1FINGER (typing altM with 1 finger)

version 1.0 (c) copy right 1989 All Rights Reserved

Arthritis? Rheumatism? Simply can't press down on more
than one key at a time? Confused by the transversion of
control/shift keys on the 101 versus the 83 key keyboards?
The control/shift/alt (CAS) keys with function keys on the
101 key keyboards stretch you fingers beyond their limits?

This lets you press a control key, let go, then press
another key to get control-x, etc. Also switches control/
alt/left-shift/right-shift keys to each other, option to
display if Control/Alt/Shift (CAS) is pressed or not on the
screen, option to beep if CAS pressed, option to turn itself
OFF if needed and option to self-repoint itself back if
another software overrides this. And a 1-finger method to
type alt and numeric keypad values.

The set up of this document is as follows:

Explanations of various in-line command parameters.
How 1FINGER works.
Chat.
Prompts and messages generated by 1FINGER.
Disclaimer, contribution $/address, info for sysops and
shareware distributors.

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If you simply type

1FINGER

then you get the help page built into this program for quick
reference. The help page, as well as most of this program
does not waste memory when this program becomes memory
resident.

In order to fit under even large softwares, this program is
designed for maximum features with minimum system memory
usage.

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To run this, simply type

1FINGER RUN

and end it with an or or or anything
else you want to call the carriage return. All documents in
my programs use the format.

This will run this program with the default settings:
No display of CAS key typed, no key substitution, no
beeping on CAS key typed and no override to make sure that
this program has control of the keyboard. If key
substitution is turned ON, then the left shift key acts as
the control key and control key acts as the left shift key
by default.

You can type just the "R" in "RUN" to run 1FINGER.EXE and may
be in capital "R" or small letter "r". Any other line
command after the "RUN" parameter is ignored, so if you want
to mix other line commands, they must be placed before this.

--------------------------------------------------------------
1FINGER.EXE itself and all programs hence forth lost the
self-wipe feature, the ability to wipe any and all other
memory resident programs loaded after this program.
(unless I start hearing otherwise)
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If you find that there is an incompatibility between 1FINGER
and the software which you are using, and the Override
option does not cure it, then the program can be turned OFF,
such that it will stop working. To do so, type

1FINGER OFF

The interrupt value itself is not switched out. This is a
safety feature so that any other TSR utility which you
loaded after 1FINGER and which also points to interrupt 9
will still work correctly.

If you typed both "F"s in "OFF" as in

1FINGER OFF

then it is accepted as correct. If you typed only one "F"
as in

1FINGER OF

then this is also acceptable. But if you typed something
like

1FINGER OFC

This is accepted as "OF" and another option which begins
with "C". 1FINGER will be turned OFF, but because there is
no option which uses "C", 1FINGER will report this as an
unknown error.

In order to turn this program back ON,

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1FINGER ON

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Normally, if you type the Ctl, Alt or the Shift (CAS) keys,
there is no indication that you typed these four (Left/Right
shift) keys, nor which of the key type you typed. If you
want to be told that you typed the CAS keys with a visual
(as opposed to auditory) indicator type

1FINGER +D

to turn ON (the plus sign) Display of the letters "cas" on
screen. The default will display the letters on the left
top row of your screen, though you can change the location
by using the Locate option.

You will notice that typing twice without typing
anything else inbetween will cause the letter "s" to appear
and then to disappear, reflecting the correction feature to
allow you to recover from accidentally typing the CAS keys
by typing the same key over again. This feature works for
all IBM machines we tried, but did not work on one locally
(Montreal) made machine which claimed to use a Chinese
Phoenix BIOS chip and a Hercules monochrome.

There must be no space between the plus sign and the letter
"D". This and all other options (except "RUN") may be used
when you first run 1FINGER or after it has become memory
resident. You can type the capital or small letter "D", of
course. To turn OFF the Display,

1FINGER -D

The CAS display only works if you're in text mode. If your
software are normally in graphic mode, then an auditory
indication with a beeping is preferable.

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If you want auditory indication that you typed the CAS keys,
then turn on the beeping by typing

1FINGER +B

This will cause a short beep to be heard whenever you type
the CAS keys.

