Why such a strange name? Author License Setup What can Clavier+ do Create a keyboard shortcut Conditions applied to the shortcuts Actions of a text shortcut Printing the shortcuts list Configuration files Command line options Known issues FAQ Shortcuts examples
Clavier simply is the French word for keyboard. Note the incredible originality of this name, and the amount of creativity deployed to find it!
Guillaume Ryder
Website: http://utilfr42.free.fr
E-mail: guillaume@ryder.fr
Clavier+ is released under the GPL license. This gives you the right to use, copy, distribute the software, for any use (personal or commercial), all that without having to pay anything.
There is no warranty for this program, I’m not responsible of any damage due to its use.
The full source code of Clavier+ is available here:
https://code.google.com/p/clavier-plus/source/browse/
Clavier+ is distributed in four versions:
To install Clavier+ without setup program:
To uninstall Clavier+ without setup program:
Clavier allows to associate an action to any keyboard shortcut. Those actions can be:
The keyboard shortcuts can use (almost) any key of the keyboard. The Windows key, located around the spacebar, can be used along with Ctrl, Alt and Shift. As programs rarely use this key, many simple keyboard shortcuts are available to you: Win + A, Win + 2, Win + ., etc.
Clavier+ can modify the behavior of special keys like ` or F11. Thus a keyboard shortcut of one single key can be associated to a frequently used action.
If necessary, the action of a keyboard shortcut can depend of the active program. This allows to add shortcuts to a specific program.
In the same way, the action of a keyboard shortcut can depend of the state of the toggle keys, i.e. the keys having small lights in the keyboard: Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock. For example, this allows to write special characters instead of digits when the caps lock mode is set.
Clavier+ website proposes some shortcuts examples.
Launch Clavier+. A small keyboard icon appears in the traybar, near the system clock. It indicates that Clavier+ is running, thus keyboard shortcuts are active. Click the icon to display the configuration window. You can resize the window if you find it too small. The upper area contains some example shortcuts.
To create a new keyboard shortcut, click the Add button (having the shape of a + symbol), and choose the keyboard shortcut action:
A dialog box appears for you to specify the keyboard shortcut. Type it in the dedicated area: its text name should be written in the textbox. Then, click the OK button.
If necessary, modify the shortcut action in the lower part of the configuration window. If the shortcut should write text, for example an E-mail address, check that the Write text option is checked, then enter your text in the big text area. Each time you will type the keyboard shortcut, the specified text will be written. You can use the arrow menu to insert special characters or simulate a keystroke.
If the shortcut should launch a program or display a website, check the matching option. Write the path of your program or the address of your website in the area below. You can use the small button on the right to look for the program to launch. You can check the action of your shortcut by clicking the Test button. If necessary, click the Advanced settings button to specify the initial directory or the initial window size of the program (maximized, windowed, minimized).
If the shortcut opens a directory, you can allow it to change the current directory in File/Open dialog boxes. To do this, click the Advanced settings button and check Change directory in File/Open dialog boxes. When you execute the shortcut keystroke, Clavier+ detects whether you are in a File/Open dialog box or not. If yes, the current directory of the dialog box is changed, and the directory is not opened in Windows Explorer. Clavier+ supports several dialog boxes: File/Open, File/Save as, and directory choosing.
Important: you should close Clavier+ configuration window before testing your shortcuts. While the window is visible, the keyboard shortcuts are disabled.
You can restrict the effect of a shortcut to some conditions. If all conditions fulfill, the action of the shortcut is executed. If one or more conditions do not fulfill, Clavier+ ignores the shortcut, and the original action of the shortcut is executed (the one defined by Windows or the active program). This allows to associate different actions to the same shortcut.
Warning! If you associate several actions to the same shortcut, beware to avoid ambiguities by giving them mutually exclusive conditions. Otherwise, an error message will appear when you close the window. For example, if you want to associate Ctrl + X to Notepad when Num Lock is off and to the Calculator otherwise, you must give the condition “Num Lock: must be on” to the second shortcut. This is because “Num Lock: no condition” can be ambiguous with other shortcuts, such as Ctrl + X with the condition “Caps Lock: must be on”.
You can restrict a shortcut to some programs. This allows to give different meanings to the same shortcut, depending of the active program. By defaults, shortcuts are enabled for “all programs but: none”, i.e. for all programs.
You can define two kinds of condition on the active program. The shortcut can be enabled for all programs, except specific ones (exclusive criteria), or only for specific programs (inclusive criteria). Choose the condition type in the Activate for combo box, after having selected your shortcut in the list.
