Are you a TabletPC User (others may be interested as well)

[drzeller]

I had posted some time ago about wanting a little utility that sat in a corner and let you toggle the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift states. This would be very useful for someone that has a TabletPC with no keyboard or the keyboard not accessible.

Well, I found someone that had created something similar, and he offered me his source code. So, though I am not a "real" programmer, I am messing with it. At the moment, I have modified it to have Alt, Ctrl, Shift, and Enter (and removed a bunch of other stuff that was not related to my purposes).

Here's here you all come in... I want this to stay slim and small, but realize there are probably some additional keys that someone may be interested in. If I were to add one or two more keys, what would you find useful?

No promises on usability/availability... I still have a few kinks to work out, and so far I have only re-used or re-arranged his code. I have not added anything yet.

Let me know your thoughts.

D.

[royblumenthal]

Hiya Drzeller...

Good on you!

One key I can think of that might be useful is a TAB key, so that we can make use of 'ALT-TAB' to cycle through open apps.

Also, something like a RIGHT-CLICK might be useful, cos sometimes the tablet stylus right click sucks quite badly.

Blue skies
love
Roy

[drzeller]

I'll look a these. I'm not sure about how to do the mouse thing, so that one is more iffy!

D.

[ingie01]

Hello drzeller!
I have a wacom intuos3 with those pad thingies.
Are you talking about re assigning those pads?
I don't understand......

[royblumenthal]

Hiya Ingie...

drzeller is referring specifically to TABLET PCs. These are computers where your interface is through a pen on the screen. The keyboards are not accessible when you're in tablet mode, so you need software versions of keys like ALT, TAB, CONTROL, and so on.

Blue skies
love
Roy

[ingie01]

Hi Roy,
Thanks for the clarification. All you rich guys with those envy machines :wink:

[royblumenthal]

I totally recommend that you try and get your hands on one, Ingie!

If money IS a hassle, I'll bet you anything that you'll be seeing second hand, refurbished ones soon from places like INSURANCE COMPANIES.

Such companies normally buy a batch of computers for their salespeople to take on the road. And they normally buy through a contract order. Which means that 12 to 18 months after the purchase, they hand the old ones back, and get newer models.

There may be a hardware reseller in your area who specialises in deals like this. You get refurbished machines for dirt-cheap prices, and they're perfect.

I'll guarantee you that there'll be zillions of Tecra M4s on the market soon, cos they're not Vista-ready, and cannot be MADE Vista-ready (cos of the onboard graphics card, which is built into the motherboard, and cannot be replaced).

So keep your eyes peeled.

And if you thought a Wacom tablet was a life changer, try a tablet pc. They kick all butt.

As for being rich... hehehehehehe... this is my motto... 'I live my art in prosperity and abundance.'

And that entails writing out invoices as often as possible for the cost of the machine. (In other words... try and find a way to charge money for the use of your computer.)

(One of the ways I use my computer to generate money is that I take full advantage of it as a tax-deductible item. Whenever I invoice for things like writing a script, I always include a substantial fee for 'rental of tablet pc and software'. The company that pays me this invoice is not required to deduct income tax for that portion of my bill, so I see more cash than I would if I hadn't itemised the computer. And it legitimises the computer as a business expense when the tax person evaluates my return. See?)

Blue skies
love
Roy

[PVIllustration]

Don't know why I've not been thinking of this sooner, but you guys are aware you can get usb keyboard devices, right?

like this one:

http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/savant_20key.htm

Now, this was just the first one that came up in a google search, so don't take it as a recommendation, but these keyboards come with software that makes every key programmable (incl. macros, you know strings of keypresses).
I know people that have one for every major program they use - Like one for 3dsMax and one for Photoshop just to make their workflow faster, but also to take stress off their mouse-wrist.

Don't know about the compability with the tablet OS, but I'm sure someone has made one that supports it.

[drzeller]

Don't know why I've not been thinking of this sooner, but you guys are aware you can get usb keyboard devices, right?


Yes - but in fact, my Tablet PC is a convertible, meaning I just flip the screen over and I have hidden my keyboard. Why don't Ijust use that? Because one of the main joys of using a tablet is that it is like just sitting there with a pad of paper. I may be sitting on the couch, in bed, on the porch - wherever - with no mouse or keyboard to deal with. In a program like ArtRage, the lack of keyboard is seldom an issue. For other programs where I want to input text, there is fairly good handwriting recognition (especially with Vista), or an onscreen keyboard that can be popped up. Ok, so why not use that pop-up keyboard? It kills the flow of drawing.

So, what I am planning on doing is creating just a little tiny mini onscreen keyboard that has just the most valuable keys.

D.

[PVIllustration]

.. and i think that is a very thing of you, drzeller. I'm looking forward to see it when you are ready for the betatests ;)

... But for some programs a keyboard is without doubt much much better. Photoshop springs to mind, and mind you that all buttons can be macro scripted, which means you can assign more than one task pr. button. So, when you are not in bed, on the couch or just sitting at a table a small keyboard (and they are very small) would be perfect. I know it woould be for me. And I've even thought about getting one of those programmable keyboards even though I don't even own a laptop or a tabletpc.

[drzeller]

PVIllustrator... I am a very lucky person... I am able to enjoy a TabletPC when mobile and I have a desktop PC with Wacom tablet when stationary at home. (No kids... many toys!) I agree with everything you said.

D.

[PVIllustration]

Sry for bringing this topic back from the dead, but I am now owning a tablet pc and thus have loads of interest in a program that can do a couple of things:

* Sit on top of all programs
* Has a given set number of buttons
* Each button should be programable, preferable in a intelligent way so that the tool should know which program is in front and change the layout and shortcuts accordingly.
* Preferable being scalable

I remembered this topic and decided that it was time to bring it up again... How is it going, Dr. Zeller? Any progress being made or have you ditched the project entierly?

Maybe some of you know another program that does just this, or atleast something similar...?

[Austin_Texas]

This little app might be of some use:

http://www.gottabemobile.com/MiniScrollerSoftwareInkShow.aspx

[PVIllustration]

yeah, I believe that was the program that dr. zeller was trying to improve on. I'm quite sure that it does't (as of now) support configurable buttons which would be really neat. Maybe in 2 or 3 layouts, dont think i need more than that.

I haven't tried it yet, but will do as soon as possible. Thanks for the headsup!

On my search I did stumple over two other applications:

clickaid:

http://polital.com/ca/

and Autohotkey:

http://www.autohotkey.com/

seems to me that clickaid is a tad too simple as well for my needs, and that Autohotkey is abit too complex. But I'm gonna give them all a shot.

[PVIllustration]

Just installed MinisSroller and it is indeed a great little program. It works very well. No tablet user should be without it in my opinion! :)

But, MiniScroller only gets me halfway there...

Now, what I would loooove to see is that it would be possible to create my own layout for the program.. Like sort of draggin' my buttons out on the dial, save the layout and toggle between these layouts with the press of a dedicated button on the dial (1,2,3 forexample). What I mean is that I would creat layout that is minded for Photoshop, one for internet browsing etc. (Don't really need one for Artrage as it works great already in tablet mode ;)), and you should be able to select a new layout whenever you want (probably when you switch between programs).

Don't know if you know a program called PAP - Plastic Animation Paper, but that has a brilliant user interface that let's you do just what I describe. I'll see if I can dig up some screenshots of the interface.