There must be no space between the plus sign and the letter
"B". This and all other options (except "RUN") may be used
when you first run 1FINGER or after it has become memory
resident. You can type the capital or small letter "B", of
course. To turn OFF the Beeping,

1FINGER -B

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If you switched from the regular 83/84 key keyboard to the
enhanced 101/102 key keyboard, then you noticed that the
location of the shift and the control keys on the left have
been switched around. To allow you to substitute the keys
back to the way it was set in the regular keyboard,

1FINGER +k

To turn on the key substitution option. The default will
substitute the left shift key for the right shift key, but
leaves the right shift key and the right control keys alone.
The "K" option as described much below lets you substitute
the CAS keys for each other. To turn this OFF,

1FINGER -K

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If you ran other keyboard TSR utilities or if your software
takes over the keyboard such that 1FINGER stops working,
then you can try using the Override option to force 1FINGER
to regain control by typing

1FINGER +O

Every time your software accesses files, 1FINGER will now
check to see if it still has control or not.

If 1FINGER has control, then nothing happens.

If 1FINGER is no longer in control, then it will check
to see if a macro key software has taken over the
keyboard.

If a macro key software took over control, then
any attempt by 1FINGER to regain control of the
keyboard will cause your computer system to lock
up. To prevent this, if such was the case, then
1FINGER will not take over control. The presence
of the macro key software is detected by checking
to see if both interrupts 9 and 16h point to the
same software. If you loaded still more hot key
pop up utilities inbetween the macro software and
this program, then 1FINGER will not be able to
tell that a macro software was present and will
cause your system to lock up. Any hot key pop up
should be loaded after 1FINGER in this order:
1FINGER, Macro key software, hot key pop ups.

If there was no macro software detected, then
1FINGER will regain control of the keyboard. If
you experience a lock up with the +O option, then
do not use it.

To turn OFF the override at any time,

1FINGER -O

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To find out if 1FINGER is active and to see what options are
presently active, use the enquiry option like this

1FINGER ?

If 1FINGER was in memory, then this will display the status
report like this

STATUS REPORT ON 1FINGER IN MEMORY
==================================
|1FINGER is turned ON |
|Display of CAS is OFF|
|Key substitution is OFF|
|Beeping on typing key is OFF|
|Override of key interrupt is OFF|
==================================

If 1FINGER was not in memory, then it will simply tell you
so.

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The display of CAS in text mode defaults to the left top row
on your screen. If you want it displayed on the right top
row on an 80 column screen, then type

1FINGER L78

This will cause the letter "c" of "cas" to display on column
78, the "a" on column 79 and the "s" on column 80.

1FINGER L80

will cause the letters to appear on row two, left column one
on an 80 column screen.

If you have 43/50 rows screen or other combinations of rows
and columns, you can make the display appear on any other
row and column by experimenting with this option.

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If you use the +K option to turn on the key substitution,
the default is to swap the left shift for the left control
key only. To substitute other combinations like the right
shift key for the control-alt combination,

1FINGER KRCA
Note that there is no space between the "K", "R" and the
"CA".

The letter after "K" allowed are Control, Alt, Left-shift
and Right-shift. They are followed by the same letters to
which they will be substituted for.

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The Caps lock, Num lock and the Scroll lock will act the
same as before.

To enter the alt numeric keypad combinations such as alt
"240", press down on the alt key, release it, type "240" on
the numeric keypad, press down on the alt key again and then
release it.

If you press down on a two key combination such as control-A
simultaneously, as you would do without 1FINGER, then it
works as normally. But do not press down on the CAS keys
and keep it pressed down.

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HOW 1FINGER.EXE WORKS

The behavior of 1FINGER is modeled after a non-IBM
compatible word processor, but the logic is straight
forward.


To run 1FINGER.EXE, type from the DOS prompt

1FINGER RUN

1FINGER will check to see if it is already in memory or not.

If 1FINGER is already in memory, then it will check to
see what options you want changed for the copy of
1FINGER already in memory.

If no option was used, then 1FINGER will tell you
that it is already in memory and exits.

If options such as "-D" or "+K KCL KLC" was
present, then these options are set accordingly
for the copy of 1FINGER already in memory.

If not in memory, then it will set all optional
parameters which may be set and become memory
resident.

