Tutorial video about the virtual keyboard
Virtual keyboards assist the user in entering text or numbers. Two types of virtual keyboards exist:
•Layered Keyboards for text input (portrait or landscape version)
•Numeric Keyboard for number input
To operate a virtual keyboard, the keyboards contain a special version of the button object. See below for special properties of the virtual keyboard buttons.
For virtual keyboard settings in the project properties see here.
To create a virtual keyboard do a right click on Virtual Keyboards in the project tree and select the virtual keyboard type that shall be created.
Virtual keyboard properties are same for layered and numeric keyboards. Select LayerHere the layer of the virtual keyboard can be selected. A layer contains a set of keys. On a layered keyboard there are three layers available: •Layer 1: Lower case characters •Layer 2: Upper case characters •Layer 3: Numbers and special characters A numeric keyboard only has one layer with the numbers. Default value: Layer 1 Possible values: Any available layer This property has no effect on runtime, it only shows the different layers in the designer area. Background ColorThe background color of the virtual keyboard. Default color: black (RGB 0, 0, 0) Possible values: any 24Bit RGB color Key Background ImageAn image can be selected with this property that is then used as background image for all buttons on the virtual keyboard. Default value: A default background image Possible values: Any supported image or no image Key Background ColorThe background color for all buttons in the virtual keyboard can be selected with this property. The background color of the buttons is only visible if a Key Background Image (see above) with transparent areas is used or no background image is set. Default value: grey (RGB 153, 153, 153) Possible values: Any 24Bit RGB color Draw BorderWith this property the Draw Border property of all buttons in the virtual keyboard can be enabled or disabled. Enable it if the user shall be able to navigate the buttons via encoder. If only touchscreen input is used, this property can be disabled. Default value: Enabled Possible values: Enabled or Disabled Font AttributeThe font attribute for all buttons in the virtual keyboard can be selected with this property. Default value: Default_DejaVu Serif Possible values: Any font attribute defined in project properties FontThe font that is used for all buttons in the virtual keyboard can be selected with this property. Default value: DejaVu Serif Possible values: Any available font |
Virtual keyboard buttons are basically normal button objects that have some additional properties. The virtual keyboard buttons are language dependent by default. Button TypeA virtual keyboard button can have one of the following types: •Character Button for normal character input. When a Character button is pressed, the button's value is added to the edited value. •Layer Switch When pressing this button, the layer of the keyboard will be switched. The target layer can be selected with the Switch To Layer property (see below). •OK The OK button confirms the edited value and closes the virtual keyboard •Cancel The cancel button closes the virtual keyboard without confirming the new value (it will be reverted to the value before opening the virtual keyboard) •Delete The delete key deletes the last character or number that was entered •Toggle Sign The Toggle Sign button should only be used on numeric keyboards. It can be used to toggle the edited value from positive to negative and vise versa. Display TextThis language dependent property defines the character displayed on the button. It can be different for each language. Character ValuesThis language dependent property defines the value that is added to the edited value when the button is pressed. It can be different for each language. Switch To LayerThis property is only available if Button Type (see above) was set to Layer Switch. Possible values: Any available layer of the virtual keyboard. |