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corey123
8
May 5, 2015
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Sorry if this has been answered already, but does this send numpad key codes or normal number key codes?
silverthornne
279
May 5, 2015
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corey123Short answer: it doesn't.
Long answer: some applications do act as if this thing is sending the proper numpad codes, but others don't. This is exacerbated by the way other keyboards may behave, so I am not sure how one can be certain that a number pad is able to send the right codes. My experience with it has been the following:
Using Microsoft Office applications and an ErgoDox as may main keyboard: Holding down the alt key and punching in a numpad code to do a special character such as a bullet, the copyright symbol or a letter with a tilde (á, é, etc.), nothing seems to happen initially, but if I press the space bar after I do the special character sequence on the numpad, the application inserts the special character. It's a little wonkey, but it works.
Using text editors such as Notepad or those in development IDE's such as Idea or Eclipse yields a space after inputting the numpad sequence while holding down the alt key and no special character. In that case, the numpad clearly didn't work as expected. I also have this problem when using this numpad with the ErdoDox keyboard in Adobe applications, such as Illustrator and Photoshop, so I had to create a layer with a numpad on my ErgoDox and negate the main reason why I got this product.
Btw, the USB cable on it is unreliable so it can be a bit of a headache sometimes as it may lose connection or not be recognized from time to time.
Long answer: some applications do act as if this thing is sending the proper numpad codes, but others don't. This is exacerbated by the way other keyboards may behave, so I am not sure how one can be certain that a number pad is able to send the right codes. My experience with it has been the following:
Using Microsoft Office applications and an ErgoDox as may main keyboard: Holding down the alt key and punching in a numpad code to do a special character such as a bullet, the copyright symbol or a letter with a tilde (á, é, etc.), nothing seems to happen initially, but if I press the space bar after I do the special character sequence on the numpad, the application inserts the special character. It's a little wonkey, but it works.
Using text editors such as Notepad or those in development IDE's such as Idea or Eclipse yields a space after inputting the numpad sequence while holding down the alt key and no special character. In that case, the numpad clearly didn't work as expected. I also have this problem when using this numpad with the ErdoDox keyboard in Adobe applications, such as Illustrator and Photoshop, so I had to create a layer with a numpad on my ErgoDox and negate the main reason why I got this product.
Btw, the USB cable on it is unreliable so it can be a bit of a headache sometimes as it may lose connection or not be recognized from time to time.
gcruzatto
36
May 6, 2015
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DrewDunnThere seems to be conflicting information here. Some people say it sends codes, some people say it doesn't. Can you confirm if you can send at least a degree symbol (alt + 167) on Word or your browser window with it?
silverthornne
279
May 6, 2015
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gcruzattoDraxor and I had a conversation about this just a few posts up. Anyway, here's the deal:
It does send proper numpad codes, however, depending on what you want to do with those codes, it may or may not be useful. For your example, this may not be useful as you only have a split-second to enter the code. With a full keyboard you just input the code while holding down the left-alt key and that's that. With this keypad you have about a second to input the code while holding down the left alt key. Interestingly, that is not a problem with Word in Windows because the rules in Word are different (I will elaborate).
I use numpad codes quite often because I type in multiple languages and need access to characters such as á, é, ñ, ß, etc. I can type any of them in Word with this keypad easily because in Word, the special character is inserted after using the code and pressing the space bar afterwards. No timing issues there, and though wonky, it's something I've gotten used to.
This is different on other applications such as simple text editors (notepad, MikTex), internet browsers, Photoshop, or IDE's such as intellij IDEA or Eclipse. In those applications I used to think that the codes didn't work, but Draxor corrected me. The codes work but you need extremely fast fingers to be able to use them. I tried with alt-165 (which produces an Ñ) and I had to repeat it about 10 times to get one Ñ. The time window to get it to work is insanely narrow, so I don't consider it useful.
Now, if you don't need the codes for special characters and just want to rebind keys for games or make sure that number 2 on the external keypad is a different key than the number 2 above the w on your tenkeyless keyboard you should be set. This will work great under that scenario.
It does send proper numpad codes, however, depending on what you want to do with those codes, it may or may not be useful. For your example, this may not be useful as you only have a split-second to enter the code. With a full keyboard you just input the code while holding down the left-alt key and that's that. With this keypad you have about a second to input the code while holding down the left alt key. Interestingly, that is not a problem with Word in Windows because the rules in Word are different (I will elaborate).
I use numpad codes quite often because I type in multiple languages and need access to characters such as á, é, ñ, ß, etc. I can type any of them in Word with this keypad easily because in Word, the special character is inserted after using the code and pressing the space bar afterwards. No timing issues there, and though wonky, it's something I've gotten used to.
This is different on other applications such as simple text editors (notepad, MikTex), internet browsers, Photoshop, or IDE's such as intellij IDEA or Eclipse. In those applications I used to think that the codes didn't work, but Draxor corrected me. The codes work but you need extremely fast fingers to be able to use them. I tried with alt-165 (which produces an Ñ) and I had to repeat it about 10 times to get one Ñ. The time window to get it to work is insanely narrow, so I don't consider it useful.
Now, if you don't need the codes for special characters and just want to rebind keys for games or make sure that number 2 on the external keypad is a different key than the number 2 above the w on your tenkeyless keyboard you should be set. This will work great under that scenario.
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