Updated script

FitaTrak script has been updated (and moved to Autohotkey's user file storage):

Version: 2006/2/15
Source: fitatrak.ahk
Compiled: fitatrak.exe

> I'd like to suggest more sophisticated timing loops. When the TIP
> icon is running and before Fitaly is summoned then the script should
> be more sensitive to the user pointing at it.

> The icon disappears when the pen is out of range; however, the TIP
> itself does not immediately disappear in that case - there's a
> delay - and I suggest Fitaly should be handled similarly.

Okay, I tightened the loops and added the delay (which does help if you chew the end of your stylus :-) and a few other tweaks.

> Or for that matter, why wait for them to point? Got icon, fetch
> Fitaly.

Did NOT do that. Actually I did and played with it for a few days and then went back to the original hover idea. Probably for the same reason the original TIP doesn't just pop up the full keyboard. Turns out there are NUMEROUS places where a field has the edit focus but the keyboard is in the way--where you need to see the text below it. The floating TIP icon is small enough where you can normally see around it but the Fitaly KB was too often blocking what I needed to see and with it auto appearing you couldn't just move the stylus away and bring it back after the KB went away--it'd pop right back up. I could probably have changed the code to let you minimize Fitaly (basically suspend it) but with the faster loop it's so easy to make it appear anyway. Plus only moving Fitaly sideways when hovering over the TIP icon allows you to manually move Fitaly somewhere else--as long as you don't re-hover it will stay in that location. That's useful at times.

You CAN make the TIP transparent and even invisible but not the shadow--at least I couldn't figure how. In any case that doesn't help if Fitaly is placed directly over the TIP--the TIP is always on top and being transparent doesn't stop it from responding if you tap it thinking you're tapping a Fitaly key. For some reason I couldn't get it to disable--didn't get an error but didn't do anything either.

> So, again, well done!

Thanks. Just expanding on your ideas.

> It's rather a pity but also a relief to me that you haven't been
> showered with congratulations for your handiwork, because I mostly
> haven't been ;-)

As in no reaction at all :-) Not even bug reports. Something tells me you could count the users on this test forum on one hand. Which is really a shame if it means 99.9% of the tablet users aren't aware of Fitaly, don't realize what it's capable of or that it's available for the tablet.

But that's also true for the pda users also. I'm currently shopping for a combined cell phone/pda and so am reading lots of the forums about those. A new model comes out and instantly everybody screams "But it doesn't have a keyboard--I've gotta have a keyboard" etc etc. I want to scream back (and sometimes DO) "You DON'T need a physical keyboard if you run Fitaly--you can type FASTER using Fitaly than with some of those tiny querty KB's. All a physical KB does is add bulk and weight and increases the number of moving parts that can develop problems". Too many people just aren't willing to even try it. It might help if a Fitaly trial was bundled with new pdas.

Anyway, see if this helps.

Jud