Redefining Menu Keys
By Richard C. Belthoff Jr.
Richard C. Belthoff Jr. is vice president and assistant general counsel at Wachovia Corp.
He can be reached via e-mailat richard.belthoff@wachovia.com.
If you ever have used WordStar, you know it takes two keystrokes to trigger a function: the menu key and the function key. For example, pressing “Ctrl+O” triggers the display of the “Onscreen” menu I created (see “Infinite Customization,” December/January 2005 Law Office Computing). From that menu, I can trigger the function. For example, pressing “P” triggers the “Print Preview” function. Corel WordPerfect can be reconfigured to mimic this functionality if you prefer to trigger a menu with the “Control” key, rather than WordPerfect’s default “Alt” key.
To do this, display the “Customize Settings” dialog by right-clicking the menu bar and selecting “Settings” from the drop-down menu. Click the “Keyboards” tab, select your keyboard, and then click “Edit.” Scroll to the keystroke you want to redefine in the “Choose a shortcut key” list (or just press the keystroke combination — in my example, “Ctrl+O”). Click the “Keystrokes” tab.
Rather than just inserting text into the “Keystrokes” input box, you are going to insert a keyboard script. These are keystroke commands surrounded by curly brackets. You can insert any combination of keystrokes you want and even switch back and forth between commands and regular text. For my keyboard, I inserted “{Alt+O}” to display the “Onscreen” menu by pressing “Control” instead of “Alt.” After you type in your keystrokes, click “Assign Keystrokes to Key.” After reassigning all of your keys, click “OK.” When the “Customize Setting” dialog appears, click “Close.”
When you are back at the WordPerfect screen, press your keystroke combination and your menu should display. In my case, when I press “Ctrl+O,” my “Onscreen” menu appears.
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