, run out to the monitor and the PS2 mouse and rather old IBM Model M keyboard (most notably used with the old IBM PS/2 systems). It's the keyboard I've used for decades, and I'm rather set in my ways. Sadly, it lacks CMD keys OR the new Win keys, leaving me in a bind for <CMD>-keystroke functions. Newer keyboards are simply too lightweight and fragile for my 90+ wpm typing, learned on an old Underwood manual typewriter, and the Model M is both comfortable and durable (the current one was manufactured in 1985, and still works flawlessly).

Up until a few days ago, I'd been using uControl (http://gnufoo.org/ucontrol/m) to remap the never-used Caps Lock key to Command... dodgy for old time Mac users, but more than workable for me. The trouble is that upon upgrading to 10.3.8, uControl coughed once and promptly unloaded itself. :( It's been noted in the forums for uControl, and a bug is opened for it, but I'm rather stuck at the moment.

Is there another product out there that can accomplish this? I'm fairly sure that the programmers behind uControl will fix this in time, but it's made the G3 amazingly awkward to use. Given that it's become my 'daily driver' it's a point of frustration. Any help or suggestions would be a blessing. Thanks.

[Elisabeth]

Sometime during the course of today, the wonderful folks at uControl (http://gnufoo.org/ucontrol/) released a new version that will work on 10.3.8, getting me up and running properly again. Apologies if I've bothered anyone with my archaic hardware preferences, and clear sailing.

~e

[NeutronMonk]

Though not meaning to hijack this thread, I thought I'd pass along some information for those like Elisabeth who prefer the older mechanical keyboards. There is an excellent discussion here (http://lowendmac.com/misc/05/0110.html) of the merits and differences between the older Apple keyboards (with Alps switches) and the IBM keyboards ("buckling spring" switches), spurred on by the new Matias Tactile Pro (http://matias.ca/tactilepro/) (with the Alps switches, another review (http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/matias-tactilepro-keyboard-review.html)). In the lowendmac.com discussion, there is a link (http://pckeyboard.com/) to a company that still manufactures the IBM style keyboards, including a Linux one and one with a Windows key (http://www.pckeyboard.com/ep104.html).

Cheers, Dave

[voldenuit]

I'm another user of one of those old IBM best-keyboard-ever-made.

The one I use is exactly twenty years old and a real pleasure to use.

I have taken advantage of Tigers keyboard and mouse prefpane feature to remap the control keys completely:

alt-->option
ctrl--> alt
caps lock-->ctrl

That is extremly intuitive as only the rarely needed control key is not in its usual place.
However, there seems to be no way to keep seperate settings for more than one keyboard.

I'm doing this with my powerbook, so IBM at home, internal keyboard on the road.

What would be my best option here ?

1
Trying to find a way to keep both setups and switch easily between them

2
Figure out whether ucontrol works in Tiger

3
Any other brilliant idea

[qwerty denzel]

How about butler and spark?

[voldenuit]

Thank you for the suggestions, but I had something more lightweight in mind.

Either being able to set this up for both keyboard seperately (hello, usboverdrive ;) ), or at least being able to pick between several stored setups.

[ArcticStones]

Where do I find a complete list of shortcut keys available in Tiger?

[ArcticStones]

...but I did find a key to alleviating frustrations. :D

[jswitte]

Hi Phil,
I have scoured every website I can think of but cannot find a way to map the Eject function to an Fkey?

I noticed with my old Apple Extended keyboard (connected via a gMate ADB-USB) that the higher function keys (F14-F17) activated the on-screen contrast controls on my iMac DV. Perhpas the Eject key is mapped similarly. Get on the uControl list (http://gnufoo.org/ucontrol/) and ask them - they might have some ideas.. Although the latest version of Darwin changed the IOHIDDriver.h file in some way to make uControl not work, and difficult to re-engineer again.

Jim