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How do I set function keys?

M

Mala

macrumors 6502
Original poster
With my old G3 PowerBook I was able to go into the Keyboard settings and set the function keys to go along with what individual programs.

So in Word, F7 spellchecked; in Quark it showed or hid the guides, for instance.

How do I do this in Panther, please?
 
Hmm. Something occurred to me, and I pressed fn-F7 in Word - and it spellchecked! so maybe that'll work for all function keys - though it could be a bit of a nuisance in Quark, where there are some shortcuts that already require you to be an octopus.
 
And how can you turn the volume up and down by pressing the f keys. I have a Blue & White and it doesn't have special keys on the keyboard. But I figured that you could also do this with a applescript of some kind. Does anyone ever tried this?!
 
I've just switched to Panther from MacOS 9.2.2, so I'm not sure who's where and what's different. But on my PowerBook you can use F3, F4 and F5 to mute, turn down and turn up the volume, respectively.

But there's also a volume indicator up beside the Irish flag near the clock on the top menu bar.
 
I'd also like to know how to do this in OSX Jag and/or Panther. Can the F keys be set differently for various applications via the OS or do they have to be set with-in the application (and if so how)?
 
Originally posted by Mala
Hmm. Something occurred to me, and I pressed fn-F7 in Word - and it spellchecked! so maybe that'll work for all function keys - though it could be a bit of a nuisance in Quark, where there are some shortcuts that already require you to be an octopus.
Click to expand...

F7 is the standard SpellCheck hotkey for Word - I've been using it for years in Word on my PCs at home and work, and my new Mac. Shift-F7 on a PC brings up the Thesaurus too. So, I doubt this is the standard "spellcheck" key. 🙂
 
the F3, 4 and 5 don't work on my B&W for sound. Or any of the other F keys. This should be simple to imply?!?! Isn't there a program out there that can do this?!
 
On laptops, the early Function keys have pre determined fuctions, like changing the volume or brightness. On desktops, because they presumably have the Apple Keyboard, there are dedicated keys for volume. Brightness is controlled with the last keys of the F series, usually F14 and F15. And as you know, in Panther F9, F10, and F11 are used for Exposé.

In OS 9, you could program the Function keys to do what you wanted them to do. But because Apple has predetermined their functions, you can no longer. However, there are 3rd party Apps that do this for you:

CE QuicKeys

xKeys
 
With QuicKeys you can set the function keys for whatever you want. You can use applescripts to do almost anything that you want.
 
x keys is perfect and exactly what I mean! Even looked into the sample applescript, especially the mute and volume maximum. Already tried to make a script to put the volume up +1 and down -1, but that doesn't work... applescript code: set volume +1. Applescript removes the + when saving. Does anyone know how to program applescript to do this? I am really not into applescript and tried it several times, but always without the desired result!
 
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