FKeys

FKeys is an "add-in" to WriteLog, a wonderful contest logging program written by Wayne Wright, W5XD and Steve Woodruff, N9OH. WriteLog works great by itself, but some folks (like me) prefer using a mouse to do everything rather than switching between the keyboard and the mouse (others prefer just using the keyboard). Also, some of us have a hard time remembering which function key does what. FKeys attempts to make contesting easier for mouse loving, memory challenged people like myself. The original version of FKeys was written in 1999, and has not evolved as fast as WriteLog. So, in the fall of 2022 I decided to try and update things. The evolution of WriteLog has made the job much simpler. I redid the entire program to take advantage of the "Keyboard shortcut" feature in WriteLog. This feature allows you to associate a key-combination (i.e. Ctrl-Alt-G) with any menu entry. This feature means all of the macros and functions in FKeys can be simply keystrokes sent to WriteLog.

I'm not sure you can replicate every feature from the original FKeys this way, but it certainly covers anything I use (and many more). I've moved the configuration stuff to the Registry uner Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\K7KAR\FKeys.

Installation is a little harder with this version. You need to initialize the Registry entry. This requires Admin privilage. Most people set up Windows with one user account that has the privilage and it may be invoked by right clicking on a program to execute it as administrator (only the first time).

Below is an example of an FKeys window layout. The user has a lot of control over which keys are used and the layout.

I'm willing to share this utility with anyone who would like to try it. Support is as I can get around to it. You can download the documentation and the software separately. I'd like to single out Eric, K6EP, for many valuable suggestions and suffering through early versions of FKeys. Many others have contributed suggestions directly and through comments on various reflectors. Your suggestions are always appreciated (though they may not all get implemented). Send mail to keith@kregli.com.