Using OfficePower on a Notebook PC

The OfficePower Standard Keyboard mapping is designed for use on terminals or PCs with industry-standard "102-key" keyboards. The mapping can also be used on the 101-key variant used in the US and elsewhere, and on the 104/5/7/8 key variants that have appeared recently. There can be problems using this mapping if your keyboard is of a different layout, such as the keyboards commonly found on "notebook" PCs.

Every notebook PC model tends to have a unique keyboard layout, which (due to space constraints) has less than 102 keys. However, almost all current or recent notebooks have an additional "shift" key, normally labelled Fn, which permits you to emulate the missing keys. For example, it is common for the combination Fn + M to emulate the Number Pad 0 key on a full-size keyboard, which OfficePower treats as Reject.

If your notebook can emulate ALL the keystrokes available on a 102-key keyboard, you can use the OfficePower Standard Keyboard mapping on that PC. Not all notebooks can emulate all the required keystrokes, however, and a common omission is Number Pad Enter, which OfficePower uses as Accept.

Some notebooks (including all ICL notebooks from the NB386L to the CD120S) use Fn and Return to emulate Number Pad Enter - so, on these PCs, Fn + Return is Accept in OfficePower terms. On at least some of the newer Fujitsu Lifebook range, and on some notebook PCs from other suppliers, this invaluable feature is missing - even though all other necessary keystrokes are available Fn + Return on a Lifebook is interpreted as Return, and you have no Accept key.

(Of course, you can live without an Accept key in OfficePower for Windows, as you can select "Accept" from the toolbar or pop-up menu using the mouse, instead of using the keyboard - but most users would probably prefer to have an Accept key as well.)

OfficePower allows users to define their own keyboard mappings for OfficePower for Windows on nonstandard keyboards, using the terminal.upd-kbd function of OP, followed by terminal.topc-kbd to transfer it to the PC. These functions let you produce your own personal mapping for use of OP4W on notebook PCs.

To meet the specific requirements of the Lifebook range, and other notebook PCs where the only "missing" key is Number Pad Enter, TeamWARE Group have produced a keyboard mapping file that remaps just the Accept key in the Standard mapping. The lifebook.kb file amends the OP keyboard mapping so that Accept is now Alt + Return. In consequence, the Nonbreaking Return key, which was originally Alt + Return, has been moved to Alt + G.

To install the amended keyboard mapping:

1. Download the zipped keyboard file to the Lifebook as c:\op4w\lifebook.zip (amend the path if you installed OP4W elsewhere than C:\OP4W)
2. Unzip the file to produce c:\op4w\lifebook.kb
3. Run c:\op4w\pwconfig.exe. Double click on the Keyboard icon or bar. The OfficePower Keyboard field will currently say PW101. Click the Browse button next to it, and select c:\op4w\lifebook.kb, then click OK

Next time you open an OP4W Terminal (WVT) window, it'll use the amended mapping. If you want to revert to the standard mapping, repeat step 3 above, but select c:\op4w\pw101.kb - users who want to use the Lifebook's own keyboard away from the office, but plug in a normal 102-key keyboard in the office may want to switch mappings regularly.

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