On-Screen Keyboard Portable 1.0 Pre-Release 3 (Testers Needed)

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March 7, 2007 - 2:02am

John T. Haller

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On-Screen Keyboard Portable 1.0 Pre-Release 3 (Testers Needed)

Final release posted. Topic locked.
https://portableapps.com/news/2007-07-12_-_on-screen_keyboard_portable_1.0

I've just posted another quick app called On-Screen Keyboard Portable. The goal is to allow an on-screen keyboard to be launched from the PortableApps.com Menu to allow folks who need it easier access to it.

On Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista, it launches the on-screen keyboard that's built into Windows. It's more than a simple shortcut, though, as it will keep your preferences for the on-screen keyboard portable. So, if you like it to be always on top, set to type a key when you hover over it with the mouse for 2.0 seconds, the portable version will remember those settings for you and use them on every PC you encounter.

On Windows 95, 98, Me, a simple built-in on-screen keyboard will run. It's much lighter on features and not as accessible as the built-in keyboard on Windows 2000+, but at least it's something.

On a related note, and before anyone asks... an on-screen keyboard is no defense against keyloggers. All on-screen keyboards send signals to the operating system that are the same as typing on the actual keyboard. OSKs are made to assist with accessibility and allow alternative input methods (like pen-based computing).

Give it a try and post back your thoughts.

Download On-Screen Keyboard Portable 1.0 Pre-Release 3
(may take a few minutes to hit the download servers)

UPDATE, PRE-RELEASE 2 (JULY 9): Added in a fix for the Vista security issue. Should now work on all Windows OSes. It's also packaged in a PortableApps.com Installer now.

UPDATE, PRE-RELEASE 3 (JULY 9): Add catch for MS Switch registry key.

March 7, 2007 - 2:53am

Ryan McCue

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Nice

Nice little launcher.
BTW, are you going to be ditching FindProcDLL and using the system call method?
Also, YOU STILL HAVEN'T REPLIED TO MY EMAIL.
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Manic Monday - Cyndi Lauper
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"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

March 7, 2007 - 2:55am

(Reply to #2) #3

John T. Haller

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System call?

What system call?

And on the email reminders, please stop.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

March 7, 2007 - 4:24am

(Reply to #3) #4

Ryan McCue

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	;=== Check if already running
	System::Call 'kernel32::CreateMutexA(i 0, i 0, t "${NAME}") i .r1 ?e'

Yeh, I posted that before I read your other post
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Ryan McCue
Current Fav. Songs:

Ballroom Blitz - The Misfits
Manic Monday - Cyndi Lauper
I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

March 7, 2007 - 9:57am

(Reply to #4) #5

John T. Haller

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That's different

That's for creating mutual exclusions for the launcher. And I use that already in several of them. But you *also* need to check for any running instances of the base app (osk.exe in this case) to ensure the portable version doesn't step on the local one. So the mutex doesn't help you at all there.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

March 8, 2007 - 2:52am

(Reply to #5) #6

Ryan McCue

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Doh!

Didn't see the FindProcDLL call 10 lines down
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Ryan McCue
Current Fav. Songs:

Ballroom Blitz - The Misfits
Manic Monday - Cyndi Lauper
I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

March 7, 2007 - 6:46am

Simeon

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Same here

works great.
Love it.

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

March 7, 2007 - 10:48am

(Reply to #7) #8

TRexian

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Pretty slick. Any chance of

Pretty slick. Any chance of supporting other languages, or a similar thing to pull up the character map? I work in Cyrillic occasionally, and that would be handy.

-------------------
Sic semper tyrannosauro.

March 7, 2007 - 11:07am

(Reply to #8) #9

John T. Haller

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OS Language

It uses the language of the OS on Win2K+. Not sure if there is a similar OSK for foreign language Windows or not.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

March 7, 2007 - 11:14am

#10

zikarus

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Hmh...

... any advantages compared to this one?

http://www.myplanetsoft.com/free/mokhelp.php

BR
zikarus

March 7, 2007 - 11:31am

(Reply to #10) #11

John T. Haller

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Entirely Different

That product serves an entirely different purpose.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

March 12, 2007 - 10:44pm

#12

Espreon

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Thanks

again John

March 28, 2007 - 3:49pm

#13

Simeon

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And

what about an official release of this one?

