Change Zoom Action to scroll in a MS Natural Keyboard 4000

Question

I have this MS Ergo Natural Keyboard 4000 on windows 7, with the SetPoint Intellitype Software. I want to change the action of the center zoom to make it sroll. I'm some old versions of Firefox it worked that way, until I update it to FF 4 Beta 5.

Is there any way I can change that action? I don't use the zoom at all.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

I know this is an old question but I had to work this out for myself so it's worth spreading:

Unfortunately, the Ergonomic keyboard config utility doesn't allow you to change the settings for the centre zoom button. In order to do so, you will have to edit the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Intellitype Pro\commands.xml file manually. N.B. the contents of this file change depending on which version you have so make sure you have the same version as me before you try. The version number can be found at the top of the Commands.xml file. My version is:- 8.0.225.0 If this explanation gets too basic, it's because I don't know how much you know about Windows or config files.

First thing to do is make a copy of the Commands.xml file, that way if you mess up it's repairable. Simplest way to do this is to copy and then paste it straight back into the same directory, Windows will call it Commands - copy.xml. If you mess up, just delete Commands.xml and rename Commands - copy.xml to Commands.xml

Second, open the original file to edit it (right click -> edit) and insert the following lines in between 2 entries towards the bottom of the file:

    <Application UniqueName="MozillaUIWindowClass" AppName="Firefox">
        <C319 Type="6" Activator="ScrollUp" />
        <C320 Type="6" Activator="ScrollDown" />

The end of your commands.xml file should end up looking something like this:

    <Application UniqueName="GeminiWindowClass" AppName="RealOne Player">
        <C309 Type="5" KeySeq="alt F4" />
    </Application>
    <Application UniqueName="MozillaUIWindowClass" AppName="Firefox">
        <C319 Type="6" Activator="ScrollUp" />
        <C320 Type="6" Activator="ScrollDown" />
    </Application>
    <Application UniqueName="GMail" AppName="GMail">
        <C204 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl y" />
        <C309 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl w" />
        <C319 Type="6" Activator="IEZoomIn" />
        <C320 Type="6" Activator="IEZoomOut" />
        <C401 Type="0" />
    </Application>
    <Application UniqueName="LiveHotmail" AppName="Live Hotmail">
        <C204 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl y" />
        <C309 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl w" />
        <C319 Type="6" Activator="IEZoomIn" />
        <C320 Type="6" Activator="IEZoomOut" />
        <C401 Type="0" />
        <C900 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl r" />
        <C901 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl shift f" />
        <C902 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl enter" />
    </Application>
    <Application UniqueName="Picasa" AppName="Picasa">
        <C319 Type="5" Activator="pageup" />
        <C320 Type="5" Activator="pagedown" />
    </Application>
</ALL>

Now I know that there is already a Firefox section in this file near the top, however, when I tried inserting the scroll entry up there it wouldn't work, as though some setting further down was overriding the entry. Go figure.

To get the zoom to work correctly in Firefox use the following lines instead:

<Application UniqueName="MozillaUIWindowClass" AppName="Firefox">
        <C319 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl +" />
        <C320 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl -" />
    </Application>

Good luck.

Answer 2

To build on top of Tog's answer, here is a script that does the replacements automatically for you. It is basically an XSL transform applied to the commands.xml file. And it does the backup for you.

http://teamagile.com/downloads/ZoomToScroll.zip

Look inside for the instructions. Keep in mind, you may have to run the script inside an administrator command prompt if you have UAC enabled.

I tried it on a v8.20.469.0 file and it worked as expected.

This script is not made by me, it's made by Roy Osherove. See original source

Answer 3

My file version is 8.20.469.0 and the solution for version 8.0.225.0 did not work for me.

What worked however is

change:

<Application UniqueName="MozillaWindowClass" AppName="Netscape">
    <C319 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl add" />
    <C320 Type="5" KeySeq="ctrl subtract" />            
</Application>

to:

<Application UniqueName="MozillaWindowClass" AppName="Netscape">
    <C319 Type="6" Activator="ScrollUp" />
    <C320 Type="6" Activator="ScrollDown" />            
</Application>