To define the list of programs concerned by the condition, click the small sight on the right (white background). Then keep the left mouse button down, and move the sight to the window of the program you want to select (for example, the window of Word or Windows Explorer). The name of the program is written in the text box at the left of the sight. Repeat this operation for each program to add to the list.
When the programs list is empty, the shortcut is active for all programs. If it is not empty, the shortcut is active only for the specified programs.
For a given keystroke, you can define any count of shortcuts having an only these programs condition, if they refer to different programs. In all cases, you can only define one shortcut having an all programs but condition.
Shortcuts of type only these programs have the priority on all programs but shortcuts. If you associate the condition “only these programs: notepad.exe” to a first shortcut, and “all programs but: none” to a second shortcut, if both shortcuts have the same keystroke, and if you execute this keystroke in Notepad, the first shortcut will be executed, the second will be ignored.
You can modify the action of a keyboard shortcut depending of the toggle keys state: Caps Lock, Num Lock, Scroll Lock. For example, you can create a keyboard shortcut active only in caps lock mode.
To specify the conditions, double-click the shortcut in the list. In the Activation condition area, set a condition for each toggle key. You can want the key to be enabled, or disabled, or not setting any condition.
In the Write text textbox, you can specify several kinds of actions:
Simply write the text to be typed in the text area. The Write a character in the arrow menu allows to insert special characters unreachable from the keyboard.
Typing text does not work with some programs. You can try to use the [|text to write|] syntax to make Clavier+ using low-level techniques when typing text (better compatibility, but slower and more limited).
Use the Simulate a Keystroke in the arrow menu to write the keystroke code. Typically, the code is the name of the keystroke between brackets, for example: [Ctrl+O].
Note that simulating a keystroke allows to do many different actions, like manipulating the clipboard (with Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V) or executing menu commands (with Alt + letter).
Use the Launch a Program command in the arrow menu, or write the command line to execute enclosed in double brackets. For example, to open a text file and move the cursor to its end:
[[notepad.exe C:\\TODO.txt]][][Ctrl+End]
This syntax allows to launch several programs with the same shortcut. For example, to launch Notepad and the calculator:
[[notepad.exe]][[calc.exe]]
The command line can contain % enclosed environment variables, like in explorer.exe %WINDIR% to open the explorer at Windows directory. The %CLIPBOARD% environment variable will contain the text currently stored in the clipboard. For example, to open the selected URL with Internet Explorer:
[Ctrl+C][][[iexplore.exe %CLIPBOARD%]]
If your shortcut executes several actions, it may be necessary to let each of them enough time to be executed. To make a pause, write a pair of brackets: []. Clavier+ will wait for 100 milliseconds, then detect the new focused window. You can also use the command [{Focus}] to specify the delay.
This last point is crucial. If you simulate a keystroke that displays a new window (for example Ctrl + O which pops out the File/Open dialog box), then write some text (for example a filename), you must indicate to Clavier+ that the text should be typed in the new window:
[Ctrl+O][]MyFile.txt[ENTER]
Do the same if you launch a program that displays a window: you should indicate to Clavier+ to detect the new active window.
[Ctrl+C][[notepad.exe]][][Ctrl+V]
This shortcut copies to the clipboard the text currently selected, launches notepad, then pastes the copied text in it. The [] tag is crucial; it orders Clavier+ to paste to the new active window, i.e. notepad.
The arrow menu contains the list of supported commands.
If not empty, delay is the number of milliseconds to wait before activating the window. It may be useful give enough time for the window to appear before trying to activate it. If delay is not specified, there is no delay.
If window name is empty, Clavier+ detects the new active window and will send the future keystrokes to it. Useful if a keystroke displays a new window in which the shortcut needs to write. Example:
[{Focus}] or [{Focus,200}]
If window name is not empty, Clavier+ activates the first window matching the given name. The name can contain * and ? wildcards. Backslashes should be used twice to escape commas. Example:
[{Focus,50,* - Microsoft Word}] or [{Focus,,Title\\, subtitle}]
By default, the shortcut execution stops if the window is not found. In order to continue executing the shortcut even if the window is not found, insert an exclamation mark ! before the window title. If you want to search for a window having a title beginning with !, escape it with two backslashes. Examples:
[{Focus,0,*Internet Explorer}][Alt+F4] closes the first Internet Explorer window found. Does nothing if Internet Explorer is not running.
[{Focus,0,!Untitled*}]Test writes Test in the window having a title beginning with Untitled, or in the current window if such a window does not exist.
[{Focus,0,\\!Warning!}] activates the first window titled with !Warning!.
Note that [{Focus,100}] is equivalent to [].
If you need to write special characters \, [, ], {, } or |, you need to escape them with a backslash. For example:
This is a bracket: \[, this is a single backslash: \\
The arrow menu has an entry listing all special characters.
