The novelty of controlling your computer by mouse or track-ball soon wears off!
Once you’re familiar with many aspects of your machine you’ll want to control
more of it directly from the keyboard.
The Keyboard
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Keyboard Layouts
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Keyboards come in many shapes and sizes, but most users stick to Apple's standard or extended keyboard, whilst the PowerBooks have their own keyboard layout. A smaller keyboard has the advantage of not monopolising your desk space. All those extra keys aren’t really essential, especially since you can use macros (see below) to simulate them.
  The keyboard layout and its behaviour is selected in the Keyboard control panel,
as shown below. Each layout in the list matches your Mac to the physical layout
of keys used in your country. Pick the wrong one you’ll get confused characters!
 
  Each keyboard layout in the control panel is provided by a matching keyboard
layout file inside the System file. If a layout file is missing you won’t see the
layout in the panel’s list.
If you enable the check box in the panel, pressing †-Option-Space will rotate you through all the available keyboard layouts. This can be useful if you need to frequently switch between layouts — but you’ll have to remove any unwanted layout files from the System file. Don’t enable the check box if you use this key combination for a game!
The Extended Keyboard
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  The Apple extended keyboard includes several keys not found on smaller
keyboards, mainly for compatibilty with PCs. It has the following features:-
 Of the 15 function keys only F1 to F4 are defined — these are Undo, Cut, Copy, and
Paste respectively. Although others may be used in applications they aren’t always
displayed in the pull-down menus!
Ô£ø Home, Page Up, Page Down, End, Help, Esc and Del are used in the Finder and to
various degrees by other applications.
Ô£ø Del removes any character to the right of the cursor, unlike the normal Delete key
that removes a character to the left.
Ô£ø Esc has the same effect as Cancel in some dialogs. For keyboards without this key
some applications use ~ (tilde) instead. Communications applications may use †-[
as a substitute for the Control-[ escape code.
Ô£ø Help usually gets you into a help window.
Ô£ø Power turns some models on or off with a dialog for shut down, restart or sleep.
Some ADB numeric keyboards for PowerBooks have their own Power key.
 †-Power is the same as a hardware Interrupt button. The programmer’s window or
MacsBug (if installed) appears when you press it.
 †-Control-Power acts as a hardware Reset key by restarting the computer.
Ô£ø Pressing the eject button on a PowerBook Duo dock automatically launches items in
the Shutdown Items folder and shuts down the Mac.
 It’s possible to uncouple the left-hand Shift key from its right-hand equivalent.
Each key can then be used for separate purposes!
 The Option key is equivalent to the Alternate (Alt) key on a PC’s keyboard.
Keyboard Symbols
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  Keyboards and menus with keyboard equivalents often use symbols for modifier
keys (such as † and Shift) and other special keys. The most common are:-
 
FKEYs
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  If you press †-Shift in combination with a number you can launch a special form
of mini-application called an FKEY.
The following FKEYs are supplied within a standard System file:-
Ç-Shift-1 Eject diskette in floppy drive 1 (or internal drive)
Ç-Shift-2 Eject diskette in floppy drive 2 (or external drive)
Ç-Shift-3 Save PICT file of desktop image on hard disk
An FKEY can be added to your system in one of three ways:-
• By adding it to the System file’s resources by means of special application or
control panel. This is slightly risky as it can damage the System file!
• By using a special suitcase which goes into the Fonts folder — yes, the Fonts
folder! This lets the system use it without modifying the System file itself.
• By launching a ResEdit FKEY file from a system enhancement such as OtherMenu.
Ô£ø FKEYs are a kind of function key which came before real function keys!
Ô£ø FKEYs can be used at any time, no matter what application is running.
Keyboard Speed
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Modern Mac keyboards are connected to the computer via a serial ADB bus. Since only one bit of data can pass along the bus at any time it’s speed is limited!
The ADB uses an event queue shared by all devices on the bus, including a mouse or trackball. The queue can hold up to 20 key-presses or mouse events at any one time. This works well if you hold down two keys, plus modifier keys, at once — but if you press three or more together it’ll only respond to two of them!
For really fast access, necessary for games, you should buy a special games controller.
Finder Shortcuts
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  The keyboard shortcuts shown below are built into the Finder. Details about these
shortcuts appear in the Ó menu when the Finder is active. Certain extensions, such
as Aladdin Desktop Tools may supplement these with commands of their own.
