Double the number of buttons on your Pocket PC

How the idea of ButtonMapper came up:
Working with PDA, I always tried not to use stylus (in order not to scratch the screen of my expensive toy) and wanted to reassign all possible functions to the hardware buttons. I liked the way it was implemented on HP Jornada 560, where each hardware button could perform two actions: single press and press-n-hold. But when I turned to HP iPaq 3970, I faced another well-known disadvantage of this PDA (besides the impossibility to assign more than one action to a button). One of the features of the iPaq is only one side button, which launches recording, and a lack of jog dial. Thanks to PocketPC 2002, it's become possible to assign scrolling down to that button, which solves the problem to some extend. However, as a by-effect, we get completely useless Record button in all applications, that do not require vertical scroll.

As a result of the fight with all the troubles and inconveniences, ButtonMapper has appeared. It has not only solved these problems, but provided users with a number of additional features.

What is ButtonMapper?
Firstly, thanks to ButtonMapper, the number of PDA's hardware buttons doubles. User can assign two actions to every button: single short press and press-n-hold.

Secondly, and this is the most interesting part, ButtonMapper can handle button settings for each program separately, creating thus "context-dependent" assignments. For example, as a default setting (for all applications) you can use Record button on your iPaq PocketPC for launching a program for sound recording (VITO SoundExplorer, Records, etc), but for e-book applications you can set this button for turning over the pages (single press for scroll down, press-n-hold for scroll up). This is just a small example of the effective use, and the variety of scenarios is limited only by your fantasy.

Thirdly, besides launching different programs, hardware buttons can be assigned to starting some system applets such as backlight settings, memory and power settings, as well as turning the screen on and off.

Fourthly, ButtonMapper enables assigning of stylus tap emulation to buttons. As a result, hardware buttons can perform any actions of any application (button presses, menu selections, etc.).

Fifthly, ButtonMapper features recording of macros. You can record a sequence of stylus taps and perform them all at once by just one press of a hardware button.

Sixthly, ButtonMapper occupies about 50kb of Storage Memory and maximum 50 kb of operating memory. Running application does not affect the performance of PDA.

Main features realized in the current version:
•Features all functions of built-in button-mapping application (settings >personal tab >buttons)
•Support of long presses (tap-n-hold). As a result, the number of buttons virtually doubles.
•Creating independent button assignments for any program. Assignments can differ from application to application.
•Assigning to the buttons actions, not provided by standard settings:
oQuick access to Backlight settings
oQuick access to Display on/off
oQuick access to Memory settings
oQuick access to Power settings.

Some real-life scenarios for using with ButtonMapper.

1.Pocket inbox
Inbox is one of the most often used programs. When away from my desktop computer, I always browse through incoming correspondence using GPRS connection and iPaq 3970 with T68.

Usually, to start process of receiving/sending messages, user has to perform following actions:
a.Take the PDA out of the pocket.
b.Turn it on and launch Inbox by pressing the hardware button associated with Inbox.
c.Take out the stylus
d.Press Send/Receive Mail button with the stylus.
e.Put the stylus back
f.Put the PDA into the pocket.

When using ButtonMapper, you have just to:
a.Take out the PDA.
b.Turn it on and launch Inbox by pressing the hardware button associated with Inbox
c.Start receiving/sending messages pressing the same button.
d.Put the PDA back into the pocket.

To enable this, create following settings:
1.For [Default configuration, set launching Inbox for the press of Button 3 (for example).
2.For Inbox, assign [Stylus tap emulation for Send/Receive Mail button in the toolbar of Inbox application to the same button.

2. Reading e-books
Lack of jog dial can be bypassed by assigning [Scroll Down to the single press of Record button, while press-n-hold of this button is assigned to [Scroll Up. These settings of Record button will be active only for e-book applications (like MS Reader, HaaliReader), and all other time Record button will keep starting recording.

3.Voice recording and Task switching
For solving this problem, we suggest the following combination of programs:
VITO ButtonMapper for assigning the buttons
VITO TaskSwitcher for switching between tasks using only hardware buttons.
VITO SoundExplorer for recording MP3 and WAV, which can be launched by press of a button.

Create the following settings in ButtonMapper:
a.For [Default configuration, assign launching of SoundExplorer to the press of the Record hardware button, and launching of TaskSwitcher to its press-n-hold.
b.For SoundExplorer, create the same assignment for recording and [stylus tap emulation for other buttons of SoundExplorer (play, pause, etc.)
c.For TaskSwitcher, assign [Scroll Down for press of Record hardware button and [scroll up for press-n-hold. In TaskSwitcher settings, turn on Autoselect after two seconds.

As a result, we have the following scenario:
a.Pressing the Record hardware button launches SoundExplorer, pressing it again starts recording, pressing it third time stops recording. Other hardware buttons will manage other functions of SoundExplorer.
b.Press-n-hold of the Record hardware button launches TaskSwitcher with the list of active applications. Inside this window, Record button will move the selection up or down in the list, depending on the character of the pressing. After selecting the application, Autoselect will perform the chosen action: activate the selected task, close the active task, or close all.
This way, recording and managing the tasks can be performed using only one button.

VITO Technology offers a new version of ButtonMapper for download at their Web site since May 13th, 2004. For additional product information, visit www.VitoTechnology.com.

VITO Technology, LTD., based in Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk, Russia, is known for its high-tech products in the field of Pocket PC, Palm, and Symbian software, navigation and custom projects. Presented in the article VITO VoiceDialer PE (Phone Edition) is a voice-dialing system that operates using pre-recorded voice tags.

Akademgorodok is a science town in the south of Novosibirsk, Southern Siberia. It is home to many high-tech companies and research institutes.

© Vito Technology 2004. All rights reserved.




This article courtesy of http://www.gpsguidemap.com/.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Submit Your Article