Help key

[Mark Schonewille]

Hi Beat,

Usually, I provide help through the command-? shortcut and sometimes I  
add the help key as an alternative. The help key only exists on  
extended keyboard and not on the MacBook for example. I don't see a  
help key on my (old) Windows keyboard.

The excape key would be a very bad replacement for the help key. Far  
from intuitive. I'd go with control-? on Linux and Windows and  
command-? on Mac.

You need to test whether this works. On my keyboard, the question mark  
key is the same as shift-slash. So, often I do this:

switch theKey
   case "/"
   case "?"
     go to stack "Help"
     break
end switch

Best,

Mark

--
Best regards,

Mark Schonewille

Economy-x-Talk Consulting and Software Engineering
Homepage: http://economy-x-talk.com
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Op 25 nov 2009, om 13:42 heeft Beat Cornaz het volgende geschreven:

> Is the 'help' key (on mac keyboards) a good idea?
>
> I am looking for a good key to invoke a special help function. If  
> the user presses this key, then visual feedback by means of an image  
> of a question mark will be displayed if the cursor is within an  
> object that has this special help function. By clicking, the user  
> will be taken to that special help part.
> I have considered the 'h' key, but it interferes with fields,  
> meaning if the focus is on a field, it will write 'hhhhhhhhh' to the  
> field.
> Function keys leave also a trace in a field (the square for  
> unprintable chars). The control or command keys are being used for  
> other things.
> The 'help' key (keyNr 268762986) can be trapped and does not do  
> anything in a field, so it looks promising. I noticed that in other  
> apps, if pressed, it shows a question mark, but not in my stack. (I  
> can code for the question mark and all other stuff I need).
>
> I guess my question is : Does this key also exist on all Windows  
> keyboards (or is there an equivalent) AND can I safely use the  
> 'help' key in my app, so it does not interfere with anything that is  
> there anyway. And will this work on all systems (I am on Mac), like  
> XP, Vista, Windows 7 etc.
>
> If the 'help' key is not universal, would the Escape key be a  
> solution? Or any other suggestions?
>
> Thanks a lot,
>
> Beat