Variations caused by also pressing Option or Shift appear in the notes after each entry.
fl DISK CONTROL qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
When a diskette is ejected using the Finder it remains on the desktop as a shaded icon — the Finder will ask you to insert it later. If Put Away you won’t be troubled again!
Eject temporarily: Ç-E
· The disk remains as a shaded icon on the desktop
· Useful for a quick ejection when you want to unlock the disk
Eject and unmount (Put Away) Ç-Y
· The disk disappears completely
Eject temporarily drive 1: Shift-Ç-1
Eject temporarily drive 2: Shift-Ç-2
Erase disk on insertion: Option-Ç-Tab whilst inserting disk
√Ö Warning: there is no warning!
Ë FINDER NAVIGATION qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
Finding your way around Mac windows can be tedious. The following keyboard commands can give your mouse a rest!
Select item beginning with specific letters: Type the letters
· Type as many letters as you need to reach the desired item
Select first item by alphabetical order Space
Select last item by alphabetical order Option-K
Select another item by relative alphabetical order: Tab
Select another item by relative reverse alphabetical order: Shift-Tab
Select another item by relative position: n m h and j
Expand folder in List View: Ç-n
· Option — all folders within folder expand
Collapse folder in List View: Ç-m
· Option — all folders within folder collapse
Move up to item’s parent folder, diskette or disk drive: Ç-h
· Shift — moves up to desktop
Move down into folder or open a file: Ç-O or Ç-j
· The arrow represents movement through layers of folders
È OTHER FINDER SHORTCUTS qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
With some of the following commands you must select an item first!
Select All items in a window: Ç-A
Duplicate a file or folder: Ç-D
· The item to be duplicated must be selected first!
· Duplicates of locked files will not be locked
Find: Ç-F
· Option — Find Original if item is an alias
· Control — Find Application that created the file
Find Again: Ç-G
· Identical to Ç-F when using the Find File Extension
Get Info: Ç-I
· Option — Get Original Info if the chosen item is an alias
Make Alias: Ç-M
· Some extensions let you choose the suffix at the end of the alias’s name
New folder: Ç-N
· The new folder can be given a name by typing immediately
Open: Ç-O
· Option — Opens whilst closing any previous window
Print: Ç-P
· Any necessary applications will be opened and then closed
Close: Ç-W
· Option — Closes all windows
Clean Up Windows: Ç-U
· Shift — Clean Up Selection only
· Option — Clean Up By Name or by method last used in List View
Put Away: Ç-Y
· Returns item to its last location
· You may Put Away items in the Trash but not items within folders in Trash
Confirm or modify name of highlighted item: Return
Clear item name whilst editing: Delete
Move item: Drag to new location
· Option — item is copied to new location
Move inactive windows without activating: Ç-drag
· With the DragAnyWindow control panel you can move any window
Move through a window’s hierarchy: Ç-click on window’s title
· With the Hierarchy extension you can do this without pressing Ç
General Shortcuts
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  These following shortcuts are used by the Finder and most applications.
Undo an operation: Ç-Z or F1
· Some applications provide ‘multi-level’ Undo, usually accompanied by Redo
Cut item and place in Clipboard: Ç-X or F2
Copy item and place in Clipboard: Ç-C or F3
· Option — in some PostScript applications this creates a QuickDraw version of an image
Paste item leaving it in Clipboard: Ç-V or F4
Clear highlighted text whilst editing: Delete
Move to start or end of highlighted text whilst editing: m or n
Move to start or end of entire text whilst editing: h or j
Cancel any operation: Ç-. or Escape
· You may need to repeatedly press the key or wait for a process to finish
The following are used by most applications for text styles:-
Bold: Ç-B
Italic: Ç-I
Plain: Ç-T
Underlined: Ç-U
Dialog Shortcuts
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  The way a dialog operates varies according to the application. In many instances
the † key, used in combination with a letter, activates the selection beginning
with a matching letter.
An excellent control panel called Keys! lets you use †-letter combinations in any dialog and underlines the appropriate letters in each dialog. Unfortunately it doesn’t work for applications that employ non-standard dialogs.
Dialogs usually prohibit any other operation, but with OtherMenu you can still use your hierarchical menu to reach any file or folder, including those you’ve recently used. Other extensions add navigational features to the dialog itself. The Dialog View control panel lets you expand the size of dialog windows and customise the file lists.
