FieldPlus enables users to use their 5-way navigation button to select text in standard PalmOS text input fields. Third party word processing applications typically use their own text routines, so FieldPlus will not affect them.

Usage

Activating selection mode

To activate selection mode, first the 'Enable 5-way selecting' option must be enabled. This is accessed in the Selection section of the FieldPlus configuration (in the Preferences application).

Selection can only be activated while in a standard PalmOS field. This is typically used for short text input in dialogs, Memo Pad is one large field, VersaMail uses fields for writing emails, Messaging uses fields for composing SMS messages, Blazer (Web) uses fields for most text input. Fields are very common throughout PalmOS applications.

HOWEVER, most word processing programs use their own custom methods of inputing and displaying text. FieldPlus will not affect these applications.

Selecting can be activated in 2 ways:

1) Press and release the Shift key. This activates one-hand mode. Press and release again to exit.

2) Press and hold the Shift key. Selecting will be enabled until the Shift key is released.

While in shift mode, the following key actions are in effect:

• Up selects up to the next line.
• Right selects to the right (according to the selection configuration settings).
• Down selects down to the next line.
• Left selects to the left (according to the selection configuration settings).

Pressing the center button will perform the action assigned to the center button.

When the center button is set to open the action menu, pressing the center button will open a small popup list of actions that can be performed. The order of the options is always the same as the order in this document (and the order of actions when selecting a single action in the FieldPlus configuration). To close the popup without making a selection, press either left, right, shift, or option.

Toggle mode is always displayed first, so to quickly toggle between selection modes, just press the center button twice. The other options are listed to try to put more common actions close to the first position. Cut, paste, and copy are placed at the end of the normal list, because users can wrap around the action list (push up from toggle mode to wrap to the bottom of the list). Therefore, copy is actually only one item away from toggle mode, and paste is only 2 away.

If the user is holding the shift key when the popup opens, and continues to hold it through selecting an action, they will remain in selection mode even for cases that say they will not. Likewise, if they are holding the shift key when the popup opens, but release it, they will not be in selection mode after they select an action. The resulting selection states apply only when the user is in one-hand mode.

Fast movement can be activated in 2 ways:

1) Press and release the Option key. This activates one-hand mode. Press and release again to exit.

2) Press and hold the Options key. Movement will be enabled until the Option key is released.

While in option mode, the following key actions are in effect:

• Right moves one word to the right (according to the selection configuration settings). If at the end of a field, the motion event is handled by the underlying application.
• Left moves one word to the left (according to the selection configuration settings). If at the start of a field, the motion event is handled by the underlying application.

Option+up/down currently has no special meaning, and any observed behaviors are caused by the underlying application. Option movement, unlike selection, can actually move the focus out of the current field. This is a result of application specific behavior. Calendar, for instance, allows users to scroll by week when option is held. On the Treo 600, if you have put the focus in an event field, it's actually somewhat difficult to extract it again to allow Calendar to process the option+keystroke. This is complicated by the option key 'selecting' a calendar entry. So as not to override any of the built in behaviors, FieldPlus will return control to the application when it has no effect on the insert point motion.

Compatibility

Download