In
Stan Brown said:
Why? When a screwdriver is offered to you for free, would
you say "no, no, I want to use a hammer to drive that
screw"?
It may be possible to do in XP, but it's *easy* to do in
Autohotkeys.
1. I don't understand your aversion to 3rd party utilities,
but it's certainly your right to do as you wish.
2. If you do much typing on the keyboard, you might like to
think about using a programmable keyboard.
They cost around $100, so you'd only want to seriously
consider this one if it's a day-in day-out typing situation
for you.
I'm using an Adesso keyboard at the moment which has two sets
of Function keys, the regular and one down the left side of
the keyboard, PLUS it has two more rows of 12 keys each above
the Function keys, all of which are programmable to do
anything you want to do. Go into Program mode, press a PF key,
type what you want to store there, and exit program mode. Now,
next time you press that PF key it'll spit out whatever you
typed into it.
Only con: keycap legends seem to wear off easily and
quickly. So if you're not a touch typist, it can be a PIA.
I also have a Cherry keyboard which also has the two rows
of 12 PF keys on top but no left sideFunction keys; just the
standard ones. You get 10 "levels" of programming for each key
on that keyboard, so in essence it will hold up to 240
different keyboard macros for you. It's overkill for many
people as it's really meant for POS work, but ... for a
programmer it's really great. Switching from one level to
another only requires two keystrokes: Swltch Level and the
number key of the level you want.
3. This might be what you need most: You CAN write macros for
XP and assign key combinations for them. It's great if you
only have up to 8 or ten at the most you need to use, because
you then have to remember them, but macros are the way most
people would solve your issues, IMO. Start by reading in Help
& Support and then go online and check out a couple of
tutorials. Macro writing is really very easy once you get used
to it, and since all you really want is sets of text for each
one, would be easy to create. Create one, and the rest would
be the same procedure. You might even get help with it on the
right newsgroup/s.
4. The final solution I'd recommend is a 3rd party application
called RemoteKeys, a bit of a misnomer, which is very
powerful, free, and will handle your situation and many others
very well.
5. I don't think there's anything wrong with Hotkeys, either,
BTW. There are boatloads of free 3rd party programs that would
help you out and would match your level of expertise, whatever
it may be.
HTH,
Twayne`