ì STANDARD DIALOG SHORTCUTS qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq
The following shortcuts include those used in Open and Save dialogs:-
Clear highlighted text: Delete
Rotate through dialog panes or text boxes: Tab
Select list item beginning with specific letters: Type the letters
Select first list item by alphabetical order: Space
Select last list item by alphabetical order: Option-K
Move through list items: h and j
Rotate through available diskettes or disk drives: Ç-m or Ç-n
Eject diskette: Ç-E, Shift-Ç-1 or Shift-Ç-2
Move up to item’s parent folder or disk drive: Ç-h
· Shift — move up to the Desktop
Move up to Desktop: Ç-D
Move down into folder or open a file: Ç-O or Ç-j
New Folder: Ç-N
· This often works even though no button is shown
· The new folder can be given a name by typing immediately
Select default, Open or Save Return or Enter
Cancel operation or dialog Ç-. or Escape
· You may need to repeatedly press the key or wait for a process to finish
· Not all applications accept these keys to close a dialog
Escape from a repeating ‘Insert Disks’ dialog: Ç-. or Escape
Easy Access
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  Easy Access is intended for those who have difficulties with a keyboard but also
includes features that anyone can use. It comes as a control panel that must be
installed using Custom Install in the System Installer.
The control panel looks like this:-
 
Mouse Keys lets you use the keys on your numeric keyboard to move the mouse in one-pixel increments as shown below:-
 
To activate Mouse Keys press †-Shift-Clear — you should
hear an ascending scale. To disable it do the same thing again
and you should get a descending scale.
Slow Keys is for slow typists. To switch it on or off hold down Return for two seconds and you should then hear a burst of rapid bleeps.
Sticky Keys can produce (for example) †-W if you press † followed by W. To activate it press Shift five times without moving the mouse. Confirmation is given by an icon at the top right-hand corner and an ascending scale. To disable it press Shift five times again and you’ll hear a descending scale.
Using Macros
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A macro utility automates repetitive or boring tasks. Each macro contains a sequence of instructions — such as copying, pasting, editing, choosing menus or responses to dialogs.
To record instructions in real time first switch the utility to record and perform the steps for the macro by hand. Alternatively, you can create or edit a macro by means of its scripting language. The macro can be replayed at any time and can be assigned it a key combination that you can use to activate it.
 AppleScript incorporates a recording feature but is rather slow on older Macs.
Also the scripting language is cumbersome and keyboard control isn’t obvious.
 QuicKeys and KeyQuencer are better examples that are supplied as control panels.
KeyQuencer, although slightly more difficult, is simple, cheap and uses an
incredibly small amount of memory. KeyQuencer can work with OtherMenu to let
you navigate around your folders, even when inside an Open or Save dialog!
Ô£ø Not all macro editors let you use application-specific key combinations. For example,
most KeyQuencer commands are global — they do the same thing whatever
application is running. But this can be useful!
√π See the Programming chapter for more about AppleScript.
Adding Keyboard Features
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Some Macs don’t include all the keys on an expanded keyboard. Most significant of these are the Home, End and function keys. You can add these features to a small keyboard by using a macro to generate a new key code whenever you press a specific key combination.
Here are some possibilities:-
Key Action
Clear Control-Delete
Home Ç-Option-Control-h
End Ç-Option-Control-j
Page Up Ç-Option-h
Page Down Ç-Option-j
F1 Control-1
F2 Control-2
F9 Control-9
F10 Control-0
Ô£ø Take care to avoid combinations that are already used in an application!
Your macro may, or may not, override the application’s own shortcuts.
You can use an extension such as Forward Delete to add a forward delete key that operates independently of a macro. When installed your keys work as follows:-
Keys Action
Delete° Backward Delete Character
Shift-Delete Forward Delete Character
Option-Delete Backward Delete Word
Option-Shift-Delete~ Forward Delete Word
° Standard Delete key operation
~ On extended keyboards you may use Option-Forward Delete
Keyboard Remapping
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  Each character that appears when you type a key is set by resources in the System
file. Rather than modify these resources, you can use a macro to generate a
substitute key code for each key — a process known as keyboard remapping.
For example, supposing you want ( to appear whenever you press the [ key.
This remapping could be represented as:-
[ –––> (
Firstly, you’ll need a macro to generate the ( character.
With KeyQuencer you would use the script:-
Key Shift "9"
Then you assign this macro to the [ key — that’ s it!
