ÈOTKEY
ÂY ÒICHARD ÐENN

ÉMAGINE YOU'RE USING A WORD PROCESSOR AND YOU FIND YOU NEED TO MAKE A CALCULATION, SO YOU CLICK ON AN ON-SCREEN CALCULATOR, DO THE FIGURING, AND RESUME WORKING. ÔHEN THE PHONE RINGS, AND AS YOU'RE TALKING, YOU CLICK ON A CALENDAR TO CONFIRM AN APPOINTMENT.

ÉF YOU THINK CREATING POP-UP ACCESSORIES SUCH AS THESE IS POSSIBLE ONLY FOR AN EXPERT PROGRAMMER USING MACHINE LANGUAGE, THINK AGAIN: ÙOU CAN EASILY CREATE THEM IN ÂASIC WITH ÈOTKEY.

ÔHE ÇOOD ÓTUFF

ÔO SEE ÈOTKEY IN ACTION, LOAD AND RUN THE DEMO PROGRAM AS YOU WOULD ANY ÂASIC PROGRAM. ÔHE DEMO CALCULATOR USES THE SAME KEYS AS A POCKET CALCULATOR, EXCEPT TO CLEAR THE DISPLAY YOU PRESS HOME.

ÔHE ÈOT ËEY ÓETUP

ÔHE UTILITY WORKS BY SETTING UP THE Æ1 KEY AS A "HOT KEY" WITHIN YOUR ÂASIC PROGRAMS. ÐRESSING Æ1 PUTS THE ÂASIC PROGRAM ON HOLD AND EXECUTES THE CODE FOR THE POP-UP DESK ACCESSORY (SUCH AS MY CALCULATOR). ÐRESSING Æ1 AGAIN RETURNS YOU TO THE MAIN PROGRAM AS IF YOU HAD NEVER LEFT. ÔHINK OF IT AS A POWERFUL ÇOSUB KEY THAT JUMPS TO A SUBROUTINE WITH ITS OWN SCREEN, ÖÉÃ-ÉÉ CHIP AND VARIABLES.

ÔO USE ÈOTKEY, ADD LINE 60 OF THE DEMO TO THE BEGINNING OF YOUR ÂASIC PROGRAM. ÔHEN YOU WILL NEED TO ADD THE TWO COMMANDS ÓÙÓ 49752,ÌÉÎÅ AND ÓÙÓ 49877 TO YOUR ÂASIC PROGRAM.ÔHE FIRST ENABLES ÈOTKEY AND POINTS TO THE FIRST LINE OF THE DESK ACCESSORY SUBROUTINE (I.E., THE LINE THAT PRESSING Æ1 JUMPS THE PROGRAM TO). ÐLACE THIS COMMAND NEAR THE START OF YOUR PROGRAM. ÔHE SECOND COMMAND DISABLES ÈOT-KEY. ÔHIS IS AN OPTIONAL COMMAND, TO BE USED AT YOUR DISCRETION. 

ÐROGRAMMING ÄESK ÁCCESSORIES

ÆROM THE TOP DOWN, A ÂASIC PROGRAM WITH ÈOTKEY DESK ACCESSORIES MUST BE ORGANIZED AS FOLLOWS: ÆIRST COMES THE MAIN APPLICATION PROGRAM, ALONG WITH ANY SUBROUTINES, FOLLOWED BY THE DESK ACCESSORY CODE, WRITTEN AS A SEPARATE PROGRAM. ÁT THE BEGINNING OF THE MAIN PROGRAM IS THE LINE TO LOAD THE ÈOTKEY.ML FILE INTO MEMORY (LINE 60 OF THE DEMO), FOLLOWED BY THE COMMAND ÓÙÓ 49752,ÌÉÎÅ (AS EXPLAINED ABOVE). ÔHE MAIN PROGRAM SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO THE DESK ACCESSORY CODE ONLY THROUGH THE HOT KEY.

×HEN Æ1 IS PRESSED, ALL IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAIN PROGRAM SUCH AS ÂASIC POINTERS, VARIABLES, SCREEN AND COLOR MEMORY, AND THE ÖÉÃ-ÉÉ CHIP ARE SAVED. ÔHEN ÂASIC JUMPS TO THE CHOSEN SUBROUTINE AND EXECUTES IT. ÔHIS SUBROUTINE HAS ITS OWN VARIABLES (2559 BYTES STORED AT MEMORY LOCATIONS (50689-53247), WHICH ARE CLEARED EACH TIME YOU PRESS Æ1. ÔHE DISPLAY, HOWEVER, IS NOT CLEARED, SO POP-UP TOOLS CAN BE PRINTED OVER THE CURRENT SCREEN FOR A WINDOW EFFECT. ÔHE ONLY QUIRK IS THAT THE CURSOR IS POSITIONED ONE COLUMN TO THE RIGHT OF THE "HOME" CORNER.

ÎO SCREEN OR SPRITE CHANGES MADE BY A SUBROUTINE CALLED BY ÈOTKEY ARE PERMANENT. ÔHE UTILITY REMEMBERS WHERE YOU WERE, AND PRESSING Æ1 RESTORES THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM. ÔHE ONLY EXCEPTION IS THE ÓÉÄ CHIP, WHICH CANNOT BE PEEKED, AND THEREFORE CANNOT BE SAVED.ÉF YOU WANT TO HAVE SEVERAL DESK ACCESSORIES, INCLUDE A MENU AT THE BEGINNING OF THE HOT KEY SUBROUTINE SO THE USER CAN CHOOSE THE ONE THEY WANT.

×HEN PROGRAMMING POP-UP ACCESSORIES, IT'S BEST TO WRITE THEM SEPARATELY, AND MERGE THEM WITH THE MAIN PROGRAM ONCE THEY'RE DEBUGGED. ÔHIS IS BECAUSE ONLY THE MAIN SET OF VARIABLES IS AVAILABLE TO THE ÂASIC EDITOR. ÉF YOU PRESS RUN/STOP WHILE A HOT KEY SUBROUTINE IS RUNNING AND THEN TYPE PRINT A, THE VALUE OF A IN THE MAIN PROGRAM, AND NOT THE SUBROUTINE, WILL BE RETURNED.

ÅVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PROGRAM YOUR OWN ACCESSORIES, USE THE CALCULATOR FROM THE DEMO IN YOUR OWN PROGRAMS BY INCLUDING LINES 50-90 AND 1000-1390.ÎEW ÌOOK AND ÆEELÈOTKEY GIVES ÂASIC A NEW LOOK AND FEEL. ÎEVER BEFORE COULD ÂASIC PROGRAMS BE SO USER-FRIENDLY, NOR DID THE PROGRAMMER HAVE SO MUCH POWER AT HIS FINGERTIPS. ÔHE CLICK-ON ACCESSORY POSSIBILITIES ARE LIMITED ONLY BY YOUR PROGRAMMING PROWESS AND YOUR IMAGINATION.