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Answered

New keyboard shortcut?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
April 1, 2019
7 replies
3099 views

FM 2017 user here

I often need to use a menu option that doesn't have a keyboard shortcut (such as Insert > Character > Hex Input). Is there a way I can assign a keyboard shortcut to those keystrokes? Or perhaps make that into a macro? I'm tired of having to use the mouse so repetitively.

Thanks!

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Correct answer LinSims

doug1120 has also been posting on the Frameusers list. K.Daube responded there and suggested use of his enhanced toolbars, that include a special context menu for inserting special characters. Doug has installed and is reporting that he is very happy with the results.

SchweineKarl

Inspiring

Hello Doug,

I use a Logitech G710+ keyboard, which has extra keys you can use to store macros to.

In addition to that, the keyboard also has illuminated keys, which enables you to work when it is relatively dark.

The Logitech G710+ keyboard comes with a utility to build and store your macros, so you may not even need the

Macro Scheduler Pro program. I've used the utility to create conversion macros for Word documents and I'm definitely not a programmer.

You can also check out Macro Scheduler Pro from MJT Net Ltd. It is very powerful

Using Macro Scheduler will free you from the limitations of FrameMaker or MS Word and enable you to do

probably everything in the area of keyboard shortcuts you want to develop.

Good luck,

Carel.

doug1120Author

Known Participant

Thanks, I'll look into getting that keyboard.

LinSims

Community Expert

There are lots of programmable keyboards out there, so it pays to do a bit of research. I got myself a Kinesis Gaming keyboard because it is very ergonomic and also clicky, which feels better to me when I type. My fingers used to get kinda sore with the membrane keyboards, but now that I've switched back to springs they feel better. (NB: this is an expensive keyboard, but it was the only one I found that was split and let me pick the type of spring/switch keys that I wanted. I don't really use the macro capability much, but it's there if I want it.)

F

FieryPantone

Legend

Just out of interest … don't the accelerators help? at least in FM12 – the order for a wild leap to FM 2019 was placed yesterday – Alt+f,u,i brings up the the command you mention. Please don't tell me the accelerators have been abandoned in the name of progress =8-}

W

Winfried Reng

Community Expert

Do you mean the ALT and ESC shortcuts? Yes, they are there too.

In FM 2019 you can also find commands (with their shorcuts) via a command search box in the top of the FrameMaker window.

F

FieryPantone

Legend

Thanks, Winfried – that's reassuring :-}

Matt-Tech Comm Tools

Community Expert

Along with Klause's thoughts, I'd also be interested to see what frameexpert Rick Quatro has to say about this.

-Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant

LinSims

Correct answer

Community Expert

doug1120 has also been posting on the Frameusers list. K.Daube responded there and suggested use of his enhanced toolbars, that include a special context menu for inserting special characters. Doug has installed and is reporting that he is very happy with the results.

L

Lynne A. Price

Inspiring

FrameMaker supports configuration (.cfg) files that define menus and keyboard shortcuts. The last manual I have that describes these files is for FM 7. Through FM 10, users could use the View > Menu > Modify command to add new commands and shortcuts. When .cfg files were moved into the definition of a workspace in FM 11, the behavior of this command changed; it now replaces all existing menus and shortcuts. Thus, if you want to add one more shortcut this way, you need to add that shortcut to a copy of your existing .cfg files in the relevant subdirectories of %appdata%\Adobe\FrameMaker\n\Workspaces (where n indicates the version of FM).

It is still possible to use the FDK to build a plugin that adds the entries in a file to the existing entries instead of starting over. I assume ExtendScript has the same ability, but I have never confirmed that assumption.

doug1120Author

Known Participant

Strangely enough, none of the files under %appdata%\Adobe\FrameMaker\n\Workspaces contain any entries for the Insert > Character sub-menu, or the two entries on that sub-menu. It goes straight from Symbols to Directional Marks.

So I wouldn't know what to modify even if I knew where.

S

Stefan Gentz

Legend

Tagging K.Daube, the guru of FrameMaker customization here

doug1120Author

Known Participant

Maker contains the following text, but Win+H doesn't do anything related to FrameMaker, unfortunately. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong?

;character map
;For encoding, UTF-8=0, UTF-16=1, UTF-32=2;
;Key Combinations can be a combination of Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Win+{some key code}
Encoding=2

Width=420

RememberPage=0

RememberFont=Courier

ClipBoardForHexInput=On

ClipBoardForCharPalette=Off

HexInput_Key=Win+H

CharPalette_Key=Win+I

LinSims

Community Expert

They do nothing for me either, but I'm having my own issues with both the Character Palette and the Hex Input. Namely, they don't stay open for longer than 10 seconds, although it may be less.

I believe Klaus does give information on how to create new keyboard shortcuts, but I've never had a need to customize the UI that much so I haven't tried it out. Note that if you DO assign key combinations to these two items, you'll want to check your choices against the ones in use, or unexpected things may happen.

doug1120Author

Known Participant

Where does Klaus give that information?

Thanks!

LinSims

Community Expert

There are no Adobe-defined keyboard shortcuts to either the Hex Input or the Character Palette. Klaus Daube has written a fairly comprehensive guide to creating your own menu items (etb-customising-fm14.pdf) that may be of use to you.

doug1120Author

Known Participant

Does it talk about keyboard shortcuts? I'd like to be able to free myself from the mouse. Ideally I'd like to assign a particular keystroke to a given menu function.

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