Custom alphanumeric keyboard for pos system (1 Viewer)

gstylianou

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Dear all,

I want to create my own custom alphanumeric keyboard for POS form usage. Is it possible to find ready vba module for that?

Thanks
 

isladogs

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Rather than go to unnecessary work, why not just use the built-in Windows on-screen keyboards.
There are 2 of them: osk.exe and the newer version tektip.exe which is used by default on tablets and can be customised in various ways.
I've attached 5 screenshots - 1 for osk & 4 for tektip

HTH
 

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The_Doc_Man

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When you say "Custom Keyboard" - what level of customization are we talking about?

I used to work for a company that had special keyboards where the "extended" keyboard stuff - such as appear on the numeric keypad - took on new values. We had to intercept every keystroke and run it through a translation table.

In essence, we had the equivalent of a Public / General Module translation table where you took the ASC() of the keycode, used that as a subscript to translate the stroke into whatever it needed to be. The codes EITHER were left as-is (because they were the normal printing characters) OR they were special codes that were used for a SELECT CASE statement of actions to be performed when those particular keystrokes came in.

It wasn't in VBA and the company for which I did that is no longer in the business having that particular need, so I can't post anything. My description is all I can give you.
 

gstylianou

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Rather than go to unnecessary work, why not just use the built-in Windows on-screen keyboards.
There are 2 of them: osk.exe and the newer version tektip.exe which is used by default on tablets and can be customised in various ways.
I've attached 5 screenshots - 1 for osk & 4 for tektip

HTH

Thanks for the information,

But, how can i call the keyboard through the forma using a command button?
 

isladogs

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Am I correct in assuming the POS system will be in kiosk mode i.e. on a tablet PC or a monitor without a keyboard?

I can provide a quick DEMO using the on screen keyboard later today

For info, I did a kiosk mode patient login example app a couple of weeks ago that you might find worth looking at.
See https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=302159

That example uses buttons for user data entry as an alternative to an 'OSK'
The idea can easily be adapted to buttons for an alphanumeric keyboard if you do prefer that.
 

gstylianou

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Am I correct in assuming the POS system will be in kiosk mode i.e. on a tablet PC or a monitor without a keyboard?

I can provide a quick DEMO using the on screen keyboard later today

For info, I did a kiosk mode patient login example app a couple of weeks ago that you might find worth looking at.
See https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=302159

That example uses buttons for user data entry as an alternative to an 'OSK'
The idea can easily be adapted to buttons for an alphanumeric keyboard if you do prefer that.

Dear friend,

Your example is excellent but my problem is not the forms etc....I have problem to setup a alphanumeric keyboard..

I have a main form which includes a txtDisplay working such a display for showing the numbers and letters for my custom made keyboard. The problem is i cannot manage the code in order the display to work fine....there are many issues and that's why i'm looking to find a better keyboard for my application..
 

isladogs

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What I meant is, would you prefer that :
a) users enter data from one of the built in keyboards
b) to have a user entry form with buttons for each allowed letter/number/character

Either is possible. Its your choice

And you didn't answer my question:
Am I correct in assuming the POS system will be in kiosk mode i.e. on a tablet PC or a monitor without a keyboard?
 

gstylianou

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What I meant is, would you prefer that :
a) users enter data from one of the built in keyboards
b) to have a user entry form with buttons for each allowed letter/number/character

Either is possible. Its your choice

And you didn't answer my question:
Am I correct in assuming the POS system will be in kiosk mode i.e. on a tablet PC or a monitor without a keyboard?

user needs to work on POS Kiosk PC with customized keyboard..and here is the problem because the problem is the keyboard...
 

theDBguy

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user needs to work on POS Kiosk PC with customized keyboard..and here is the problem because the problem is the keyboard...
Hi,


Just curious if you saw my post earlier and if you had a chance to take a look at the demo.


Thanks!
 

The_Doc_Man

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If the keyboard is an "ordinary" keyboard with specially printed key caps then you have one problem, but if the keyboard is a non-standard keyboard with extended keys beyond the key caps, you have a different problem. Can you clarify which of the two you have?
 

isladogs

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@gstylianou
I'm still unclear what the answers to my questions are.
Would any of the onscreen keyboards in the images shown in my first answer work for you? If the answer is yes, I'll upload code to run those tomorrow.

If not, then you could try the alternative suggested by the DBGuy.

Otherwise I think you will need to create your own customised version using buttons for each allowed character yourself. Its not difficult to do (though perhaps rather tedious with lots of repetition in coding)

Also did you see my last answer to your registry thread which I posted a few days ago?
See https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1598838&postcount=7
 

gstylianou

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@gstylianou
I'm still unclear what the answers to my questions are.
Would any of the onscreen keyboards in the images shown in my first answer work for you? If the answer is yes, I'll upload code to run those tomorrow.

