Keyboard shortcut keys

[LarryLogic]

I want to use Ctrl+1 thru 9 short cut keys for scripts after I assemble the program. I don't want the tool bars visible. I can't find a way to do both.

OR and is there a way to create your own shortcut keys (use the F1 keys without the Ctrl.)

Larry

[CobaltSky]

Hello LarryLogic,

To ensure that the toolbars are not available, include the command:

Allow Toolbars [Off]

In your start-up script.

Then, if you script the functions that you want to be attached to modifier keys set the scripts to appear as the first ten entries on the script menu,. they will be available to be triggered by the ctrl-1 thru ctrl-9 key combinations.

If you want to go further than this, you would need to look at third party software such as:

Menu Control (plug-in from Dacons International)

http://www.dacons.net/fmplugins/index.html

or

Quickeys for Windows (standalone scripting utility from CE Software)

http://www.cesoft.com/products/qkwin.html

In either case, a whole lot more flexibility is offered - but there is a cost.

[Anatoli]

CobaltSky said:

Hello LarryLogic,

To ensure that the toolbars are not available, include the command:

Allow Toolbars [Off]

In your start-up script.

Then, if you script the functions that you want to be attached to modifier keys set the scripts to appear as the first ten entries on the script menu,. they will be available to be triggered by the ctrl-1 thru ctrl-9 key combinations.

If you want to go further than this, you would need to look at third party software such as:

[color:"red"] Y E S !

I know it all the time! One day I will correct something, what Ray wrote!

Yippee!

Well it is not so great omission but at least something.

RE: they will be available to be triggered by the ctrl-1 thru ctrl-9 key combinations.

It will be ctrl-1 through ctrl-9 *and* ctrl-0.

[color:"red"]YES!

[CobaltSky]

Oh! umm - err... Quite so!

Thanks Anatoli!

[LarryLogic]

Thanks,

I wanted to get rid of the toolbar all together. After I save it to a standalone application, I don't want my customers to be able to do anything that I don't have available on the screen.

I can do with out the shortcuts. The problem is, without shortcut keys, IF the mouse fails, there is no way to open a new record from the keyboard.

Larry

[CobaltSky]

Allow Toolbars [Off] in your start-up script will get rid of the toolbars altogether.

A new record script as one of the first ten scripts on the scripts menu will give you a keyboard shortcut to create new records.

[LarryLogic]

I have added Toolbar{Off} into a script and made it so it performs that script when I open the file. The Tool bar is still visable. Editing features can be turned of but it is visable.

Also, I understand the shortcut keys. They don't work when you create a standalone solution. Without them, how do you open a new record without a mouse?

Apparently I am having trouble explaining myself.

To clarify:

I believe that WHEN you save to a standalone program, using Filemaker developer tool, you CAN'T have NO toolbar and still use shortcut keys.

Larry

[Vaughan]

Do you mean "menu bar" rather than "tool bar"?

[CobaltSky]

LarryLogic said:

To clarify:

I believe that WHEN you save to a standalone program, using Filemaker developer tool, you CAN'T have NO toolbar and still use shortcut keys.

Larry

Larry,

I have used the developer tool many many times to create standalone solutions and I have never had any difficulty banishing the toolbars nor getting shortcut keys to work in the bound end-user solution.

There are only three situations I'm aware of when shortcut keys will not work or not appear to work in a bound solution. One is if the solution is bound into kiosk mode and the other is if the scripts are dependent on hard-coded filenames and the file names are changed when binding the solution (in which case the shortcuts still work but the scripts they trigger may not produce expected outcomes. The third is when a third party plug-in (eg MenuControl, SecureFM etc) has been used to disable the shortcut keys, and is bundled with the runtime.

As for Toolbars it seems you are referring to something else other than the horizontal strip of icons that normally appears near the top of the screen (below the menu bar) when you choose the 'Toolbar' command from the 'View' menu, because the Allow Toolbars[ ] script command does control the toolbar - including in standalone solutions.

It is possible that, as Vaughan suggests, that you are referring to the Menu Bar along the top of the screen (or FileMaker Application Window in Windows) - or perhaps to the 'Status Area' which appears at the left of the screen with the flip book navigation tool and layouts menu on it.

If you're referring to the Status Area, that can also be controlled by script, by using the command 'Toggle Status Area [Hide, Lock]' - also within your start-up script.

If you're referring to the 'Menu Bar', then to modify or remove it you will either have to use the developer tool to invoke kiosk mode or deploy a third-party plug-in that alters the menu bar. In either case, the keyboard shortcuts will then be affected.

[LarryLogic]

Daaa, I'm sorry! There is the confusion. I'm thinking Menu Bar and saying Tool Bar

I'm "self taught" and therefore didn't have a very good teacher.

Does my question make more sense now?

Larry

[CobaltSky]

Hi Larry.

That explains it. Kudos to Vaughan for picking up on that.

The only 'FM native' way to get rid of the menu bar entirely is to use the developer tool to select kiosk mode - and kiosk mode is a 'package deal' that will also disable shortcut keys and blank out the window borders, scroll bars and screen background outside for the FM window.

You can of course selectively disable the majority of menu commands using password privileges, leaving the shortcut keys operable.

However if you want more control, you're going to have to look at third party options such as the 'Display Toolbox' option:

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Network/9327/plPLUGs.html

- which will remove the menu bar without changing the background or disabling keyboard shortcuts.

Both kiosk and plug-in feature sets may configured to work with equal effect either in runtime or FMP-based operation.

[SteveB]

Ray, I use a key modifier in a kiosk without a problem.

Steve

[CobaltSky]

Hi Steve,

Modifier keys yes. But we're talking about the Ctrl+0 throuh Ctrl+9 key combinations being used to trigger scripts.

They don't work in any of my kiosks (ie ones created with the developer tool) nor in any of the FM native kiosks created by others that I've used or worked on. Moreover this is documented by FMI, and from v4.0 and on, even the editing Keyboard Shortcuts are disabled in kiosk mode, as referenced in the following Tech Info article:

http://www.filemaker.com/ti/105770.html

If you're able to trigger scripts from the keyboard in kiosks it would be interesting to try to ascertain why that is - and it might provide Larry with another option?!

[LarryLogic]

Thanks everybody. It's wonderful to have people like yourselves and a forum like this to share ideas and learn.

I'm new here and I've been researching the archives. Apparently this is a very common problem.

You could assign commands to F1-F10 keys in BASIC 20 years ago.

I think I'll stick with FileMaker, It's a super way to make programs.

Thanks again

Larry