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

April 5, 2007 - 4:47am

#14

Ryan McCue

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John,

Dunno if this is just the version I have, but settings is misspelt as setttings.
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If you have any questions about the comment above, or anything, please don't hesitate to ask.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

April 21, 2007 - 4:49pm

#15

jbbdude

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Which is it?

Two issues: (one minor)
-My On-ScreenKeyboardPortable.exe launches the Windows OSK rather than the one in the "App" folder. Is that correct?
-The readme in the source identifies it as the PuTTY launcher...

EDIT

ok, i see in XP it opens the native version. Can you run the other versio portably should you choose? also, the PortableApps.com/OSKPortable homepage isn't up (at least have it forward to this thread)

April 21, 2007 - 5:03pm

(Reply to #15) #16

Patrick Patience

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It's in beta.

Why have change all the website addresses if eventually he's gonna have to change them back, and he'll forget.

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April 21, 2007 - 8:03pm

(Reply to #16) #17

Ryan McCue

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Yep. The one in the App folder is just for Win 95 which doesn't have a built-in one
That's why it's a beta

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Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

April 21, 2007 - 5:45pm

#18

Bahamut

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Can this be used to prevent

Can this be used to prevent keylogging, or would the input from it be fed to the logger like the keyboard?

Vintage!

April 21, 2007 - 7:13pm

(Reply to #18) #19

Patrick Patience

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Read his post...

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April 22, 2007 - 9:36pm

(Reply to #19) #20

Bahamut

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I did not see that.

Vintage!

April 22, 2007 - 9:39pm

(Reply to #20) #21

Patrick Patience

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Meh.

No problem. Happens all the time.

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April 23, 2007 - 11:57am

#22

The MAZZTer

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Oops

In the included keyboard app, when you click on "WWW", types in "http;//www." instead of "http://www.". Oops D:

Signature automatically removed for being too awesome.

April 23, 2007 - 11:58am

(Reply to #22) #23

The MAZZTer

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And the copyright year in the about dialog reads "1900".

I should probably note that I ran it without the launcher on XP just to see what it looked like.

Signature automatically removed for being too awesome.

June 17, 2007 - 2:54pm

#24

anton

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vista

it doesn't work on my vista pc!:(
what's wrong whit it?

June 18, 2007 - 8:53am

(Reply to #24) #25

alanbcohen

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Vista

Any number of apps have problems in Vista because it is new. It is next to impossible to produce a new OS version without breaking something! Also, remember this is a TEST RELEASE; you are now officially a tester!

To help figure out what may need to be changed/improved, can you please post the symptoms you have encountered?

June 19, 2007 - 4:00pm

(Reply to #25) #26

anton

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vista

It says that "nsA461.tmp" doesn't work?

June 19, 2007 - 5:17pm

(Reply to #26) #27

John T. Haller

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Hmmm

Seems it doesn't. Even a simle launch command of the following fails:

ExecWait "$WINDIR\system32\osk.exe"

I'd guess this is due to Vista's 'security' which is preventing the launcher from running a file in the system32 directory. But even if I move osk.exe to the same directory as the launcher, it still fails. But I can launch it directly from within Explorer. Hmm... now I'm perplexed.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

June 19, 2007 - 5:33pm

(Reply to #27) #28

Patrick Patience

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Haha.

That is an interesting situation.
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June 22, 2007 - 6:49am

(Reply to #28) #29

Ryan McCue

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One thing

Make sure you have 2 sets of quotation marks, in case there are spaces in the file name.
----
Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

July 7, 2007 - 3:35pm

(Reply to #29) #30

John T. Haller

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Nope

That's not it either. And there weren't any spaces. It appears to be a Vista security thing preventing 'installers' from launching 'windows components'. I can launch, say MS Paint within the system32 directory and it'll work fine. Just not osk.exe.

Man, Vista is just annoying. I'm tempted to release this anyway and just say it doesn't work on Vista because Vista sucks.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

July 7, 2007 - 8:36pm

(Reply to #30) #31

Ryan McCue

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Heh.

I was just saying to make sure, because I spent at least 3 weeks trying to work out various errors to do with that

While you're at it, just say it doesn't work because Microsoft sucks
----
Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

July 8, 2007 - 6:00am

(Reply to #31) #32

John Bentley

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If I were you I would store

If I were you I would store a batch file somewhere in the app dir that would run osk.exe.

cowsay Moo
cowthink 'Dude, why are you staring at me.'

