Sending Data as Keystrokes to
More than One Application at a Time
In the previous example we showed
how to send data from the Wedge to a DOS application by first
sending the data as keystrokes to the NotePad program and then
cutting the data out of NotePad, switching the focus to a DOS window
and pasting the data in. You can use the same technique to have the
Wedge send data to two (or more) Windows or DOS programs at a time.
For example, if in the previous example we were to copy the data
from NotePad instead of cutting the data, we would end up with both
the NotePad and the DOS programs receiving the data.
All you need to do to pass data to
two Windows programs is to send the data to the first application
and then use whatever keystrokes are necessary to copy the data to
the clipboard, switch the focus to the second application and
finally paste the data in. Even if neither of the applications
provides an explicit copy or paste function, you can always copy
text to the clipboard in any Windows program by first selecting the
text and issuing the keystroke Ctrl+Insert (or Ctrl+C). In a "Field
Postamble Keystroke" macro in the Wedge, Ctrl+Insert is represented
by: ^{INSERT}. Likewise, you can paste text data from the clipboard
into any Windows program using the keystrokes Shift+Insert (or
Ctrl+V). In the Wedge Shift+Insert is represented by: +{INSERT}. To
select text in any program you can hold down the shift key while
using the arrow keys, Home, End, Page Up and Page Down keys to
highlight and select characters.
Windows will also switch the focus
between all running application when you hold the Alt key down and
press the Tab key. Windows maintains a list of all currently running
applications with the application that currently has the input focus
placed at the top of the list. If you switch to another application,
the new application moves to the top of the list and the previously
active application moves down one spot in the list. When hold the
ALT key down, each time you press the tab key, Windows moves down
the list one item and selects the application at that position in
the list. When you release the Alt key, the selected application is
given the focus and is moved to the top of the list pushing all
other application that were above it in the list down one spot.
For example, if you had the Wedge
set up to send keystrokes to NotePad and you also wanted to send the
data to the WordPad you could use the following procedure:
Set up the Wedge in "Send
Keystrokes" mode specifying the NotePad program as the target for
all keystrokes from the Wedge. Next, configure the Wedge to work
with your serial device and then add the following characters to the
end of the "Field Postamble Keystrokes" for the very last data field
that you have defined in the Wedge: +({LEFT}{HOME})^{INSERT}{DOWN}%{TAB}+{INSERT}
Activate the Wedge and then launch
the WordPad program followed by the NotePad program. At this point
NotePad has the focus and is therefore at the top of the Window list
with the WordPad program directly underneath it. When you input data
from your device, it will be sent to both NotePad and WordPad. The
keystrokes: +({LEFT}{HOME}) means hold the shift key while pressing
the left arrow and the home key. This selects all text in the
current line. The keystrokes: ^{INSERT} means Ctrl+Insert and causes
all selected text to be copied to the clipboard. The {DOWN}
keystroke that follows is there to simply de-select the currently
selected text. The keystrokes: %{TAB} means Alt-Tab and causes
Windows to switch the focus to the WordPad program. Finally, the
keystrokes: +{INSERT} means shift+insert and performs the job of
pasting the data from the clipboard into the WordPad program.
To send the data to three Windows
programs at a time you could use the following "Field Postamble
Keystrokes": +({LEFT}{HOME})^{INSERT}{DOWN}%{TAB}+{INSERT}%{TAB
2}+{INSERT} |
