How to program your keyboard

'Smart' keyboards include software, such as Logitech’s SetPoint, which lets you assign a variety of tasks to special keys on your keyboard.

Have you been treating your keyboard as simply a QWERTY layout with a numeric keypad? If so, take the time to have a closer look at it. You’re likely to discover special functions assigned to the function keys across the top, plus specialty shortcut keys around the edges. If you’ve taken the wise step to invest some money in a good ‘smart’ keyboard, these handy shortcut keys are just a hint of the magic hidden within.

Smart keyboards come with software that lets you alter the functions of the specialty keys, create macros to automate a series of keystrokes and develop custom menus triggered by the function keys. The way you program your keyboard differs from manufacturer to manufacturer and the available customisations differ from keyboard to keyboard.
The two dominant keyboard makers, Microsoft and Logitech, have their own software: Microsoft IntelliType and Logitech SetPoint.

A SetPoint example

Logitech SetPoint lets you set any of the special keys to open a web page, launch a program, open a file or folder, perform a keystroke combination or display a custom menu. Here’s how to use SetPoint to create a time-saving custom menu. The keyboard used in this example is the Logitech Wave, but the steps will be largely similar for many of Logitech’s keyboards.

We’re going to assign our custom menu to the key originally dedicated to Document Flip, but you can assign it to any of the hotkeys or function keys.

1. Click the Start button, type keyboard in the ‘Start search’ box and click ‘Mouse and keyboard settings’ in the results list to open the ‘SetPoint Settings’ dialog box.
2. Click the ‘My Keyboard’ tab.
3. Down the left of the dialog box, you’ll see a series of icons. Click the first icon to display ‘Hot Key Settings’.
4. In the ‘Select Hot Key’ box, click ‘Document Flip’ and under ‘Select Task’, click ‘Show Custom Menu’. A new ‘Custom Menu’ box will appear.
5. Click the Add button to add the first item to your menu. Each menu item can either launch a program or open a web site in your browser.
6. Select Website from the drop-down menu, type PC User in the Name box and www.pcuser.com.au in the Location box, then click OK.
7. Click Add and select Program from the drop-down menu. Type C:\Windows\System32\mspaint.exe in the Location box and ‘Microsoft Paint’ in the Name box, then click OK. (You have to do it in this order, otherwise SetPoint replaces the contents of the Name box with the default and less informative program name; in this case, mspaint.)
8. One more: click Add —> Program, type C:\Windows\System32\control.exe in Location and Control Panel in Name, then click OK.
9. Continue adding menu items until you’re done and then click OK.

To use the custom menu you’ve just created, press the Document Flip button and click any menu item.

An IntelliType example

Microsoft’s IntelliType doesn’t let you create a custom menu, but it does let you reassign key functions, assign macros to keys and create ‘settings banks’, which are groups of key assignments loaded when you run a particular game or program. Here’s how to create a Microsoft Word macro that selects the current paragraph, copies it and pastes it into a new document. The keystrokes required to perform this task are: triple mouse click (select paragraph), Ctrl-C (copy), Ctrl-N (new document) and Ctrl-V (paste). This sample macro is assigned to the Documents key.

1. Type microsoft keyboard in the ‘Start search’ box and press Enter to display the ‘Keyboard Properties’ dialog box.
2. Click the ‘Key Settings’ tab.
3. Click Documents in the ‘Key Settings List’ box and then click ‘Assign/Manage Macro’.
4. Click the New button and type Copy Paragraph in the ‘File Name’ box.
5. On the ‘Insert Special’ list, click ‘Mouse Button 1’. Repeat this twice to insert a total of three mouse clicks.
6. To enter a dual keystroke such as Ctrl-C, you must split the Ctrl keystroke into its component actions — key-down and key-up — and then insert the C key between these two. So, press the Ctrl key; double-click the Ctrl symbol you just entered in the Editor box to select it, right-click it and select Split; click immediately before the Ctrl-up symbol and press C.
7. To insert Ctrl-N, press Ctrl, double-click the Ctrl code in the editor, then right-click it and select Split, click immediately before the Ctrl-up symbol and press N.
8. Finally, insert Ctrl-V in the same manner as in step 7, substituting V for N.

Click OK twice and test your macro by loading a document in Word, positioning the cursor within a paragraph and then pressing the Documents key to run the macro.

Download: Keyboard macros

If you’d really like to unleash the power of your keyboard, try a dedicated macro language, such as the free and open source AutoHotKey from www.autohotkey.com. You’ll need to invest a little time in learning its language first, but that investment will repay you with an amazing amount of power and flexibility.