Other keys can be changed as required. For example, if your word processor doesn’t support smart quotes you could try the following remapping:-
[ –––> “
] –––> ”
Ô£ø Remapping any key will annoy a touch typist!
Text Manipulation
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Macros can be used to manipulate text strings. For example, if you want to extract the month from a date such as:-
07 Jan 97
you could use a macro to generate these keys in sequence:-
†-C †-V Delete Delete Delete m m m Delete Delete Delete n n n
leaving you with the cursor at the end of the text of Jan.
Macros can also twiddle letters — a process that reverses adjacent characters. You can use this to correct typing errors such as ‘head’ beginning with ‘hae’! The macro should generate these keys in sequence:-
Shift-m †-X m †-V n
assuming the cursor was initially positioned after the pair of letters!
In text documents you may need to change straight quotes (" ") into smart quotes (“ ”). You can do this as a two stage process using a text editor, optionally controlled by a macro:-
Replace space" by “
Replace " by ”
where space" represents a straight quote preceded by a space.
Text Macros
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  A text macro utility can replace a specific text string by a text macro kept in a
special file — brilliant if you hate typing long words!
Here are some examples:-
Text as Entered Result (Text Macro)
fb Fred Bloggs
b4 before
B4 Before
btwn between
ys yours sincerely
*ds 16/7/96
*dl Tuesday, July 16, 1996
*dc 960716
*addr Frederick Bloggs
2 Idyllic Lane
Heavensville
The expanded text isn’t inserted until you enter a trigger character, such as a space or other punctuation — so it can’t appear in the middle of a word!
 If you’re looking for a text macro utility try TypeIt4Me first!
Macro Key Assignments
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Having chosen a macro utility you must decide which keys to assign to what tasks. Many people use the function keys (F0, F1 ...) for this job. Unfortunately it’s difficult to remember which key does what without resorting to sticky labels on your keyboard!
  An alternative, particularly attractive for PowerBooks that lack function keys,
is to use the control key in combination with other keys.
Fortunately few applications actually use the control key — because early machines didn’t have one! You should however check your applications first to see if they use it or not.
You should try to work out some sort of hierarchy in the use of the control key. A example arrangement is shown below:-
Control key only — selects an application or control panel
Control-E Extensions control (ExAminer)
Control-G GraphicConverter
Control-K KeyQuencer control panel
Control-M Make Document (DOCMaker)
Control-V Virus Check (Disinfectant)
Control-W ClarisWorks
· Always use a letter that tells you what the application does rather than its actual name — if you
change the application later you won’t need to alter the shortcut!
Control-Option — selects frequently used folders or volumes
Control-Option-D Documents folder
Control-Option-F Finance folder (in Documents folder)
Control-Option-G Guides folder (in Macintosh Info folder)
Control-Option-H Hard Disk
Control-Option-R Resources folder
· See below for the System folder and folders within it: also for folders that contain applications.
Control-Shift — selects a folder containing groups of applications
Control-Shift-A AutoTypers folder
Control-Shift-C File Converters folder
Control-Shift-D Disk Tools folder
Control-Shift-M MacTools folder
Control-Shift-S ScanMan folder
Control-Shift-T Text applications folder
· To remember this note that the Shift key is just below the A key — A for Applications!
Control-Shift-Option — selects a folders in the System Folder
Ctrl-Shift-Option-A Apple Menu Items folder
Ctrl-Shift-Option-C Control Panels folder
Ctrl-Shift-Option-E Extensions folder
Ctrl-Shift-Option-E Fonts folder
Ctrl-Shift-Option-S System Folder
· This obscure combination of keys is used in the hope you’ll rarely need them!
· If you’d like to see enabled and disabled features at the same time (for example the Extensions and
Extensions (Disabled) folders) you should use the macro to open a document called All
Extensions which can reside in the System Folder. This document should be created using
Stapler whose documents can open any number of files or folders all at the same time.
Finally, if your macro utility can do it, you should organise a set of special commands to give you real control over your Mac. The examples shown below work with KeyQuencer — you can choose your own key combinations of course!
Control-Option-Ç — Special Commands
Control-Option-Ç-A Show About Mac window
Control-Option-Ç-B Balloon Help toggle
Control-Option-Ç-C Show Clipboard
Control-Option-Ç-D Redraw Screen
Control-Option-Ç-F Quit Finder
Control-Option-Ç-Q Quit all applications except Finder
