The problem
Some clever
guys (names are known to the author ;-) once
invented a graphical user interface with
mouse support and dozens of nifty features.
They obviously had not done data entry
because during the development (when someone must
had a bad day) they decided to use the tab key
to move the cursor from the current field to the next; the
enter key instead activates the so called "default
button" where available.
This was a bad
decision for at least three reasons:
- Old
habits: Those users who have been
using DOS based programs were simply
used to pressing the enter key to move
to the next field. It has been my
experience that it is a useless
discussion when trying to teach them to
use the tab key: they won't get it.
Instead, you will see people
taking their hands off their keyboard,
grabbing their mouse, pointing to the next
field and click it - a very time
consuming, ineffective process!
- Key
location: If you look at your
keyboard (assuming you have a standard
one), you'll see that the enter key is
the largest key by far. Believe me, this
HAD a reason when those keys were
invented! The tab key on the far left of
the keyboard is definitely harder to
reach, even for those users that are
able to do touch typing.
-
Numeric keypad: Those users who have
to enter large amounts of numeric data
usually do this with the small numeric
keypad on the right of the keyboard,
using the left hand to "navigate" on a
piece of paper. If you look closer
you'll notice that there is no tab key
on the numeric keypad. This results in
the people taking their finger
off of their paper sheet to press the tab
key, thus slowing down data entry and
increasing the number of typing errors.
What can
you do? As an end user, your only chance
until now was to contact the developers of
the software and ask them to include support
for Enter=Tab conversion in their
applications. If this was possible at all,
it is a
time consuming and therefore expensive task
in most cases. Until now...
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The
solution
EntabberPro aims directly at solving the above
mentioned problems. It enables Enter=Tab
conversion for ALL win32 gui
applications*
by simply running a small program in the
background.
No
changes to your existing applications
are required!
How does it work?
EntabberPro monitors all pressed keys
before they are sent to the target
applications; if it detects an enter key
it checks it's internal database and if
required changes the key stroke to a tab
key. This process is "invisible" to the
target of the key press, in other words the running
applications don't even "know" that the
enter key had been pressed at all.
Download a free 30-day evaluation
version now!
*
EntabberPro does NOT support console
mode applications; 16bit applications
ARE supported, but additional
considerations will have to be made,
depending on the operating system used.
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Features
Unlike
the free version of Entabber, which only
does a general, system wide Enter=Tab
replacement, the pro version allows fine
tuning so it can EXACTLY fit your needs:
-
Choosable apps
(Screenshot
1)
You
can individually choose which applications
are enabled for the Enter=Tab conversion (since it doesn't make
sense in all cases). Simply add the
application's executable name to the list
and activate the checkbox to (Enter=Tab) enable it.
It is also possible to choose a
default setting (enabled or disabled)
for applications not listed.
-
Chooseable classes
(Screenshot
2)
In a manner similar to choosing the applications,
you can select individual window
classes as well. For some window
classes (push buttons, for example)
it might not be desirable for the enter
key to act like tab, for others
classes (edit
controls, ...) it might very well be.
You can easily populate standard
classes by choosing predefined sets
from a menu that has presets for
standard Windows controls, the
Windows common controls, Clarion
controls and Borland controls.
Adding unknown classes is also easy:
Use the built-in targeting system,
it's just a matter of
point-and-click!
Each of the classes can be Enter=Tab
enabled individually. There's also a
default setting for window classes
not listed.
-
Advanced options
(Screenshot
3)
-
You can treat the regular Enter
key and the Enter Key on the numeric
keypad differently: For those
who are typing large amounts of
numbers can turn the enter key
on the numeric keypad into a tab,
and the regular enter key
stays unchanged.
-
Optionally, you can generate an
Enter key stroke by pressing
Ctrl+Enter.
-
Additionally you might want to
choose a global hotkey that
toggles EntabberPro's activity,
no matter what application
you're currently typing to. The
icon in the system tray reflects
the current activity state (see
screenshots below).
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Licensing and prices
Licenses are available both for end
users and for developers:
- End
user licenses
These are very reasonably priced
licenses directly for end users. The
number of applications for which to
enable Enter=Tab conversion is not
limited in any way. Actual pricing
depends on the number of users (see
chart below)
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=enabled
or
=disabled),
so here are some screenshots of the options dialog:
