Shortcutter for Pocket PC

From the Pittsburgh Pebbles PDA Project

by Jack Yu-Hung Lin and Brad A. Myers
Version 0.5

• Purpose
• Downloading and Installing
• Panels
• Creating and Editing Widgets
  • Creating Widgets
  • General Properties
  • Editing
  • Gridding
  • Warning!
• Types of Widgets
• Actions
• Macros
• Device Control
• Application Buttons
• Sending Graffiti
• Run Mode
  • Feedback for Actions
• Global Preferences
• Summary of Menu Items
• Known Problems and Bugs

Purpose

Shortcutter allows you to draw panels of controls (buttons, scroll bars, knobs and other widgets) and then use them to control any PC application. The buttons can be big enough to hit with a finger, or tiny so that many will fit on a screen. You can use Shortcutter to build custom extensions to applications and you can also take them with you and use them on other people's computers.

Since most Pocket PC deveices use rechargeable batteries, you are supposed to leave the device connected to the PC whenever the user is next to the PC to recharge in the cradle. Using Shortcutter to create panels of controls that might be useful for the PC's applications makes even more sense.

Please send us examples of interesting panels you make with Shortcutter so we can find out what people find it useful for. Let us know if it is OK to share these panels with others. Send to pebbles@cs.cmu.edu.

There is also a separate Palm version which has separate documentation. 

Downloading and Installing

Each screen-full of controls is called a "panel". The user can create many different panels to control different applications. Panels can also be renamed and deleted. The window name at the top of the Shortcutter screen shows the currently displayed panel. You can click on the "Panels" menu to see the list of other panels. The "Panels" menu has options for creating, renaming and deleting panels,

Shortcutter stores all the panels in a file called Shortcutter.shc in the pebbles directory. You can distribute the panels you create by sharing your Shortcutter.shc file. Currently, only the winamp panel is included in the default download but the other 3 panels can be made easily as seen below.

• 

   

  If you make some nice panels either for a particular application, or for applications in general, please email them to pebbles@cs.cmu.edu so we can see what you have made, and share them with others.

  

  Creating and Editing Widgets

  Shortcutter has two global modes: Editing and Running. You can switch between them with the option under Tools menu: RunMode. When Shortcutter is in RunMode, a check mark will appear next to RunMode, likewise when you are editing a panel, a check mark will not appear next to RunMode.

  When in edit mode, you can create panels, add new buttons and other widgets to the panels, set their properties, move them around, delete them, etc. The screen shows a pattern of dots to show you are in edit mode. The dots align with the grid so you can easily organize your panel

  Creating Widgets

  To create a button or other widget in edit mode, simply put the stylus you want the widget to go, and drag in any direction until you have created the desired size. After the button is created, you can double click to pop up the "Widget Properties" screen. It will allow you to name the button and set its properties.

  General Properties

  The label of the widget is displayed for most kinds of widgets. The next item is the widget type. The various types are discussed below. Depending on the type, you can then set the actions associated with the widget.

  Editing

  Shortcutter uses a standard direct manipulation drawing editor style of manipulation. The selected widget is shown with four black squares at its corners (the button "Read" is selected in the picture above). Tap on a widget to select it. You can drag in the center of the widget to move it and drag on a square to resize the widget. For small widgets, it might be easier to press and drag with the stylus rather than tapping and then trying to drag from the center since the widget might be covered by the selection handles. The selected widget can be deleted using the menu command Edit / Delete.

  You can get back to the properties form shown when the widget was created using the Edit / Properties menu item or by double tapping on a widget.

  Gridding

  The size and position of the widgets is controlled by the current Gridding amount, which is set with the Tools / Options form. The default is 10 pixels. The grid also determines the minimum size object, and where the widgets are placed.

  Warning!

  Shortcutter keeps all edits in memory, while you are editing. Therefore, if Shortcutter crashes, all the edits are lost (like a regular PC program) The edits are saved to the file only when you save and exit Shortcutter. Shortcutter has a few bugs that may cause it to crash while editing. Therefore, you should exit Shortcutter frequently to save your work. Note that after saving, leaving and returning, your widgets and panels will be reloaded from a file.

  

  Types of Widgets

  The first choice to make when creating a control is which kind of widget it should be. The choices are as follows (see picture at right):

