Configuring the Keyboard

HostAccess supports many terminal emulations which means that many sets of function keys and special editing keys are available. Each emulation may have a different set of pre-defined emulation keys.

HostAccess has been programmed with the standard set of function keys normally relevant to the particular emulation. Applications can re-program these keys automatically (as any real terminal will do) and you can re-program them manually. This section describes how you can map a PC key to a specific emulation key, to a character string, or to a specific macro. It also describes how you can restore the default settings.

When HostAccess is installed on your PC, your systems administrator may have set up the keyboard mapping to a standard terminal mapping. You should consult your systems administrator before making any changes.

  1. First, open up your HostAccess session in the normal way.

  1. Log onto your application. Your application may re-program your keys automatically. Test out the keys you want to remap.

  1. Select the Keyboard mapping option from the Configure menu. The keyboard mapping dialog will appear on the screen showing the PC keyboard layout.

  1. The following three sections describe how to map emulation keys, strings and macros.

    Note: If you wish to use only the keyboard for configuration entries, use the Type Key button as follows:

    • Select ALT+K or select the Type Key button. A message box appears.

    • Press and hold a key sequence (e.g. ALT+SHIFT+F1). Once the keys are released they appear selected in the dialog.

    • Select either Emulation Key, String or Macro and bind the relevant data to the key sequence.

Emulation Keys

To see what function keys are mapped to.

  1. Click on function key (e.g. F13) entry in the list box. The Show Binding button becomes active.

  1. Click on the Show Binding button to highlight the CTRL+ F3. The Map PC Key to section shows it to be an Emulation Key.

Clicking on the six special editing keys: Ins, Home, Pg Up, Delete, End and Pg Dn, will cause the Emulation key section to display the relevant binding.

Example

To re-map the Find emulation key from its default setting of INS key:

  1. Click on the Ins key. The Emulation key changes to the Find option.

  1. Click on the keys you wish to re-map or bind it to.
    For example, click on the CTRL key and the F12 key causing CTRL+F12 to be highlighted.

  1. Click on the Find option in the emulation section and the radio button for Emulation key in the Map to PC Key section.

To re-map or Bind this you MUST click on the Bind Button.

To test this mapping click on the Find option and then "Show binding", it should display CTRL+F12.

Note: If you re-map an emulation key to a previously defined emulation key, e.g. bind Find to the Del key, the Del key binding (i.e. Select) will be lost.

Strings

This option associates a string to a PC key. This allows you to set a key so that every time that key is pressed, a string will be sent to the host. For example, you can set a key so that you can log off from a host at the touch of a button by associating a command such as the word OFF with a key such as ESC. You cannot assign a string to a key that has been assigned as an emulation key. To do this you must first move the emulation binding.

To associate a string to a PC key

  1. Click on the PC Key in the Keyboard mapping dialog that you want to associate to the string.

  1. Under the Map PC Key to section, select String.

  1. Enter the required text in the field to the right of String. If a carriage return is required as well, then enter a Control symbol (^) followed by a capital M.

To set the string to the PC key:

Click on the Bind button.

Clicking on the function keys (F1 through to F12) causes a characters string to appear in the "Map PC Key to" section next to the String radio button.

To find out if a PC key has a string associated with it:

In the Keyboard Mapping dialog, click on the PC key.

If a key has a string associated with it, the String field in the Map PC key to section will display the relevant string.

Macros

Macros are used to automate tasks. If there is a macro that you use frequently, it would be worth associating a macro with a PC key so that whenever you pressed that key, the macro would be run. 

To map a macro:

  1. Click on the Macro radio button and either enter the full path name of the macro in the field next to it, or select it using the Browse button.

  1. Click on the Bind button at the bottom of the dialog then click on the OK button.

To reset keyboard mappings:

To restore the default setting of a specific key, highlight the key you want to restore and click on Reset Key

To restore all the key settings to the default, click on the Reset All key.