Important Notice

The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software, purely for historical purposes. If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming, you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully out of date.

  ◄Configuring Keys►                             ◄Contents►  ◄Index►  ◄Back►
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Converts a .KEY file into an ASCII file that you can edit or converts an
ASCII file into a .KEY file.
 
MKKEY -c {ab | ba} -i inputfilename -o outputfilename
 
The MKKEY utility uses the following options:
 
 Option      Description
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  -c         Specifies the type of conversion, either ASCII to binary or
             binary to ASCII.
  -i         Specifies the input file.
  -o         Specifies the output file.
 
If you prefer to use a set of editing commands other than the defaults,
Microsoft BASIC comes with four predefined key files and a utility for
making your own key file.
 
The four key files are QBX.KEY, ME.KEY, BRIEF.KEY, AND EPSILON.KEY. These
files contain slightly different key assignments or bindings. For example,
the QBX editor uses Ctrl+E to move the cursor up, while Epsilon uses Ctrl+P.
The definitions in QBX.KEY are the same as the default definitions you get
without using any .KEY file. ◄Configuring Keys► contains a complete list
of the key bindings for the four .KEY files.
 
To use anything other than the default key definitions you must specify
a .KEY file. Use the /k: option when you start QBX to load the .KEY file
that contains the desired key definitions. For example, type the following
to load the BRIEF.KEY file:
 
     QBX /k:BRIEF.KEY
 
Your preference is saved in the QBX.INI file. You don't need to specify
the key file in future editing sessions.
 
To modify the default QBX.KEY file, you first convert it to an ASCII file
for editing by specifying binary to ASCII conversion:
 
     MKKEY -c ba -i QBX.KEY -o MYEDITOR.TXT
 
You can use any text editor (including the QBX editor) to edit the file
named MYEDITOR.TXT, which lists the keystrokes that perform certain
actions. For example, QBX.KEY assigns or binds Ctrl+G to Del, a function
that deletes a single character. This is done with the line:
 
     Del : Ctrl+G
 
You can change that command to any other keystroke (for example, Ctrl+D)
as long as that key isn't already assigned to another function.
When you're satisfied with the new functions, convert the ASCII file
to binary so it can be loaded into the QBX editor:
 
MKKEY -c ab -i MYEDITOR.TXT -o MYEDITOR.KEY
 
Finally, use the /k: option described above to load the new key file.
 
See Also    ◄Editing Keys►    ◄Key Functions►