July 8, 2007 - 2:47pm

(Reply to #32) #33

John T. Haller

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Thinking about it

I'm thinking about it. But some PCs are locked down to prevent all .bat files from running. So, I may do that only for annoying Vista.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

July 9, 2007 - 12:14am

(Reply to #33) #34

Keviin_

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hav u tried luanching

hav u tried launching the launcher with "Run this program as an administrator"? it works for me. right click>properties>compatability>Run this program as an administrator

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July 9, 2007 - 5:27am

(Reply to #34) #35

Ryan McCue

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3 things:

The launcher should already try to run as administrator, as it's built in to the launcher (correct me if I'm wrong John)
What's with the "c[x"?
You need to remove both those links from your signature. You are only allowed to link to personal sites

----
Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

July 9, 2007 - 12:02pm

(Reply to #35) #36

Keviin_

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lolz personal sites?

lolz alrites i'll remove them. and the c[x thing at the front? it makes it easier to find my posts. it's soo hard to find my post in those really long topics. like the PAM Mod one. ==' i'll just take it off..
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Firefox or Firefox?

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"A $5000 Computer... and it can't do a task as simple as killing Flanders!" -Homer

July 9, 2007 - 12:06pm

(Reply to #36) #37

John T. Haller

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/kevii

In Firefox, that would be /kevii and you'll find your first post and then crtl-G for the later ones.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

July 9, 2007 - 11:23pm

(Reply to #37) #38

Keviin_

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thanx

thanx alot
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Firefox or Firefox?

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July 10, 2007 - 4:04am

(Reply to #38) #39

Ryan McCue

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Whoa

That's freaky. What would mine be?
----
Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

July 9, 2007 - 11:26pm

(Reply to #39) #40

Keviin_

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whops forgot to remove those

whops forgot to remove those links from my sig

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July 9, 2007 - 12:01am

#41

Simeon

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Works good

on Win XP Prof.
“Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts” - Richard P. Feynman

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

July 9, 2007 - 12:13pm

#42

yurzub

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I know that the OSK uses the

I know that the OSK uses the current keyboard defined by windows [meaning, that by changing the windows native language/keyboard, the OSK will change its settings as well.

However, I also use a russian keyboard at home, but cannot do so at work, as I do not have the right necessary to add the russian keyboard. Is there any solution to this? like a custom loaded definition file for the OSK with alternate letters?

July 9, 2007 - 12:25pm

(Reply to #42) #43

John T. Haller

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Nope

OSK itself does not support this, so there is no way to do it with a launcher or anything.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

July 9, 2007 - 1:04pm

(Reply to #43) #44

yurzub

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damn. Ah well, I'll look for

damn. Ah well, I'll look for an alternate solution. Thanks for the OSK though, work great!

July 9, 2007 - 7:05pm

#45

John T. Haller

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Pre-Release 2

I added a fix for the Vista security issue. And it's now using a PortableApps.com Installer. Please give it a try.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

July 9, 2007 - 8:44pm

(Reply to #45) #46

Simeon

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It leaves

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\MS Switch
on my Win XP Prof admin account.
“Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts” - Richard P. Feynman

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

July 9, 2007 - 9:33pm

(Reply to #46) #47

John T. Haller

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Good catch

Update to Pre-Release 3 to fix this.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

July 9, 2007 - 10:22pm

(Reply to #47) #48

Patrick Patience

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Not to nag.

But as you're getting all of these apps out of beta so efficiently I think one of the text editors would be handy to get out. SciTE's been in beta for a while and it seems okay, perhaps just and update in the program and with an installer and it would be great. Of course, it Notepad++ seem's fine, just as well. But a text editor would be very handy in the App section, specially the two you picked, excellent picks.

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It's kinda scary when my desktop is messier than my room...

July 10, 2007 - 4:09am

(Reply to #48) #49

Ryan McCue

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To nag,

I think some splash screens would be handy

Oh, and I like N++. It's the best.
----
Ryan McCue.
Blog.
So all that Airbus-delay trouble over here in Europe is because of YOU!
Simeon.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."

July 9, 2007 - 11:10pm

(Reply to #49) #50

Simeon

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Why does it have

2 "other instance" warnings?
line 67 and 87
“Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts” - Richard P. Feynman

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

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