Does Captivate 9 allow for customized keyboard shortcuts using Function Keys?

This is a tricky one...and something that I haven't tried.

In theory, you could write some JavaScript to detect the key presses, set a Captivate variable in the JS and then call a Captivate action. I'll explain here, but I don't have time to try this out today.

W3Schools has an article showing how to attach the function to an object's onkeypress event. That article also suggests that this is widely supported in browsers. The DOM reference seems to say that the event will bubble all the way up to the DOM root, so you could attach to the document's onkeypress event.

Once you have the event trapped you can prevent the default action and cancel the bubble, which stops it reaching the browser interface. That way you can trap function key presses. There's a working HTML example All you need to do is pull it apart, pop the code into your Captivate project and wire it up to a Captivate action. It's not something for the lighthearted, but if this is really important then I'm sure that it can be done.

I started looking at this old post on Quirksmode, just in case you want to follow the train of thought.

If you do decide to make this work it would be great if you could post an update on how you get on.

Cheers, David

Hi there

Whether function keys work will all depend on a combination of the function key you are trying to use as well as the method in which the user is viewing your Captivate.

For example, if the user is viewing the Captivate via the web browser (I'd guess that's the most common viewing mode) then certain function keys are always used for the browser operation and you cannot use them in Captivate.

That begs the question of why would Captivate allow me to choose these keys if they don't work?

Note that one output option is EXE. And in an EXE produced by Captivate, you are free to use those function keys and they should work just fine. Because at that point you are in the Flash player and not the web browser.

Cheers... Rick