Video Keyboard is a New Desk Accessory for the Apple IIGS providing on-screen emulation of a physical (hardware) ADB keyboard. Its main purpose is to provide an alternative means for entering text data into Apple IIGS desktop applications using only a pointing device. Video Keyboard has all the functionality of a physical keyboard and its use is transparent to the system, making it useful in situations where a hardware keyboard is impractical (such as adaptive access situations). For example, Video Keyboard is an ideal companion for products like Head Master™ (from Prentke Romich), an alternative ADB pointing device.
Video Keyboard acts like a separate ADB keyboard to the IIGS; it is in no way dependent on the presence or absence of an actual hardware keyboard. When used in conjunction with a physical keyboard it behaves (as seen by the system) as if two keyboards are plugged in at the same time; the only difference is that one is on the screen.
Requirements
Apple IIGS System Software version 5.0.2 (or greater) is required when using Video Keyboard. Under version 5.0.2, the user also has access to the Graphics Control Panel which will be helpful in setting Keyboard parameters, many of which affect how Video Keyboard works.
Video Keyboard uses the Geneva 10-point font in drawing some of its key legends. Therefore it is required that this font be included in the fonts directory of the boot disk. Since the Geneva fonts are included with the 5.0.2 system disk, this requirement should not be a problem.
The size of Video Keyboard is about 20K. A 1Meg RAM system (or greater) is suggested for using Video Keyboard (it may work fine with less RAM, we just don't guarantee it will).
Installation
To install Video Keyboard into your system, simply copy the file named VideoKeyboard into the Desk.Accs folder in the System folder of your startup disk and reboot your system.
Video Keyboard Window
When the user selects Video Keyboard from the Apple menu, a keyboard image appears on the screen in a window. If this is the first time Video Keyboard has been opened since the last reboot, the window will appear in the lower left hand corner of the desktop. Although the window covers up about 20% of the screen display, it can be moved to any position on the screen to minimize the obstruction of other windows.
There are four components that make up the Video Keyboard window: the Drag Bar, the Close Box, the Zoom Box, and the actual keyboard image made up of separate Keys. The Video Keyboard window can be moved at anytime by selecting its Drag Bar and dragging (moving the window while the mouse button is down, or whatever is appropriate for a mouse down event, such as using a puff switch). This feature should work even when the current window is a modal dialog. Characters are typed to the current application by selecting the Keys with the cursor (that is, moving the cursor over the key and pressing the mouse button). A key will highlight (turn black) when it it is selected. To close the Video Keyboard window, select the Close Box with the cursor. Selecting the zoom box will cause the Video Keyboard window to zoom to the right to include a numeric keypad. Subsequent selections of the zoom box will toggle between having/not-having a numeric keypad.
Notice that the Drag Bar is colored gray. This is because Video Keyboard is never the active or top window as seen by the Window Manager and applications. Instead, the current application's window (or another DA) will always be the active window. This behavior deviates from a typical Desk Accessory which normally is the active window when it is in use. Even though Video Keyboard is drawn on top of all other windows, it is never marked as being the active or top window. This detour from the normal window protocol is necessary to make Video Keyboard useful. By always keeping the Video Keyboard window inactive, any characters typed using Video Keyboard are guaranteed to get to their destination (the current window).
Video Keyboard remembers the last position of its window when it is closed and reopened. In addition, the modifier keys are automatically cleared when the Video Keyboard window is closed by the user. This means that Video Keyboard always comes up with its modifier keys unselected when it is re-opened. If Video Keyboard is open when an application is launched, it will automatically reopen itself when the new application comes up (provided that the application is desktop-based). The position of the Video Keyboard will be the same as it was before the new application was launched.
When the Video Keyboard window is opened, the menu title in the Apple menu changes from "Video Keyboard" to "About Video Key..." Selecting this second menu will bring up the About Box for Video Keyboard.
Modifier Keys
The five basic modifier keys are available in Video Keyboard just like on a real keyboard: Shift, Control, Option, Command and Caps Lock keys. Their functionality differs slightly, however, from that of a hardware keyboard. A deviation is necessary since one can only select a single key at a time on the video keyboard, and since modifier keys (by nature of their function) need to be selected simultaneously with other keys.
