SofType 4.5 has been designed specifically for use with international languages in addition to United States English. It uses the "Input Locals" capability within Windows for specific characters and their keyboard locations in each language. SofType 4.5 and Windows work together to automatically make these keyboard changes once the input locals have been properly configured. If SofType 4.5 is only used with one language, configuration is not required. If multiple languages are used on one machine, then SofType 4.5 will change the keyboard layout as applications associated with different languages are used. When focus is transferred between applications the keyboard will change to the language associated with that application. These changes are handled automatically by Windows and SofType 4.5. Windows installations that generally use the Roman character set are compatible with SofType 4.5. For more information regarding the use of multiple languages please refer to "Input Locals" within the Windows Help system. There are screen-shots below of layouts for languages other than U.S. English.A capability of SofType 4.5 not available with SofType 4.2 is the ability to log on to a Windows 95/98/ME or Windows NT/2000/XP workstation at boot time. (This is different than having the keyboard launch from the Start up directory after Windows starts.) SofType 4.5 can also be used to enter a Windows Screen Saver password. When enabled, SofType 4.5 will launch a minimal keyboard that will allow character entry using dwell (AutoClick) to click the mouse button. This makes SofType 4.5 ideal for a head pointer user such as HeadMouse who cannot use an adaptive switch.A difference between SofType 4.2 and SofType 4.5 is the appearance of the Hide/Show button on the Dragger toolbar and how its state is indicated. In SofType 4.2 this button's graphic (icon) changes each time it is pushed from an image of the dragger toolbar to the toolbar and keyboard. The button is also momentary, it does not stick in the down position. In other words, it is a momentary toggle switch. It toggles between showing only the Dragger toolbar and showing the toolbar and keyboard. Whereas with SofType 4.5 the graphic does not change, it sticks in the up or down position to indicate state. When the button is down (ON) the keyboard is shown and when it is up (OFF) the keyboard is not shown. This button is shown in the keyboard screen-shot above.
SofType 4.5 also has some other display capabilities not available with version 4.2, such as rounded keys as shown in the screen-shot above.
SofType 4.5 and SofType 4.2 do not use the same keyboard layout file format. Therefore, layout files created for SofType 4.2 must be modified before they can be used with SofType 4.5.
German keyboard
Norwegian keyboard
These two examples are indicative of the keyboard layouts available using SofType 4.5 with Windows Input Locals feature. Although not shown in the two examples above, the word lists can be setup for one language or for each language used on one machine.
Order SofType 4.5
Downloads:
A demonstration version of SofType is available for evaluation
from our demonstration page. The SofType Manual is also available for download. Try it out today!
Requirements:
- IBM PC Compatible Computer capable of running Windows 2000 or Windows XP
- Requires at least the Microsoft minimum required RAM per operating system
- CD-ROM disc drive for installation
- Input device such as a HeadMouse Extreme, mouse, trackball, or any Windows compatible pointing device
- 2 megabytes free hard drive space
Origin Instruments also an on-screen keyboard for Mac OS called, KeyStrokes.
