Re: F-Keys and macros

[Bob Duncan <duncanr@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 09:13 AM 3/21/2003 -0800, Sue Boggs wrote:
>At 11:26 AM 3/19/2003 -0500, Lin Light wrote:
>>   I know that f1-f6 and f10 are tied up by the system.
>
>I haven't customized mine yet but wanted to follow up on this comment to 
>see if anyone else has the same experience as we do. As Lin points out 
>according to the manual, # 100743, many of the function keys are supposed 
>to come predefined, doing different things in the different modules. I've 
>discovered that ours are all set to the milcirc functions. For instance in 
>milcat if I hit F5 it just opens the Go window, instead of switching to 
>create lists. It is trying to do circ's Alt g - s. Alt g opens the Go 
>window fine but in milcat there is no "s" option so it just sits there.


Two things need to be kept in mind regarding Millennium macros:  (1) they 
just perform keystrokes---they don't really have any special functionality 
as might be implied by the manual;  (2) they're associated with logins, not 
Millennium modules, so the manual's claim that they're predefined for a 
module isn't necessarily true (since a login can get its macros from any 
other login, regardless of the module invoked by the login).  Also, only 
the function keys marked as "RESERVED" are "tied up by the 
system";  "predefined" macros can be edited at will.

To the extent that a macro will do what the manual says it will do is 
dependent on the defined keystrokes being the keystrokes which are required 
for the action described in the manual.  For example, the manual says that 
in Millennium Cataloging, "F5 Changes the current mode to Create 
Lists".  In fact, F5 only changes the current mode to Create Lists if the 
login you're using to access MilCat has the F5 key defined as Alt-G-L (the 
keystrokes required to "Go" to "Create Lists" in R2002/P2 Millennium 
Cataloging).  In Sue's situation, F5 isn't really trying to do *MilCirc's* 
Alt-G-S;  it's just doing plain old Alt-G-S, which in MilCat expands the Go 
menu (and in a former iteration of MilCat may indeed have gone to Create 
Lists).  I would guess that the function key is working correctly;  it's 
just not defined correctly for the desired action.

Whether or not the function key actions in the manual actually work as 
described depends on how the manager-controlled options were assigned to 
your Millennium login (regardless of module).  Most of our default logins 
got their manager-controlled options from the "System" login.  Our "System" 
login has nothing defined for F5, so F5 does nothing in these logins.  And 
regardless of how the manager-controlled options for your logins were 
assigned, it's wholly possible (shocker of shockers) that the manual just 
doesn't match reality.

I would advise ignoring the "predefined" macros page in the manual (if it 
was a paper manual, this is one page I'd throw out); creating macros which 
make sense for your logins (see page 104046); and lobbying III to move 
control of Mill macros out from under the yoke of the login manager and 
into login preferences so users can define them as needed.

Bob Duncan


~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Robert E. Duncan
Systems Librarian
David Bishop Skillman Library
Lafayette College
Easton, PA  18042
duncanr@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.library.lafayette.edu/