To use a Video Keyboard modifier key, click the cursor once on a modifier key to have it apply to the next normal (non-modifier) key selected. The modifier key highlights (turns black) indicating that it is selected. Now when a normal key is selected it will have the modifier key applied to it. When this key sequence is finished the modifier key will un-highlight (turn white) to signify that it is no longer selected. Multiple modifier keys can be selected together using this method. If the user changes his mind about a selected modifier key he can deselect it by clicking the cursor on it once.
Video Keyboard also provides a way to keep a modifier key down continually. Double click on a modifier key to have it 'stick' — it will then be applied to all subsequent keys. The modifier key remains highlighted indicating that it is permanently selected. To unstick a modifier key click on it again; it will un-highlight to signify that it is no longer selected.
The Caps Lock modifier key is a special case. A single click will make it stick. Selecting it again will unstick it. The Caps Lock key on the hardware keyboard has no effect on Video Keyboard (it is ignored).
Since Video Keyboard behaves like a real keyboard, user interface features like shift-click and shift-drag work fine. For example, double click on the shift key to make it stick and then use the mouse to shift-select or shift-drag an object.
Key Caps
Video Keyboard key caps (key legends) show what will be typed to the application when a printable key is selected. For example if an 'a' is shown on the key cap, an 'a' will be typed when that key is selected. When the Shift, Option or Caps Lock modifier keys are selected, the key caps of all printable keys will redraw to show how the modifiers affect these keys. If the shift key is selected, the shifted key caps will be displayed. Likewise when the option key is selected, the key caps will be displayed using the option characters. And if both the shift and option keys are selected the key caps will be displayed with option-shift characters.
Note: If the Control modifier key is selected, key legends will be drawn in their default state (as if no modifiers were selected). Also when the Shift Caps/Lowercase parameter is turned on in the Control Panel, Video Keyboard will automatically adjust itself so that the key legends are displayed in the proper case.
Key Layout
The layout of keys in Video Keyboard is determined by two factors. These factors are actually parameters that come from the Alphabet Options in the Graphics Control Panel (or the Keyboard/Options menu of the CDA Control Panel). The first factor is the current setting of the Keyboard popup menu. This can be set to one of many selections and it tells the IIGS (ADB microcontroller) what type of keyboard you are using (USA, French, German, Dvorak, etc). The second factor, the Translation popup menu, tells the IIGS (the Event Manager) what type of translation (re-mapping of keys) is currently in effect. Normally there are two options here — Standard (similar to the Macintosh, it allows you to use the Option key in conjunction with other keys to generate international language characters) which is the default and None meaning no translation will take place. Localized versions of System Software may have more Translation options.
Video Keyboard uses the settings of both the Keyboard and Translation parameters to determine how to lay out the keys on its keyboard; changing them will change the positions of some of the keys. Note that this change will be dynamic and Video Keyboard will automatically update its window to reflect the new settings. By supplying a new Key Translation resource, the Video Keyboard can be custom configured. See the Apple IIGS Toolbox Reference Volume 3 (Event Manager Chapter) for more details on making/adding a Key Translation resource.
Key Repeat
Holding down a key (keeping the mouse button down while the key is selected) will invoke the key repeat just like on the hardware keyboard. When the mouse button comes up or the cursor is moved outside of the selected key, the auto repeat will stop. You can change the speed at which keys repeat by using the repeat Speed option, one of the Keyboard Options in the Graphics Control Panel. Likewise the repeat delay can also be changed by using the Delay option in the Keyboard Options.
Escape to CDA Menu (Point of No Return)
When you type the Command-Control-Esc key sequence the CDA menu is enabled utilizing the text screen. Once the text screen comes up the video keyboard is obviously unavailable. You are stuck at this point if you only have access to a pointing device! (oops) To help avoid this unpleasant situation, Video Keyboard will post an alert warning the user about the imminent point of no return. This alert will only be posted if the Command-Control-Esc key sequence came from the video keyboard (not from the hardware keyboard).