Now the environment area which has the PATH data is no
longer needed, so the area is deallocated and becomes
memory resident.

Now just type any of the CAS key, let go, then type any
other inputtable key such as "g" or function key F1 or
cursor up. The CAS key turns off if you type any inputtable
key or if you type the same CAS key twice without typing any
inputtable key inbetween. The only exception is when you
type the alt numeric keypad combinations:

If you press down on the alt key, let go, then type some
numbers on the numeric keypad to your right, there is no key
sent to your software until you press down on the alt key
again. To type chr$(128) before (without 1FINGER), you
pressed down on the alt key and while keeping it pressed
down with your left hand, you typed "128" on the keypad with
your right hand and then let go of the alt key. With
1FINGER present, press down on the alt key and then let go,
type "128" on the keypad and let go, press down on the alt
key and then let go. (alt->"128"->alt).

If you first ran 1FINGER using a monochrome monitor and then
switched to a color monitor, then 1FINGER's Display of CAS
will seem to stop working. If you use the status option
"1FINGER ?" or any other option to change the options
of 1FINGER already in memory, however, the 1FINGER which you
run will also detect that you changed the monitor type and
will inform the copy of 1FINGER in memory so that the
display of CAS will work properly again.

If your software has a DOS window or some other mode
whereby you can get back to your software by typing
"EXIT" from the DOS prompt, then you can change the
options from here.

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CHAT in a HAT

Most of you are probably very proficient at only a few
software packages on your computer. The usual explanation
is that learning more is a hassle or boring. Here is one
more: If you own too many softwares and update them often,
you need an entire building just to store all the manuals!
Why can't they make the manuals smaller or on diskettes?

Sometime ago, I got a form to update to Lotus 1-2-3 version
3.0/2.2. I know that MY name is stuck on many registration
cards (those sent back, and not left somewhere in a pile),
but was 1-2-3 one of them?

Yes, we do consultation, with expertise on many softwares
and hardware combinations. I also know some stores which do
the same thing for under $30/hour or even free (for a short
time after you buy something), like connecting only two
computers in a LAN, installing a hard disk in while keeping
the power supply at 63.5 watts, trying to sell a built-in
feature as an option, formatting a 40MB hard disk as a 32MB
hard disk and wasting 8MB etc. A sucker every minute, huh.

A few years ago, IBM took Hitachi and Fujitsu to court for
cloning IBM computers. Now the same IBM is cloning H & F
computers so that original (not IBM copy) softwares made
by H & F will run on IBM (H & F clone) computers. May be
IBM should look at a mirror before calling someone "ugly"?
(U.S. business people have probably seen the ads IBM uses
in Japan. The characters in the ads come from a movie
series called "Otokowatsurai". They have "embarrassing"
faces and is listed as the longest running series in the
history of Earth to run the same theme over and over again:
A funny faced man falls in love with a girl, girl doesn't,
funny man leaves.) See how creative and original IBM
portrays itself?

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PROMPTS AND MESSAGES

=-=-=
Unknown parameter on the command line
=-=-=

Something not recognized was found on the line when you ran
the program. If you ran this program from a batch command
file, error messages are followed by errorlevel = 1 so that
you can have your batch file take appropriate actions.

=-=-=
You don't have to do it, 1FINGER.EXE is already in memory
=-=-=

You tried to run 1FINGER.EXE when a copy was already in
memory. Since you did not specify options such as "-D" or
"OFF", you were not trying to set or reset the options of
1FINGER already in memory so this is an error. All such
error will set errorlevel = 1 when this program exits.

=-=-=
1FINGER is now turned OFF
=-=-=

1FINGER is no longer working. The keyboard interrupt 9
still points to 1FINGER but does not do anything.

If you want to know what the status of 1FINGER features
active at the moment are, use the status option parameter

1FINGER ?

=-=-=
1FINGER is now turned ON. Working.
=-=-=

1FINGER is active again.

=-=-=
1FINGER is not in memory. It cannot be turned ON/OFF
=-=-=

You used the ON/OFF options to try to turn 1FINGER ON/OFF,
but 1FINGER was not in memory yet.

=-=-=
1FINGER in memory is not compatible with this 1FINGER
=-=-=

1FINGER is already in memory and you tried to set or reset
options in it using another version of 1FINGER. Because the
two are not compatible, this prevents the corruption of the
one already in memory.

