typing

[petrov]

hallo out there!
i'm using an iGesture numpad.
my question: is it possible to have the dot remaining also if the main keyboard is set to uppercase?
thank you for any suggestion!
peter

[TorbenGB]

As far as I know, the FW pads just do what normal keyboards would do. I think you're asking about the numerical decimal point key on the iGesture Numpad, right? If you have your main keyboard in CAPS LOCK then it will not affect punctuation, but if you hold SHIFT then punctuation will be affected -- both on your keyboard and the iGesture.
Unfortunately the MyGesture Editor only allows mapping of entire keys to a surface area -- it would be handy sometimes to be able to map distinct lower- and uppercase characters.

[petrov]

thank you, Torben!
i'd appreciated it to learn something else, but i hope a future version of MyGestureEditor will have the functionality i need.

[TorbenGB]

I'm sorry Petrov, did you not hear? There will not *be* a future version of MyGestureEditor (unless we code it ourselves!). It's not at all likely that whoever bought FW is going to continue to support this product line. We have to make do with what we have.

[eve]

I have no iGesture so can't play but there are many things that can be done directly inside the XML that the Editor doesn't provide for.

Has anybody tried something like what is asked here?

cheers
eve

[ivanw]

I don't have an iGesture at hand to try what I am suggesting here but you will tell me...

Taken from the default configuration data used by the editor when it looks in FW_defaults.jar file:

The file FW_igesture_numpadkeys.xml defines the keys layout of theses products:
igesture numpad fivnumpad gestretro retro microstation.

It contains the following entry:
<pre> <TapArea xcenter="9.9" ycenter="0.1" isRectangular="true" width="1.9" height="1.9"
macro_name=" . " layoutContext="NumLock ScrollLock" >
<KeyEvent keyCode="Numpad." />
</TapArea></pre> You can try to redefine this key without the layoutContext="NumLock ScrollLock" atttribute in your configuration file.
This restriction will not apply any more when you enter some other context...

[petrov]

good morning, Ivanw!
thank you for your answer.
i dont have experience enough in programming to understand what you suggest. i didn't find the FW_igesture_numpadkeys.xml so i couldn't try it out.
can you or somebody else give me some further explanations.
thank you!
peter

@Torben
no i didn't know that the fingerworks products probably will not be developed any longer. what a pity!

[ivanw]

Good morning, petrov!
Here are some details about how to understand my programing small talk:
First you have to save some customization file of yours with the MyGesture editor program.
- If you did not play with this one, some starter advice could be worth here too...

The result of doing that is a file you will find here:


You have to modify the xml file you created there. You can do that with Notepad. Just insert the THREE extra lines before the closing </MTS_config> tag on the last line. This will override the default internal definition of the punctuation key.
- Just ignore the FW_igesture_numpadkeys.xml file, it is out of sight in the FW_defaults.jar Fingerworks library file. I've mentioned it only for those interested with editor initialization.

As we do not have the same device, this gives me an extra key
Anyway, here is what I get:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE MTS_config>
<MTS_config MTS_config_version="1.60" min_firmware_version="1.46">
    <RequireLib name="FW_main" />
    <MacroLibrary />
    <UserOptions driverContext=" win qwerty" layoutContext=" numlock us101" enable_pinky_gamebutton="true">
        <EnabledRighthandGestures list=" scroll_mouse clipboard_op text_styles file_op window_op text_nav modifier
        <EnabledLefthandGestures list=" clipboard_op text_styles text_nav modifier_chord weird_chords" />
        <EnabledBimanualGestures list="" />
    </UserOptions>

►    <TapArea xcenter="9.9" ycenter="0.1" isRectangular="true" width="1.9" height="1.9"
►        <KeyEvent keyCode="Numpad." />
►    </TapArea>

</MTS_config>

Note that this may do the trick or not, whether I am right or wrong on both understanding the problem and giving an effective -untested- solution.
Let us know if this is still unclear. As I am still a programmer, I may use strange ways when I explain things I pretend to know about

