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Author Topic: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.  (Read 27651 times)

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ynneb

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How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« on: May 05, 2006, 01:02:59 AM »
Here is a short tutorial of how to use thrid party software for a touch screen keyboard in Mach.
Please excuse my stammering as I always get nervous doing these :)
http://www.machsupport.com/bennys*********/tsm/tsm.wmv

You can download the touch screen keyboard shown in this video from here
http://cnt.lakefolks.com/

Special thanks to Brian Barker for showing me how to open external scripts using the script editor.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2006, 01:46:12 AM by ynneb »
Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2006, 06:06:29 AM »
Benny,

Nice job.  This points the way to many other potential uses for the screen.  From a functional standpoint, while I firmly believe that touch screens are the way to go when designing a control panel, I think I would still prefer either a separate keypad or keyboard (depending on what else I used the PC for, probably a full keyboard).  I have an industrial, sealed one directly attached (which I don't like very much) and a second wireless one, with built-in trackball (which I like very much).  Trying to type on a touch screen is a PITA.  Also, you give up valuable screen resources for the keyboard area.

Of course, this is only my opinion and I am anxious to be told that I am wrong because it looks SO cool :-)

Jeff


ynneb

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Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2006, 06:55:28 AM »
Quote
Of course, this is only my opinion and I am anxious to be told that I am wrong because it looks SO cool :-)

No one wants to tell you, you are wrong, its all about providing options for people. People can chooe to accpet or reject the options.
Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2006, 08:08:29 AM »
Benny,

Been thinking:

Is there any efficacy to placing a numeric keypad as part of the touchscreen for filling in DRO's?  Maybe this would be a time saver as a user wouldn't have to go to the keyboard while doing data entry.  I think the trick is to minimize movement of the hands from the screen to the keyboard (and back), while sacrificing a minimum of screen capability.  At the same time, the angle of the screen has to be such that quick selection of buttons (like typing) is convenient.  This may bias the screen angle away from vertical.  The ergonomic tradeoffs of different screen mounting angles are probably worthwhile to discuss as they affect more than just ease of typing (glare, clarity at a distance, viewing angle from sides, etc.).

Just some idle thoughts,
Jeff

ynneb

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Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2006, 09:19:35 AM »
Jeff, I was not think about the time saving advantages, but more the fact that you can get rid of the mouse and keyboard altogether.
If you set windows to boot straight into mach, I cant see why you would now need the other peripherals. This would mean you could have a completely sealed CNC control panel. Fully solid state, (term used loosely)
Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2006, 09:57:41 AM »
Benny,

That makes a lot of sense.  I just think that people should think about the control panel as part of the overall "system" of the CNC tool.  Usability and ergonomics plays an important role in the user interface of any system.  A touch screen offers many advantages, both from the standpoint of simplifying and "hardening" the physical interface layer and enhancing the ease of use.  It also introduces the interesting challenge of adjusting it to the proper angle.  This would tend to be vertical for vision from anything but a trivial distance and close to horizontal for ease of typing.  The two positions are pretty much mutually exclusive and the designer should take this into account.  The full keyboard you inserted shows the versatility of MACHx and is a starting point for future designers.  I think, eventually, a subset of keys (mostly numerical) with larger, easy to hit, footprints would be more beneficial if one chose a vertical plane for the screen.

The reason I'm harping on trivia like this is the design of most devices, whether an airline seat or a toothbrush, is based on an evolution of legacy designs, ending in something which is acceptable to most parties involved.  It does not mean that they are the best possible design.  Having discussions about what makes a screen easier to use (whether from the standpoint of glare, size, angle, button color/shape, layout, and so forth) I think will go a long way towards coming up with a set of guidelines which will help those who come after us.  Think about how the consensus discussions have advanced the control hardware design over the past three years and how much simpler it is today to build a CNC platform than it used to be.  Art has modified his software to conform to the "low hanging fruit" concensus of what 3 1/2 axis CNC is expected to do and his success at satisfying most people, most of the time is evident. 

The screens are the major interface that we have into the control of the CNC system (tool, PC and software all glopped together).  I think there are a number of "competing" schools of thought here:

The professional machinist-these tend to be conservative and adopt change slowly.  On the other hand, they are efficiency based and stress functionality over aesthetics.  They are also safety based and do not want compromises which may cause problems (for example, they would not appreciate the ability to jog on an "automatic" screen.  It serves no function here and could conceivably cause issues if used in error).

The all-in-one guy-Generally (but not always) a hobbyist who wants simplicity of use interpreted as having the maximum available functionality on a single screen.  There is a savings of keystrokes here, and maybe a more complete presentation of all of the tings that are going on.  This presentation would make most of the "pros" crazy as they need only a few functions at each part of their workflow and having the whole "Kitchen sink" available all the time is confusing and can cause errors.

The aesthetics-These are users who treat the screens as a work of art.  Generally, they are light users of CNC, but enjoy expressing their artistic flair on the only portion of MACHx which is easily user modifyable - the screens.  The outcomes run the gamut of the good, the bad and the ugly (like any art work).  My personal oppinion is that they can achieve results which would be more widely appreciated by studying screen GUI ergonomics as it applies to CNC tools, rather than shoot for artistic impressionism.

There are probably other design philosophies which I've left out, but I think a discussion is probably warranted just to see whether most people can agree on a few "good practice" approaches.

Jeff

Offline poppabear

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Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2006, 06:06:40 PM »
Ynneb,

    Can you post the VB script that you put in the "Key board" button. On the vidio, I can't see what it is, and I can't understand what your saying, (sad lap top speakers).

Thanks,
fun times

ynneb

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Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2006, 09:15:59 PM »
Scott, you can open any exe with this script, just specify the exe name and the path to it.
I think I changed the name of the keypad exe, so you might need to edit the script to suit yours.
Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2021, 12:10:21 PM »
Hi, Ynneb

Does this script works for Mach4? I understand Mach4 only works with LUA scripts, right?

Offline TPS

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Re: How to bring in a touch screen keyboard using VB script.
« Reply #9 on: June 04, 2021, 03:22:54 AM »
here: https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=36213.msg247828#msg247828

i have posted a solution for Mach3. something simular should be possible in LUA.
anything is possible, just try to do it.
if you find some mistakes, in my bad bavarian english,they are yours.