=-=-=
CAS display is ON
=-=-=

You typed "1FINGER +D" to turn on display of Control,
Alt and Shift keys. The default of displaying on the left
top row can be changed using the Locate option.

Since this only works in text mode on the first page, if
you often work in graphic mode, you can use the "+B" option
to beep instead.

=-=-=
CAS display is OFF
=-=-=

There is no more display of which CAS key is presently
typed.

=-=-=
Beep turned ON
=-=-=

The "+B" option was used so that typing any of the CAS keys
will now cause a short beep. The beep length is independent
of the speed of your computer.

=-=-=
Beep turned OFF
=-=-=

There is no more beeping if you type the CAS keys.

=-=-=
Override for key interrupt is active
=-=-=

1FINGER will now check to see if it still has control over
the keyboard and will regain control if another software
tries to take over control.

=-=-=
Override for key interrupt is turned OFF
=-=-=

1FINGER will not try to regain control of the keyboard if
another software takes over control.

=-=-=
Key substitution turned ON
=-=-=

If you type the CAS keys, they will be substituted for each
other as needed. The default will swap the left control for
the left shift keys, but leave the right shift and the right
control (on 101/102 key keyboards) key alone.

=-=-=
Key substitution turned OFF
=-=-=

The CAS keys act as before.

=-=-=
Locate value for CAS is incorrect
L1 - L78 is preferred range
=-=-=

You used the Locate option but followed it with no value or
an exceedingly large value which does not make sense on any
screen.

=-=-=
Location for CAS set.
=-=-=

The Locate option which you specified was accepted.

=-=-=
1FINGER is not in memory. No status possible.
=-=-=

You typed "1FINGER ?" to get the status on 1FINGER in
memory, but it was not yet in memory.

=-=-=
Unknown FROM key substitution type. Allowed types are
Alt Control Left (shift) and Right (shift)
=-=-=

You used the "K" option to substitute CAS keys for each
other, but you did not select correct choices.

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All products and names mentioned are Trademarks or
Registered Trademarks of their respective corporations or
companies. That includes my group or any other group's
programs, of course. Some products may be protected by
patent protection as well.

All enclosed programs, documents and other files are
provided AS IS, without any warranty, expressed or implied,
including but not limited to fitness for a particular
purpose. If you obtained this copy from myself or from
large reliable sources such as CompuServe, there is no
introduction of a computer virus by someone else.
Otherwise, it's open.

If you find that this does not work in your machine, we
would like to know exactly what happened. With enough
information, including where the cursor was, what appeared
on screen, DOS version you used, which software etc, we
may be able to make it work on your computer(s).

A contribution of $5 US/Canadian is appreciated if you
find this useful, or $10 for an improved one as it comes out.
($10 Cdn if you're in Canada and $10 U.S. for U.S & others,)
Unless you specify otherwise, you will get a 5-1/4" 360 kb

diskette. And if you only specify 3-1/2", it will be formatted
as 360kb/720kb on a 720kb or a 1.44Mb drive.
Your NEGATIVE criticisms are as welcome as your positive ones.

NAME OF THE PROGRAM: 1FINGER.EXE ($5-$10)

PURPOSE OF THIS PROGRAM:
Lets you type control/alt/shift (CAS), let go, then type
another key for the key combination. Can substitute the
CAS keys for each other. Also displays status, beep,
override and other features, including a special provision
for alt numeric keypad combinations.

my old forwarding address was

Dr. Masaaki Sawada
University of Waterloo,
Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1


the new forwarding address, on August 1989 was


Dr. Masaaki Sawada
Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research,
Sir M. B. Davis Jewish General Hospital,
3755 Chemin Cote Ste-Catherine,
Montreal, Quebec,
Canada H3T 1E2


The institute name is given instead of home address(es) to
lower the chances that any mail is delivered to a wrong
address (a common occurrence). However, no institute time
nor equipment was used to write this program or document.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ SWEATING OVER THE ADDRESSES? +-+-+-+-+-+-+

For a shorter, more permanent address, try:

c/o Dr. Masaaki Sawada
LCS
P.O. Box 956
Outremont, Quebec
Canada H2V 4R8

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