Keyboard Notes

The Print Screen key only captures the Active Application. Maximize the Active application, then use the Print Screen Key to capture a full screen of the display.

The Pause Key properly generates the keystrokes, and sends them to the active application - the application must respond to these keystrokes for any action or pause to occur.

The Ctrl-Break, Ctrl-Alt-Del, and Sys-Rq Combinations are not supported. However, by assigning executables to the appropriate key, certain emulations can occur. As an example, the default install includes a sample of emulating the Ctrl-Alt-Del sequence to restart Windows.

The Alt-Tab combination works properly, but if used from OnScreen the user will find that only the "top" 2 windows cycle. This is caused by the way Windows re-sorts windows in the Window Manager list. The "quick-switch / select" window is not visible when the Alt-Tab combination is generated by OnScreen. Some tricks can be used by creating macros with Alt-Tab-Tab, or Alt-Tab-Tab-Tab, since these will select windows deeper down the list. For example, Alt-Tab-Tab from a macro panel will cycle through the top 3 windows in the list.

Using the Shift-F10 combo to bring up property & context menus operates correctly, but additional keyboard functionality is not available when these menus are open.

DOS Windows must operate within the "tty" class within windows, and if you have trouble using the arrow or edit keys in a DOS Window, try turning the Num-Lock off.

Some combo boxes and password entry dialogs do not accept keystrokes and appear to lose focus. This is because of internal operation of the Windows operating system and certain security measures enforced to prevent "software" from comprimising the security of passwords, etc. Contact IMG for additional options available to resolve any mission critical requirements.

KMF layouts, Windows Regional Settings, Windows Keyboard Layouts, etc. At first glance, it would seem that a keyboard is pretty straightforward, and in most cases, it is. However, differences in physical keyboards & physical keyboard layouts, changes to the computer keyboard over time & different manufacturer approaches, along with international/cultural requirements, has turned keyboard handling into quite a complicated affair. In order to isolate differences between different versions of Windows, expectations of operation, and other issues, each supported layout is contained in a KMF (Keyboard Macro File). In general, these are intended to be used in the region & with the appropriate version of Windows.

While people do not complain that their physical keyboard does not change to match the symbols generated, when using a virtual keyboard, this type of operation is expected. The key labels are also contained within the KMF file, and OnScreen will display the key labels for what is generated from the appropriate Windows Keyboard Layout. If you are experiencing inconsistencies between what is displayed and what is typed, then it is probably related to the selected Windows keyboard layout (see Control Panel | Keyboard). This is handled differently in different versions of Windows (not only platforms, but international releases).

KMFs & KBFs & Build-A-Board

The original design used a KBF (KeyBoard File) to track the physical appearance (keys, panels, size, etc.) (i.e. imagine a blank keyboard), and a KMF (Keyboard Macro File) to track key labels & key operation. This works well when a pure physical keyboard emulation approach is used, since each KMF will result in the display of different labels, but the relative appearance of the shape & size & key relationships remains the same. For example, if you place physical keyboards from different countries next to each other, they will look pretty much the same except for the key labels.

When Build-A-Board was designed, a completely different approach was used, wherein each layout file would contain everything necessary in a single file, the KBF (KeyBoard File). So KBF files greater than 2.00 not only contain keys, panels, & size information, but also key labels & key operation information.