Hotkey utility for ArtWorks

by Kell Gatherer


Ever since acquiring ArtWorks, I've been irritated that certain of the major functions cannot be switched on using "hot keys". I'm sure Computer Concepts will amend this in a future release, but here is a little utility which does the same thing by simulating mouse clicks.

USING THE PROGRAM
Running HotArt installs this tiny application on the icon bar. HotArt now claims its own two hot keys - either the right hand Ctrl key next to the cursor keys (also marked "Action"), or the Tab key. The two keys perform exactly the same function, but you may find one more convenient than the other. The Tab key doesn't perform any function in ArtWorks, and you can carry on using the left hand control key for existing ArtWorks functions. 

Let's call the hot key the Hot Art Button (HAB for short). Pressing it will grab the caret away from ArtWorks. The first thing to do is to inform HotArt which of the open windows is the ArtWorks toolbox. Do this by moving the mouse pointer over the tool pane to the left of an open ArtWorks window. Then hold down either HAB and press Home. HotArt acknowledges by beeping.

Then carry on working in ArtWorks as before. If you want the Envelope function, press the HAB and E. Other key combinations are:

  HAB-A scAle
  HAB-B Blend
  HAB-C Curved line
  HAB-D raDial fill
  HAB-E Envelope
  HAB-F Freehand curve
  HAB-G Graduated fill
  HAB-I cIrcle
  HAB-L straight Line
  HAB-M Magnify (or HAB-)
  HAB-O rOunded square
  HAB-P Perspective
  HAB-Q sQuare
  HAB-R Rotate
  HAB-S Select
  HAB-T Text
  HAB-U coloUr

It was particularly the Magnify function that I wanted to access like this, so another little shortcut is incorporated. Pressing the right hand Ctrl key and the left cursor key will also invoke the Magnify function.

The program works by peeking at the window block of the tool pane and working out the (normal) positions of the tool icons. It then positions the pointer over the selected function and simulates a button-press. When you open a new ArtWorks window, the handle of the toolbox pane will change, so you will need to repeat the initialisation procedure above.

The procedure PROChotkey in the !RunImage file interprets the various key presses. This procedure could easily be modified for other applications.

 RISC User 1993
