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Author Topic: Custom hotkey disables 'esc' hotkey.  (Read 1414 times)

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Custom hotkey disables 'esc' hotkey.
« on: October 10, 2019, 02:35:33 PM »
Hi all - I've been working on Mach for about a year now, and I consider myself somewhat fluent at this point. Fluent enough to at least hack my way through most issues, though this latest one has me stumped.

I've set up a CNC router for production parts, and I've gone as far as to create some custom buttons using machscreen, which are then used to call macros to zero the part using a custom touch probe, then run the associated G-code. That all works as great.

Recently I decided it would be GREAT if I could just mash some hotkeys/keyboard shortcuts instead of clicking the onscreen buttons i've created. I've assigned the hotkeys using Machscreen, and there aren't any conflicts I'm aware of (I'm using Shift-Alt-A and Shift-Alt-B as my shortcuts.) From first glance, this also appears to work fantastically, but this is where my issue starts.

If I decide for some reason to stop the macro using ESC, it does not respond after having called either of the macros using the hotkeys. If I boot up the machine, and run the routines via the buttons i've created, ESC works great until I've used either of the hotkeys, at which point it ceases to respond to ESC until the machine is rebooted, forcing the use of the mouse to terminate the script.

To summarize:
-Custom Macro Buttons to zero and run parts
-Buttons work as intended
-Hotkeys work (mostly) as intended
-terminating script using ESC works after machine startup but only until I've used a hotkey to call the custom macros, at which point it no longer works and manually clicking "stop" is required to terminate the script.


Any suggestions? What could I be doing incorrectly?
« Last Edit: October 10, 2019, 02:37:05 PM by maaron »
Re: Custom hotkey disables 'esc' hotkey.
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2019, 02:44:03 AM »
Do all hotkeys make esc to stop working, or just one? If so, which one.

Klaus
The brain isn't a soap, it doesn't shrink when used.
Re: Custom hotkey disables 'esc' hotkey.
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2019, 01:46:22 PM »
Klaus -

Only my custom hotkeys cause this to happen. All other default hotkeys work normally. I've also added a clarification - the entire machine does not need rebooting to restore ESC function, only the Mach 3 software.
Re: Custom hotkey disables 'esc' hotkey.
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2019, 02:49:01 PM »
do you mean any of your custom hotkeys stop esc to work properly? Did you check if an user defined hotkey is already used? In Machscreen goto menu View -> Hotkeys. In the displayed list hit column "Value hex" and verify the hotkeys.

Klaus
The brain isn't a soap, it doesn't shrink when used.
Re: Custom hotkey disables 'esc' hotkey.
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2019, 03:31:14 PM »
Klaus - yes, that is correct. after using the new hotkeys, ESC stops working properly.

The hotkeys are not already assigned. It was my experience that Machscreen will not allow you to assign a hotkey that has already been used to a new button.
Re: Custom hotkey disables 'esc' hotkey.
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2019, 04:09:37 PM »
I seem to have stumbled across a solution, however I'm curious as to why it might have caused the problem.

I played around with different keystroke assignments for the hotkeys, and found that when using Shift-Alt-A & Shift-Alt-B, it would stop the ESC function from working, however when using the same or similar keystrokes WITHOUT the "Shift-" the ESC function worked properly. From what I could tell in my hotkey list on Machscreen there were no conflicts, or even an "Alt-A" coexisting with the "Shift-Alt-A" when the problem occurred.

Anyways, the problem has been resolved, but if someone cares to chime in as to why they might think this happens on my system I would be very interested to hear you out.