Kensis Savant Pro Keypad

[barathd]

I have this 58 button programmable keypad I had used in the past with ADT and Autocad. I am strongly considering programming it to work with Revit. Does anyone else out there have any experience doing this. Programming (if you want to call it that) is effortless - just enter the keystrokes and record. One wants to enter commonly used functions that take more effort to get at then they should. Really don't have a clear plan as to how I want to organize the commands.

Regards

Dick Barath

[barathd]

Does't appear it will work with Revit. I may be wrong - appears that it is only capable of recording keystroke scripts not mouse movements. I will contact the manufacturer and verify.

[Scott Hopkins]

Dick,

Take a look at a free program called "AutoHotKey" It allows you to customize all of your keys and mouse clicks. - Not sure if it would be compatible with the Kensis Savant Pro however.

http://www.autohotkey.com/

Also take a look at the A4-Tech Left Handed Numeric Keyboard. It works great with Revit.

http://www.a4tech.com/en/product2.asp?CID=2&SCID=14&MNO=KBS-2548RP

I've use AutoHotKey to customize my keyboard to the max. Now I never have to take my hand of the mouse. :mrgreen:

[Wes Macaulay]

http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/savant_58key.htm

Wow. What a piece of hardware! Can you put overlays on the keys? I would find it hard to remember what all the keys are supposed to do!

How you'd program would depend on how you work. I have found myself working more and more in 3D views rather than plans or elevations to work on buildings and have programmed in all the View > Orient > East, West, Top, etc. commands on the keyboard.

I can see you doing this in two ways: programming some stuff in via Windows (like getting the Properties of something using the Windows standard keyboard shortcut of Alt + Enter) or programming the keypad to regurgitate your Revit keyboard shortcuts. For instance, you could program the keypad so that one key will grab the Edit Wall Joins menu entry under Tools > Edit Wall Joins. If you used WJ as the keyboard shortcut, then you'd program the button to replay WJ.

This sounds like a real power tool!

[barathd]

Wes:

Be a heck of a tool if I ever got it working with Revit worked great with Autocad. I have sent an email to "Xkey" requesting their assistance so hopefully I will know shortly if it can work with Revit.

There is a wonderfully small program with the device that allows one to make their own customized key covers. The key covers snap off with a special tool they provide. They also provide a number (3 or so) double key covers for more frequently used commands.

Really it is quite simple - question remains till I hear from Xkey.

Regards

Dick Barath

[mjfarrell]

D,

I went here http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/tech_support/progrm_tips.htm
and there is nothing to indicate that you would need to program it in
any different manner than you did for use with AutoCAD.
Also other searches do not render any evidence that it would not
work with any program, that supports keyboard input. (key ins)

[barathd]

Michael:

I am not using the kensis keyboard but rather the Xkey keypad. Here is a direct quote off of there web page (www.xkeys.com) "instant recording of your typing turns multiple keystrokes into a single touch". Typing is something different to me than mouse picks. Yes if you want to assign keyboard shortcuts and then program that in - probably would work. But this is not what I am looking to do.

Regards

Dick Barath

[mjfarrell]

Given that you are attempting to program
'mouse picks', this sounds contra-indicative of
what all of the devices these folks make are designed
to do. The resultant answer would be no, it won't
do mouse picks, however they will do keyboard shortcuts
and user defined macros.

Although they do mention the use of CLICKWARE:

Alternative to ClikWare for clicking the mouse with a key or foot switch. Unless you are using Windows 95/98, you won't be able to use ClikWare. However, most operating systems (including all operating systems from Microsoft and Apple) include a package of "Accessibility Options" which provide an alternative way to assign a mouse click to a key or foot switch.

One of these utilities is called "mouse keys" and can be used to convert your keyboard's numeric keypad into a pointing device. When MouseKeys is activated, the keypad "5" becomes a left mouse click. With a programmable keyboard or programmable foot switch, you can re map the keypad 5 action to a more convenient location. Refer to your operating system's documentation or experiment with other keypad keys to find other useful actions.

[barathd]

Here's what I received from XKEY - "you are correct in that the Savant Pro only records keystrokes and not mouse activity."

All that remains is to assign "shortcut keystrokes" to all commands possible and then program those into Savant. Don't think it is worthwhile until I see Revit 7 - don't want to do this again because of changes that may influence my tact.

Regards

Dick Barath