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1991-12-05
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Documentation for MenuKey 1.0
Written by Mark Thomas
Copyright © 1991 by Mark Thomas.
All rights reserved.
This program is freely distributable.
Purpose:
MenuKey was written as a response to a couple of my co-workers at New
Horizons Software, Inc. and as an extension on an idea expressed in CygnusEd
Professional. It is an attempt to get more use out of the Left Amiga key.
The role that CygnusEd plays in this is that within CygnusEd you can use
either Amiga key for the menu key equivalents. This is not supported by
Commodore as only the Right Amiga key is to be used for menu equivalents.
Also, a couple of people as work wanted to be able to cut, copy, and paste
from either Amiga key. With these two things in mind, and a determination
to be compatible with the system, I designed this 2.0 Commodity.
Requirements:
Any Amiga computer running AmigaDOS 2.0.
Functionality:
MenuKey is a commodity that simply waits for the Left Amiga key to be
pressed in combination with some keyboard key, at which time, it changes the
Left Amiga qualifier to a Right Amiga qualifier. There are exceptions to this
rule, for compatibility reasons. First, if that keyboard key happens to be a
system key then the qualifier is left alone. The system keys are the four
keys that when hit in combination with the Left Amiga key, do one of four
things: Retry on a requester (usually V), Cancel a on requester (usually B),
Flip to Workbench Screen (usually N), and Flip to next screen (usually M).
Menu key does read in from preferences what the real equivalents are for these
keys, when it starts up. I had originally intended for MenuKey to
automagically adjust to new key settings when preferences is changed, but I
am having a little trouble finding the right magic to do that. So, the system
keys are read in when the program is first executed, and only when the program
is first executed. If preferences are changed, MenuKey will have to be killed
and then restarted in order to recognize the new preference settings of the
system keys. I will try to fix this in a later version.
Also of importance for persons worried about key bindings involving the
Left Amiga key in combination with other qualifiers, such as CTRL, SHIFT,
ALT, and others, if MenuKey detects that another qualifier key is being held
down in combination with the Left Amiga key, then the Left Amiga key will
still be the Left Amiga key.
NewShellCX, Mach II and III, and other utilities users, here is a
warning. Left Amiga and ESC together will get remapped by MenuKey. Some
programs use this key combination to open a new shell for you. Here is the
good news: you can use MenuKey and these programs together just fine. Here's
what to do. For a program like NewShellCX that is another commodity, all you
have to do to get NewShellCX to recognize Left Amiga - ESC is to run it first,
then run MenuKey. If you put NewShellCX and MenuKey in your WBStartup drawer,
the easiest way to get one to run before another is to use the STARTPRI
tooltype. Put 'STARTPRI=1' in the tooltypes of NewShellCX and 'STARTPRI=0' in
the tooltypes of MenuKey.
Another option that works just as well for commodities as for other non-
commodity programs is to use the CX_PRIORITY tooltype. This tooltype allows
you to change at which point MenuKey 'sees' an input event. I don't know, but
say that Mach II has it's input handler at a priority of 15, then just running
MenuKey and specifying no priority will suffice as the default priority for
MenuKey is 0. However, say that Mach II was at a priority of 0, then either
run Mach II before you run MenuKey, or add 'CX_PRIORITY=-1' to the tooltypes
of MenuKey. Also, remember that when running other commodities, the
CX_PRIORITY tooltype will override the STARTPRI tooltype. None of the above
on Mach II has been tested, but it is my belief that it will work as stated.
If not, sorry, no guarantes. Also, if it doesn't work, let me know and I'll
change the documentation. The information on NewShellCX, however, does work
fine, as I have that and use it.
Where to reach me:
Internet: amigamat@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
GEnie : M.THOMAS24
USMail : Mark Thomas
2005 Willow Creek Dr. #2117
Austin, Texas 78741