  • Button - This is a regular button that does one action when it is pressed. You can choose one action, and control the appearance of the button, as described above.
  • Up-Down Button - This is similar to a button, but it does one action when the button is pressed, and a completely independent action when the button is released. If you move outside before releasing, only the down (first) action is performed.
  • Scroll Slider - This widget allows you to select an action for each direction you move the stylus. If the widget is taller than it is wide, then an action is triggered when you move the stylus vertically and if it is wider than tall it performs actions when you slide horizontally. Note that you usually want to make a long thin Scroll Slider; it doesn't make much sense for it to be square. You don't have to stay inside the scroll widget for the action to continue to execute.
  • Scroll Joystick - This widget is a different style of scrolling. Pressing down in the center of the widget, and then moving out starts scrolling in that direction at a speed proportional to how far you move. Moving farther from the center scrolls faster. You do not need to stay in the widget while scrolling - you can move all the way to the edge of the Palm screen to get increased speed, as long as you start in the center. Therefore, it is good to put a scroll joystick widget at the center of the screen. It is equivalent to the Pebbles RateScrll application.
  • Gesture Pad - This interesting widget allows you to specify nine (9) different actions, and then invokes the appropriate one depending on what "gesture" you make inside the widget. Currently, 9 different gestures are supported. If you make the widget big enough, it will display 8 arrows and a dot to show the various gestures supported. You must make the gesture in a single stroke. In run mode, the current gesture arrow or dot will be highlighted as you make the gesture. The current gestures are:
    • Tap: The dot in the center corresponds to tapping and releasing in the same place anywhere in the widget.
    • Up: The up pointing arrow signifies pressing in the widget and then moving up before releasing.
    • Down: To move down and then release.
    • Left: Move to the left and then release
    • Right: Move to the left and then release
    • Down-Up: This means to move down and then to move back up without releasing. That is, to make a "U" or a real "V"
    • Up-Down: This means to move up and then to move back down without releasing. That is, to make an upside down "V" or "U".
    • Left-Right: Move to the left and then back to the right.
    • Right-Left: Move to the right and then back to the left.
  • Knob - A knob displays like a physical knob and allows you to assign two actions. One is performed when you move clockwise and one for counter-clockwise. In run mode, you can put your finger or the stylus in the knob and stir it around (you don't have to stay inside the widget while stirring). The appropriate action will be sent to the PC for each incremental movement. The Action Speed selection on the form controls how fast the actions are sent (or equivalently, how far you have to move around the circle before the next action is sent to the PC).
  • Mouse Pad - This supports controlling the PC's cursor in the same way as the Pebbles RemoteControl, Scribble and MultiCursor applications. You get to choose whether the mouse pad widget controls the real mouse (like RemoteControl), whether it Scribbles on the screen (like Scribble) or whether it creates an special cursor per user in custom applications (like MultiCursor). Be sure the control for the mouse button actions match that of the Mouse Pad widget (e.g., all should be Mouse, or all Scribble, or all MultiCursor).
  • Toggle Button - When you tap on a toggle button, it stays highlighted, and when you tap again, it becomes un-highlighted. When the action is a mouse button down, then the second tap will send that mouse button up. When the action is the key SHIFT, CONTROL or ALT (by themselves without another key), then the first tap will send that modifier down, and the second tap will send that modifier up. For most other actions, the release (going un-highlighted) doesn't do anything.

  Actions

  Each of the widgets supports one or more actions, which occur when you invoke the widget. The currently supported actions are:

Macros

This is not yet implemented in version 0.5.

Device Control

Also available is a program that can be used to control Proxima projectors and X-10 devices which are connected to a serial port of your computer. (If you have other devices connected to the serial port that you want to control, let us know.) The devicectl.exe program is included in the standard Pebbles download, and by default ends up in the same directory as PebblesPC.exe. You can list devicectl.exe in the Open action with the parameters that will cause devicectl to send commands to the various devices.

The syntax for devicectl is:

devicectl -com -proxima
or
devicectl -com -x10

The first parameter to devicectl must be "-com N" where the N is replaced by the serial COM port that the device is plugged into. For example, if your projector is plugged into the COM 2 port, you would use "-com 2".

The next parameter is whether to control a Proxima projector or an ActiveHome X10 device. This is specified using "-proxima" or "-x10".

For a Proxima projector, you would then include the appropriate code for the projector. Contact Proxima to get the appropriate codes. For example, the following code will turn on my Proxima projector:

C:\Pebbles\devicectl -com 2 -proxima C00

For X10, you give the house code number, then the device code number, and then one of the following commands:

ON
OFF
DIM
BRIGHT
ALLLIGHTSON
ALLUNITSOFF

For example, the following will turn the device numbered A2 off, where the X10 device is plugged into the COM2 port of the computer.

C:\Pebbles\devicectl -com 2 -x10 a 2 OFF

Application Buttons

This is not yet implemented in version 0.5.

Run Mode

When you switch to Run Mode, then all the buttons and other widgets perform their assigned actions. The dots on the screen are removed in run mode, so it is easy to tell. In addtion, the delete and properties options are grayed out in the Edit menu.

Feedback for Actions

This is not yet implemented in version 0.5.

Global Preferences

This is not yet implemented in version 0.5

Summary of Menu Items

Edit Mode

Tools menu:

• About Shortcutter: displays the current version of Shortcutter.
• Options: Sets the network connection IP and also this is where you set the grid size.
• RunMode(unchecked): Switches to RunMode.

Panels menu:

• New Panel: Prompts for the name of the new panel.
• Delete Current Panel: If the currently displayed panel is not empty, then prompts to confirm, otherwise immediately deletes the current panel, and switches to the first panel. You cannot delete the last panel.
• Rename Current Panel: Changes the name of the currently displayed panel. If the new name is a duplicate of an existing panel, you are prompted to change to another name. No two panels with the same name is allowed.

Tools menu:

• About Shortcutter: displays the current version of Shortcutter.
• Options: Sets the network connection ip and also this is where u set the grid size
• RunMode(checked): switches back to Edit mode

Known Problems and Bugs

• Shortcutter sometimes crashes when editing. It's not a common occurence but be sure to save and exit Shortcutter frequently to avoid losing work.
• There is probably a limit on the number of panels that can be open at once.
• Probably many more.... Let me know what you want fixed! pebbles@cs.cmu.edu

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