[nfb-talk] Fwd: [duxnews] NEW Perky Duck for Mac and Windows

[Steve Jacobson]

Jack,

To follow up on this and with the small bit of knowledge I have on this, I
believe that in Windows, one would have to read the scan codes generated by
each key.  This code, as you likely know, is not the same as the character
that is sent but actually represents the physical key that is being pressed.
As I recall, many keyboards generate a code when pressed and another when
released.  One has to get at this information in Windows using a different
call to the operating system and one may have to intercept an interrupt to
capture this.  I would assume that one has access to this level of hardware
interaction with Linux but I don't know that for sure.  I would guess one
does not get this sort of access if connected as a remote terminal, so that
may be an issue.  Somebody on NFBCS may know for certain.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson


-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jack Heim
via nfb-talk
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 9:55 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jack Heim <john at johnheim.com>
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fwd: [duxnews] NEW Perky Duck for Mac and Windows

How does Perky Duck work? Does it allow you to press several keys at once
like a Perkins Brailler? Do you need a special keyboard?

I was thinking of writing something for linux but I couldn't get past the
keyboard issue. Somebody sent me some code that allowed you to type
characters by pressing a key for each dot in the braille cell in sequence.
So to write the letter g, for example, you pressed the f key for dot 1, d
for dot 2, j for dot 4, k for dot 5, and finally the space bar to say that's
the character. I don't think you had to type them in order but you still had
to press 5 5 keys just to make a g. At the time, I thought that was
unacceptable. But at the time, I thought there was probably some way to
press several keys at once. Turns out the hardware itself doesn't allow
that. Keyboards won't send a f and a d and a j and a k all at once to the
operating system. So I gave up on the whole idea but now I am thinking that
was a mistake. It might be slow to have to press 5 keys in sequence to
insert a g but it's better than nothing.
I was thinking of trying to see if you can use the bottom row of keys like a
Perkins Brailler. For example, it might be possible to press the left alt,
left windows, right alt, and right windows keys all at once to represent a
g.

On 04/17/2018 07:47 PM, David Andrews via nfb-talk wrote:
> 
>>
>> Duxbury Systems ANNOUNCING NEW Perky Duck for MAC and Perky Duck for 
>> Windows!
>>
>> Perky Duck is a free simple braille editor.
>> Perky is a computer-based Perkins brailler emulator.
>> It is used in distance education to demonstrate your understanding of 
>> braille.
>> There is one download for Windows, and one download for the Mac.
>>
>> You can find Perky Duck by going to our web site (link below) and 
>> clicking on All Products to get to the Product page. Then scroll down!
>> <http://www.DuxburySystems.com>www.DuxburySystems.com
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Neal For the Info Desk
>> <mailto:info at duxsys.com>info at duxsys.com
>> +1-978-692-3000
>> Duxbury Systems, Inc.
>> Braille Solutions for the world since 1976!
>> <http://www.DuxburySystems.com>www.DuxburySystems.com
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