Gold key alternatives for simple keyboards

I read a post from 2018 that listed Gold key alternatives to the + key on the numeric keypad for laptops that don't have a numeric keypad. We are a Windows shop and use a slightly modified version of the MSWINX keyboard table in the USYS library.

A suggested alternative was ctrl+shift+F1 which is coded as ^131^101 ^GOLD in the keyboard table. However, this does not work; it pops up a Windows "Search for apps, settings, and documents" window.

Another suggestion was ctrl+shift+G (coded as ^131G ^GOLD in the table). This works in the runtime environment but not in the IDE.

Looking for solutions to this issue. Thank you in advance for your help.

Hello James,

we use :

^^ Base definitions: Gold is Gray *

^^    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^136*            ^GOLD        Stern  als Gold-Taste
^130G            ^GOLD        Strg-g als Gold-Taste
^^    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^CHR            GOLD_BASE_SET

Did you define $KEYBOARD in your ASN-File for the IDE?

Kind regards

Norbert

Hello Norbert,

Thank you for your response. Yes, we do have $KEYBOARD set in our IDE assignment file.

Unfortunately, we can't use ^130G as a GOLD key alternative since this is already defined as the ^CLEAR function (and we use this all of the time).

I am currently looking into other alternatives.

Thanks again.

Jim

Hi James
I use "AutoHotKey"  (https://www.autohotkey.com/)
As script I did define: 
^+::send {NumpadAdd}
The result is that  <CTRL>-"+"   simulates the GOLD key (=NumpadAdd)
E.g to enter GOLD-* use
<CTRL>-"+" and then "*" (<SHIFT>-"+")

Ingo

Thank you for your reply, Ingo.

Yes, I did see your auto hot key solution in the 2018 posting but I work for a government agency and they frown on acquisition of 3rd party software (for security reasons) even if it's free. There is a lot of paperwork and justification I would have to go through and frankly, it is not worth the effort.

Just seems strange that Uniface has the ctrl+shift+F1 entry for the Gold key in its MSWINX table (USYS library) and it doesn't work. Rocket/Uniface should have a solution for this.

Thank you again.

Perhaps a completely redundant response from me, but believe me, I have seen this more often with customers.

On modern keyboards, the function keys have two possible functions. One is then F1 to F12, while the other is mapped to a different action. With me, the F1 key is lowering the brightness of the display, but I can map that to really anything with Logitech's software. 
So you have to be sure you are using the F1 function of the F1 key. So that means you might have to press CTRL+SHIFT+Fn+F1.

In my keyboard settings I have set the F1 to F12 function as the default, so if I want to change the screen brightness I must use the Fn key.
I use CTRL+SHIFT+F1 for the GOLD key for many years without any issues. 

Incidentally, I once added the following line in the KTT:
^130[ ^GOLD

Now you would expect that then CTRL+[ would lead to GOLD, but in reality it is GOLD semicolon. I never understood that one, but it's handy.

Thank you for the information regarding the function keys, Peter.

With the Logitech keyboard on my desktop at work, the F1-F12 work as they should without using the fn key. However, I could not get ctrl+shift+F1 to function as the Gold key (even when using the fn key) after putting the ^131^101 line in the KTT.

The ^131^101 (with or without the fn key) on my Dell laptop didn't work either.

One thing I did get to work was a prior suggestion of ctrl+shift+G but only in the runtime environment. I can get nothing to work in the IDE.

Hello,
Whenever I need a Gold key, either I use the On-screen keyboard and a numeric keyboard is available.
... or I copy paste from somewhere else.
I know this is not the perfect solution but it does the trick when it is needed.

Thank you for the information, Stephane.

When I invoke the on-screen keyboard, it does not have the numeric keypad.

However, regarding your second idea, I am able to copy the gold key from help text we have stored in a Message object and paste it where needed and this works great! As you said, not an ideal solution but it does the trick (even in the IDE!).

Thank you for this solution.

James. when you invoke the on screen keyboard click the "Options" key. This gives you access to other settings including option to "Turn on numeric keypad"

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Peter 
Basingstoke GB
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