JoystickWedge

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JoystickWedge for Windows converts joystick button inputs into keyboard and/or mouse actions. It works best with a switch adapted joystick which then becomes a programmable switch interface capable of things not currently possible with a standard switch interface: like generating a sequence of clicks, generating a sequence of key closures, or single switch control of the mouse cursor. I will be posting instructions on making your own joystick switch interface, or you can see how to do it to a similar Playstation controller at: http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/4/DIY/joypad.htm

An adapted joystick in conjunction JoystickWedge has the advantage of exploiting either keystrokes or mouse clicks as triggers. So, keyboard and mouse users will not inadvertently trigger an unexpected actions (with the exception of the ~ key) while JoystickWedge is running

JoystickWedge has been recently (Jan 3, 2010) updated so that it recalls its settings so the next time you open it it is ready to go. It requires a file named jw.ini to make this happen. jw.ini must reside in the same folder as the JoystickWedge.exe program. You can now (1/25/10) send custom key sequences you define for Single Switch and Two Switch modes.

I will also soon offer adapted USB joysticks for a reasonable price. Contact me at jamjolu@gmail.com if you want one. Also see the similar KeyboardWedge that offers enhanced features to owners of the DJ or Quizworks switch interfaces.

You can configure JoystickWedge to use one or two buttons to do the following:

Single Switch: Either of the selected joystick buttons can start and stop an autoscan sequence. The Joystick Btns menus let you choose any of the first 8 joystick buttons to start/stop the scan sequence. The Button Msg. menus define what causes the scan highlight (1st menu on left) and what causes an item to be selected (2nd menu)- e.g. Tab and Enter. Highlighting proceeds automatically at the Scan Rate. Mask Time is ignored. This might be useful for navigating some programs and some websites. Try using the Tab-Enter scan at a website like: http://www.symbolworld.org/

Two Switch: Two Switch is a user directed scan. The Joystick Btns menus define which joystick of the first 8 joystick buttons advances the highlight (1st menu), and which button selects the highlighted item (2nd menu.) Button Msg. defines what causes the scan highlight and what causes an item to be selected - e.g. Tab and Enter. Scan Rate and Mask Time are ignored. Use this mode to send custom key sequences.

One Click - Used mainly to mask unwanted multiple button presses that interfere with activities like PowerPoint stories. Either of the Joystick Btns can send a left mouse click to a target you can choose. Hover the mouse cursor over target 1 and use the Win-1 keyboard combo to record its position. In the case of a PowerPoint show the target can be anywhere in the show screen, or a navigation button that is consistently placed on every slide. Scan Rate is ignored, and Mask Time defines how long after a the 1st button press that additional button presses are ignored. (The Win key is right between 'Ctrl' and 'Alt'. Please don't release the Win key before the 1 key or the Start menu opens.)

Two Click - Either of the Joystick Btns starts a sequence where left click is sent to a first target you choose, and after a defined interval another left click is sent to a second target of your choice. Hover the mouse cursor over target 1 and use the Win-1 keyboard combo to record its positon. Similarly, use Win-2 to record target 2. Scan Rate sets the time between the two clicks, and Mask Time defines how long after a the 1st click that addtional button presses are ignored. Use this to make a YouTube Video a cause and effect activity by targeting the 'Play' and 'Pause' button(s).

Scan Mouse 1 - Either of the Joystick Btns is used to start or stop scanning mouse action options that appear as tool tips near the mouse cursor. Once a direction is selected the mouse cursor begins to move in one of the four labeled directions. Mouse click options are scanned similarly by selecting 'Mouse Clicks' when it appears. You can select from 'Click', 'Dbl Click', 'Rt Click', and 'Drag'. Return to moving the mouse by selecting 'Mouse Moves' when it appears. The Mouse Speed menu defines how fast the mouse moves where smaller numbers make the mouse move faster. A drag action ends when the user selects 'Click' or 'Drag' from the 'Mouse Clicks' scan sequence. Sometimes the drag operation ceases prematurely. You will know if it is successful because the 'Mouse Move' scan will start automatically soon after you select a drag action, and you will actually move whatever you are dragging. If it does not succeed the first time, just try again

Scan Mouse 2 - Is just like Scan Mouse 1 but it copies the tool tip text to the clipboard so that it can be read outloud by a helper application that supports reading clipboard text like Deskbot or DSpeech. Recently, I discovered ClipSpeak 1.5 a small portable clipboard text-to-speech utility that is an ideal companion for JoystickWedge. ClipSpeak can be found at: http://www.codeplex.com/clipspeak

Spot Scan 1 and 2 - Spot scan allows you to define up to 10 hot spots that will be scanned in numerical order. Identify the first hotspot by hovering the mouse cursor over the first target and capturing the mouse position with the Win-1 key combo. The second hotspot is recorded with the Win-2 combo, and so forth up to the tenth hotspot that is recorded with the Win-0 key combo. Use Win-z to clear the scan sequence. Scanning occurs at the rate set with Scan Rate. Spot Scan 2 provides for auditory cues with the help of a clipboard text-to-speech utility like Deskbot or Orato. Spot Scan 1 does not offer auditory cues, but the application being scanned may be able to supply a cue as a result of a 'mouse-over' event.

Remap - Each trigger in remap mode sends a mouse click, keystroke, or an arbitrary string of characters to the active application. The Mask Time can be set to reduce extra, unwanted switch hits from passing through to the active application.

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