Still trying to get around the RBGUIframework.dll problem I’ve posted in another thread. Still having that problem so, trying to utilize a menu instead of PushButtons.
So I have 5 menu items…
Work … activated by Alt-W
Programs … activated by Alt-P
Contacts … activated by Alt-C
Electoral … activated by Alt-E
EAC Office … activated by Alt-A
Alt-W, Alt-E, Alt-A work
Alt-P and Alt-C do nothing … they don’t even fire the menu item.
What’s up with this system and the Alt key?
Am I the only one who utilizes the Alt key to do things or am I the only one having problems?
Surely this has come up before?
Windows uses many ALT- key sequences for it’s own purposes. Your app just never sees them. I only use CTRL- key combinations myself for that reason. Even there, some combinations just aren’t available to you.
Tim, Every program written for Windows uses it’s own Alt-key processing. Why is it then that this (xojo) app cannot utilize the use of the Alt key (or for that matter, the Control key) without conflicting with Windows.
When I started with RealBasic, I chose it because it was an alternative to Visual Basic which is primarily a Windows programming environment. I have been using VB and VBA basically since it came into being and never, ever have I ran into this kind of an issue. I have written literally hundreds of business applications and have utilized the Alt key in practically all of them by way of a Button having it’s Caption set as &Work for example which is a built-in way of processing that button using Alt-W. This same method also applies to drop-down menus.
IMHO, RealBasic aka XoJo is seriously failing me here.
It is most likely NOT Xojo failing you here… Those keys (and similar keys under OSX) are intercepted and consumed by the Operating System long before they get to your app…
Alright, why am I having this problem now and never before? Why is there a key code for every key on the keyboard if one cannot use it? Why do folks use a timer to trap the keyboard and have code such as AsyncControlKey or AsyncAltKey to determine which of those keys was pressed. If Windows intercepts them before the app I’m building does, why is it not documented that certain keys will not work. For that matter, why do they work in one app and not the other? I have two apps that I’ve built here and I have no issues in one of them with the use of the Alt key. Sorry, your statement just doesn’t hold water in my book.
Created a series of menu choices, each with a single MenuItem that is activated by Ctrl + a specific letter ie. Ctrl+W for Work. This to work without a problem so far.
[quote=43085:@Rick Yerex]What’s up with this system and the Alt key?
Am I the only one who utilizes the Alt key to do things or am I the only one having problems?
Surely this has come up before?[/quote]
Microsoft has precise guidelines about what an app should use : Alt keys are for calling menus, but as Windows uses some keys for its own, you do not want to use them.
The recommended series of keys is Ctrl-key. See how Microsoft apps are designed : all key shortcuts are Ctrl-key. Why go another way ?
As for Xojo, I have been using menu shortcuts for years and never had to worry about the bug you mention. Easy does it. Besides, it provides users with two different methods of doing things, saving you potentially precious support time.