If not, then you could try the alternative suggested by the DBGuy.

Otherwise I think you will need to create your own customised version using buttons for each allowed character yourself. Its not difficult to do (though perhaps rather tedious with lots of repetition in coding)

Also did you see my last answer to your registry thread which I posted a few days ago?
See https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1598838&postcount=7

Good evening,

First of all, thank you very much for your help. Regarding your example i must be honest, I did not understand and also didn't see in the example how you call the keyboard. The problem with windows virtual keyboard is that it does not suit to users with displays from 12 to 15 inches because the buttons are too small and that's why we tried to make our own custmized with bigger buttons.

Although we have created a test sample, the problem is that:
1. We need to create a keyboard with letters AZ
2. The keyboard which we started to deploy, has many problems because of the poor coding (that's my fault because i do not have the correct experiances on vba) and this is the one of the reason which i attached the example.

Regarding the registry issue I have managed to write inside the path I wanted the new dword file, but I could not write a REG_SZ file and gives it the default value.

I've been able to read the value from the dword file but I would like to be able to create a REG_SZ file and read it because it suits me better.
 

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isladogs

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Fair enough but ...

1. The patient login example I provided wasn't calling an on screen keyboard. It was intended to show how you could use buttons for specific inputs and to possibly offer ideas for you to create your own custom keyboard.

2. As for the size of the supplied on screen keyboards, I'm typing now using an OSK on a ten inch Windows tablet. It's not an issue. In fact I have several Access apps that are designed to work on tablets or in kiosk mode on touch screen monitors.

Anyway, good luck with your project
 

gstylianou

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Fair enough but ...

1. The patient login example I provided wasn't calling an on screen keyboard. It was intended to show how you could use buttons for specific inputs and to possibly offer ideas for you to create your own custom keyboard.

2. As for the size of the supplied on screen keyboards, I'm typing now using an OSK on a ten inch Windows tablet. It's not an issue. In fact I have several Access apps that are designed to work on tablets or in kiosk mode on touch screen monitors.

Anyway, good luck with your project

Could you please help about this custom keyboard and send an example file?
 

isladogs

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Could you please help about this custom keyboard and send an example file?

If you are asking me to create a custom keyboard for you, the answer is no.
That's for the reasons I mentioned in post #12. Though not difficult, its tedious to do due to lots of repetitive coding and is likely to take some time.

Attached is a quick DEMO which will allow you to try each of the built in on-screen keyboards with Access. I am aware that the DEMO isn't perfect but it should enable you to decide whether either of these items suits your needs.

NOTE: If you use the tablet version, use the 'button' in the top left corner to try its different variations. The tablet keyboard may have to be closed manually in this DEMO

Returning to your registry issue, the code I gave you in the other thread should have included all you needed. See https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1598838&postcount=7
 

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gstylianou

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If you are asking me to create a custom keyboard for you, the answer is no.
That's for the reasons I mentioned in post #12. Though not difficult, its tedious to do due to lots of repetitive coding and is likely to take some time.

Attached is a quick DEMO which will allow you to try each of the built in on-screen keyboards with Access. I am aware that the DEMO isn't perfect but it should enable you to decide whether either of these items suits your needs.

NOTE: If you use the tablet version, use the 'button' in the top left corner to try its different variations. The tablet keyboard may have to be closed manually in this DEMO

Returning to your registry issue, the code I gave you in the other thread should have included all you needed. See https://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1598838&postcount=7

Thanks again. Really maybe i'm lost or something going totally wrong with your examples my friend..!!
Either if i open the Form1 or Form2....i don't see any on-screen keyboard....!!!

Please, explain me what exactly i must see if i open the form1 for example...

thanks again for all your time and your help..
 

isladogs

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The app opens with form 1. Click either button.
This opens form 2 and should also start one of the on screen keyboards. Tested on 3 PCs (desktop/laptop/tablet) in Access 2010 and 2016 (both 32-bit and 64-bit) but all running Windows 10

However,if you instead open form 2 from the navigation pane, no OSK appears.
 
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gstylianou

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The app opens with form 1. Click either button.
This opens form 2 and should also start one of the on screen keyboards. Tested on 3 PCs (desktop/laptop/tablet) in Access 2010 and 2016 (both 32-bit and 64-bit) but all running Windows 10

However,if you instead open form 2 from the navigation pane, no OSK appears.

Now i'm sure that something going wrong..!! I open form1 from the popup form started using your butn....nothing....also tried with form2...again nothing..

I'm using Win10 and office 2016 32bit.....
 

Gasman

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Now i'm sure that something going wrong..!! I open form1 from the popup form started using your butn....nothing....also tried with form2...again nothing..

I'm using Win10 and office 2016 32bit.....

Win10 & Office 2007 32bit

I get an on screen keyboard with Form 1 and another keyboard with Form 2

See attached pics.
 

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