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Hot Keys and Custom Toolbars

If you’re using Keycreator just like it came out of the box, you’re missing out on the
additional flexibility and productivity provided by customizing the software. Most power
users take advantage of Accelerator Keys (Also called Hot Keys.) to quickly access
commonly used functions. They also create additional toolbars and modify the selection
and placement of Icons on the existing toolbars to closely match the way they like to
work.

Let’s take a few minutes to quickly

review how to customize both of these
items.

Before we start customizing things, let’s

click on the TOOLS Pulldown Menu and
then on OPTIONS.

If you haven’t done any customizing up to this

point, you will see a Default.kbd file and a
Default.wsp file in the respective fields in the
Configuration Dialog Box.

The Keyboard File saves Hot Key assignments

and the Workspace File saves the layout of
toolbars and control bars on the screen.

If you are going to customize your software, it

is a good idea to first create a keyboard file
and a workspace file of your own so that you
don’t destroy the settings in the supplied
configuration files.

Let’s work with the keyboard file first. Let’s assume that we want our keyboard file to be
like the DrWalt Keyboard File supplied with the software. (Yes, I know I’m partial to this
file, but for good reason. Over the past twenty-five years I’ve developed it to streamline
operations in this software, maximizing productivity.)

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 Click on the LOAD Button just under the
Keyboard File field.

Now, click on the DrWalt File in the list of

keyboard files that appears and then on the
OPEN Button in the bottom right corner of
the Dialog Box.

Notice that the DrWalt Keyboard file

is now set up in the configuration for
loading each time Keycreator is
opened. Now if you would like to
customize the keys in the DrWalt
File, immediately click on the SAVE
Button.

Type your name for the name of

the new file and click on the
SAVE Button.

Now, the keyboard file that loads each

time you start Keycreator is your
keyboard file. If you customize this
file you won’t mess up the original
DrWalt Keyboard file that came with
the software.

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 Before we proceed any further, take a
moment to remove the check (If there is
one) in the box for Save Current
Workspace on Exit in the Configuration
Dialog Box. (If you exit while we’re
experimenting I don’t want you to
inadvertently mess up the default
Workspace layout.)

Now, let’s customize the software.

Click on the TOOLS Pulldown Menu and

then on the CUSTOMIZE Option.

A large Dialog Box appears. Click on the

COMMANDS Button at the top of the box.

As you each on each category, a set

of Icons appears in the Buttons Field.

Click on the SETTINGS Category

and then on the SET ATTRIBUTES
Icon.

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 Click in the Press New
Shortcut Key Field and
type the letter “K.”

Now, click on the

ASSIGN KEY Button
at the bottom of the
Dialog Box.

This assigns the Hot

Key “K” to the SET
ATTRIBUTE Function.

When you type your key, if you make a

mistake, use the CLEAR KEY Button to
correct it.

Don’t hit the DELETE Key or

BACKSPACE Key because these can be
assigned to Hot Keys too!

Once you assign a key, you can delete the

assignment by clicking on the key assignment in
the Current Keys list.

While it is highlighted, click on the REMOVE

Button at the bottom of the Dialog Box to wipe
that sucker out!

You can have more than one key assigned to a

function but a particular key can only be assigned
to one function.

Keycreator will warn you if you try to assign a key that is already used. That’s all there is
to assigning Hot Keys.

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Customizing Toolbars

When you are in the CUSTOMIZE Dialog

Box, you can just as easily populate a toolbar
with a selected Icon. Let’s use the SET
ATTRIBUTE Icon again.

Click on the SETTINGS Category. This time,

position the cursor over the SET
ATTRIBUTES Icon and depress the left
mouse button, dragging the Icon into a clear
area of the viewport.

When you let go of the mouse

button, a toolbar is created with
the Icon on it. (If you had let go
of the mouse button while over
an existing toolbar, the Icon
would have been added to that
toolbar. To remove an Icon from
a toolbar, drag it from the toolbar
into a blank area in the viewport
and let go of the mouse button.)

You can reposition icons on a toolbar by

dragging them to a new position. You can also
drag the borders of a toolbar to make it
horizontal, vertical, or a palette.

If you reposition a toolbar over an edge of the

screen, it will dock on that edge.

You can control the display of toolbars in

several ways.

Click on the TOOLS Pulldown Menu and then

on CUSTOMIZE.

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 Click on the TOOLBARS Tab at the top of the
CUSTOMIZE Dialog Box.

Notice that the toolbar that I just made is number 14 in the

list and there is a check in front of it. If you click to
remove the check, it will disappear from the display.

You can also right mouse click in the

gray bar area to the right of the word
HELP in the pulldown menus at the
top of the screen.

A large menu of control bars and

toolbars appears and you can click to
display or undisplay any item.

Finally, you can also assign a hot key to your

toolbar to control the display of the toolbar.
To do this, click again on the TOOLS Pulldown
Menu and then on CUSTOMIZE.

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 Click on the
COMMANDS Button and
then on the TOOLBARS
Option in the
CATEGORIES List.

Click on the toolbar button

that you want to control.
(Note, this is the item list
number, not the toolbar
name.)

Then, proceed to assign a

Hot Key following the
same steps that we used
earlier.

The Hot Key acts like a toggle. If the toolbar is displayed and you hit the Hot Key, it
disappears from the display. If it is not visible and you hit the Hot Key, it reappears.

Finally, to save the

arrangement of toolbars
and control bars (Like
the Modeling Menu at
the left side of the
screen.), click on the
FILE Pulldown Menu
and then on the
WORKSPACE Option.

Next, click on SAVE

WORKSPACE AS.

A Dialog Box appears.

Type a name for the
workspace (You could
use your name.) and
click on the SAVE
Button.

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 Finally, click on the TOOLS Pulldown Menu
and then on OPTIONS.

Now, click on the BROWSE Button to the

right of the Workspace File Field.

Select your
workspace and click
on the OPEN
Button.

Your workspace will now load automatically

whenever you open Keycreator.

One last note: You can also modify toolbars

when you are not in the Customize menu by
depressing the ALT Key and simultaneously
dragging an Icon from the History line or
one toolbar to another. You can also drag an
Icon from a toolbar into the graphics area to
discard it from a toolbar.

For more tips on customizing Keycreator, I recommend reading the first sections of my
Doctor Walt’s Keycreator 7 Workbook.