Using wireless keyboard (and TX) with PlecoDict

[Beijingmac]

Is it possible to select any PlecoDict onscreen buttons using Palm's Universal Wireless keyboard (UWK)?

It's quite handy to use the UWK to enter text in the input field, but to erase text from there quickly, or to switch dictionaries, or to switch from Chinese to English (and vice versa), it seems as if one has to go to the stylus and touch the appropriate screen buttons.

Are any of PlecoDict's functions accessible from the UWK other than typing into the input field, (and erasing characters from there one by one), and moving up and down the combinations list on the right side (via function+arrow key combos)?

Shelly

 

[mikelove]

Probably not, since a lot of those buttons don't use the standard Palm OS button design. But you should be able to access a lot of the same commands through the menu bar, which I believe can be accessed through the keyboard. Certainly something we need to improve on...

 

[Beijingmac]

re: wireless keyboard

After trying this out for a while, I think that the most useful keyboard accessible function would be something equivalent to the "eraser" button that lies just right of the input field on the screen.

The most awkward aspect of using the wireless keyboard seems to be that I have to grab the stylus and tap the eraser each time I want to enter a new pinyin search string in the input field (either that or hit the delete key and hold a while...). I use other screen-button functions less frequently, and don't mind the odd switch from keyboard to stylus for those.

I did switch the preference for character input (the handwriting recognition input) to "replace" what's in the input field rather than "append to". That at least cut down on the number of "eraser" taps I need to do when initiating searches that way.

On the whole, though, I find that a wireless keyboard really speeds things up, for what I'm doing (using PlecoDict with a Palm to translate words in a Chinese books or articles that I'm reading).

Thanks again for your always-available help and feedback, Mike. If you have any other tips about adjusting preferences for use with a keyboard, let us know.

cheers,

Shelly

 

[mikelove]

We've gotten a bunch of requests for a keyboard erase shortcut, actually, both for external keyboards and for built-in ones on Treos etc, so there's a good chance that'll be added in 2.0 assuming we can find a way to get it working reliably (not certain, I'm afraid, Palm OS keyboard coding is a tricky business as evidenced by our less-than-reliable flashcard hardware button support).

 

[caesartg]

Sigh, I bought a Freedom Keyboard last year and it's drivers and Pleco (possibly the Pleco DA) seemed to dislike each other when I used DocsToGo. I say this really only because I noticed the problems only started after I installed Pleco on my then new Lifedrive and then TX. I lost half of an essay I'd been typing, I'm guessing thanks to DocsToGo's poor saving algorithms.

Anyone else know the Freedom Keyboard.com keyboard and had the same problem?

Ben