[petrov]

hello Ivanv!
thanks a lot for your extensive answer!
it has helped me to accomplish to make the dot-key independent of the shift-key, but there has been a side effect that i don't understand.
now the dot-key produces a comma and whatever i've tried i can't get back the dot also if i manually define it via the myGestureEditor or reset to factory defaults!
but the side effect itself has had the side effect again that my numpad now behaves like my main keyboard which i have modified insofar that i have installed a tool which adds a keyboard layout to the system that differs from the default layout just in a single point. it changes the comma-key on the numerical block to a dot-key. and if i set this active then also the numpad has a dot on the dot-key independent of the shift-key setting on the main keyboard. but only if i've changed the .xml-file in the way you suggested it.
so finally i've been successful in the end thanks to your help.
thank you very much!
peter

[ivanw]

Oh, my mistake! - only the layoutContext attribute should be removed. (I even dropped the first ">" character).

Code: Select all

<TapArea xcenter="9.9" ycenter="0.1" isRectangular="true" width="1.9" height="1.9"
  macro_name="." layoutContext="NumLock ScrollLock">
 <KeyEvent keyCode="Numpad." />
</TapArea>

becomes:

Code: Select all

<TapArea xcenter="9.9" ycenter="0.1" isRectangular="true" width="1.9" height="1.9"
  macro_name="." >
 <KeyEvent keyCode="Numpad." />
</TapArea>

[petrov]

hello Ivanw!

as mentioned i've found my workaround but this just to give feedback.

this is my user-xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE MTS_config>
<MTS_config MTS_config_version="1.60" min_firmware_version="1.46">
<RequireLib name="FW_main" />
<MacroLibrary />
<UserOptions driverContext=" win qwerty" layoutContext=" numlock" toggle_numlock_internally="true" european_50Hz_filter="true" tap_timeout_ms="512" typematic_hold_ms="640">
<EnabledRighthandGestures list=" scroll_mouse fivefinger_mouse three_buttons clipboard_op file_op window_op text_nav pengrip_op tap_range_chord weird_chords search_edit" />
<EnabledLefthandGestures list="" />
<EnabledBimanualGestures list="" />
</UserOptions>
<TapArea xcenter="4.00" ycenter="3.05" xradius="1.00" isRectangular="true" surface_version="8" macro_name=" InvisibleKey0 " lib="user">
<KeyEvent keyCode="F2" />
</TapArea>
[b]<TapArea xcenter="9.90" ycenter="0.10" xradius="0.95" isRectangular="true" macro_name=".">
<KeyEvent keyCode="Numpad." />
</TapArea>
</MTS_config>

anyway, the behavior remains the same:
the dot-key gives me a comma.

[ivanw]

The macro_name="." part does not comply with the observable syntax by a very faint detail that may be the issue:

The dot character should be preceded by ONE space and followed by TWO spaces as follows: " . "

Here is the original entry from the default file FW_igesture_numpadkeys.xml:
<pre><TapArea xcenter="9.9" ycenter="0.1" isRectangular="true" width="1.9" height="1.9"
macro_name=" . " layoutContext="NumLock ScrollLock">
<KeyEvent keyCode="Numpad." />
</TapArea></pre>As this character string is an identifier delimited by the surrounding double quotes, spaces should be considered significant here.
Anyway, this is worth a try if you are not too bored yet

[Rqyteqto]

You are amazing. Whether or not this is the answer, your attention to detail is fantastic.

[ivanw]

Rqyteqto, I believe that anything valuable is such because of the details. Even great ideas like Westerman's must be followed by an incredible amount of work on countless details. That makes me sense the urge to be as smart and patient as possible while exploring this subject.

I am so sure that we should experiment all the topics brought by this forum members to learn about the unexplored possibilities. This is why I am willing to post on any issue on which I can have some "valuable" input. Involvements brings me more insight whether I happen to be helpful or not

This post is mainly motivated by my will to encourage those who have less technical insight about FW devices. Please, share anything you have in mind that could be achieved through customization. I would even welcome funny ideas, those happen to be the best ones at the end
I am really happy about how I could eliminate ALL reaches thanks to left hand modifier gestures. I am curious about how far we can go with ideas like these...