You should write a backslash before special character everywhere in the shortcut text, even in special tags such as keystroke simulation or program launching tags:
[[notepad.exe document\[1\].txt]] to open the file named document[1].txt with Notepad
In the main window of Clavier+, click on Copy list button. This puts the list of all keyboard shortcuts in the clipboard: you can past it in the word processor of your choice to print it. If you use Word, you can present it as an array: launch Word, copy the list with Ctrl + V, select it with Ctrl + A, and click the Insert array button.
By default, Clavier+ uses a single configuration file to store its settings: Clavier.ini, located in the same directory than Clavier+ main executable. Clavier+ doesn’t put anything in the registry, except if you use the Launch Clavier+ at Windows startup option.
Clavier+ menu, displayed by right clicking Clavier+ icon near the system clock, proposes several commands to manage configuration files:
Another way to load a configuration file is to run Clavier+ with the /load or /merge command line option. This allows to load a configuration file with a keystroke, by associating a keyboard shortcut to the command line:
clavier.exe /load configuration_file.ini
If you need to add many shortcuts at once, here is the configuration file format
Global settings First shortcut settings - (line almost empty: contains only a single dash) Second shortcut settings - ...
Language=Français or English or Deutsch or Português brasileiro Size=width,height,maximized,hide icon Columns=width 1,width 2,width 3 Sorting=column index
Shortcut=keystroke Code=keystroke code (internally used by Clavier+) DistinguishLeftRight=0 or 1 Description=description text Text=text to type when the shortcut is done >Other line to type >Another line ... Command=program to launch when the shortcut is done Directory=startup directory Window=window mode of the program to launch SupportFileOpen=0 or 1 Programs=programs list AllProgramsBut=programs list CapsLock=condition NumLock=condition ScrollLock=condition
Note the necessity to type a > character at the beginning of additional lines for the Text= field.
Text on a side, and Command, Directory and Window on the other side are mutually exclusive: a shortcut can’t write a text and execute a command line at the same time.
Clavier+ accepts the following command line options:
If Clavier+ is launched without any argument, the behavior depends of whether Clavier+ is already launched. If no, launch Clavier+ silently. If yes, do not launch Clavier+ again but display the configuration window. This allows to access Clavier+ options even if its icon is hidden.
Some special keys can’t be used:
Print Screen Pause
The special keys “Refresh browser”, “increase volume”, etc. are partially supported. Shortcuts using them can be created, and it is possible to modify their original behavior. However the action of these keys is executed when they are pressed in the Add dialog box. Moreover, as Windows does not provide a generic method to get the name of theses special keys, they are named by a number (for example: #183).
Windows standard shortcuts cannot be modified. Here are some of them:
Ctrl + Alt + DEL | show task manager |
F12 | reserved to the debugger |
Alt + Tab | activate the next task |
Alt + Shift + Tab | activate the previous task |
Win + B | give the focus to the traybar |
Win + D | minimize or restore all windows |
Win + E | launch the explorer |
Win + F | show the Find files window |
Win + Ctrl + F | show the Find computers |
Win + L | fast user switching |
Win + M | minimize all windows |
Win + Shift + M | cancel the effect of Win + M |
Win + R | show Start/Run window |
Win + U | launch the utilities manager |
Win + F1 | launch Windows help |
Win + Tab | activate the next taskbar button |
Win + Shift + Tab | activate the previous taskbar button |
Win + Pause | show the System applet of the configuration panel |
Windows 7 has a few more standard shortcuts that cannot be modified:
Win + = | magnifier |
Win + B | give the focus to the notifications area |
Win + G | show desktop gadgets |
Win + Home | minimize or maximize all inactive windows |
Win + P | show presentation mode projector options |
Win + T | cycle through taskbar buttons |
Win + Shift + T | cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse order |
Win + X | launch mobility center |
Win + Space | Aero desktop peek |
Win + arrow | dock, maximize, or minimize window |
Win + Shift + arrow | change monitor, or change vertical size of window |
Win + digit | open taskbar pinned |
By default under Windows, the Alt + Shift shortcut changes the keyboard layout. You are strongly encouraged not to use shortcuts like Alt + Shift + key, because you could change the keyboard layout by mistake.
Clavier+ may encounter difficulty with some programs when typing text or simulating keystrokes:
Some shortcuts do not allow fast repetition: you may have to release all special keys (Ctrl, Alt, etc.), then press them again to repeat the shortcut. Shortcuts that simulate other shortcuts or launch programs, Clavier+ has to release the special keys. This avoids the shortcuts to mix and the launched programs to detect that some special keys are down. For example, if Ctrl+X is associated to [Alt+Y], Clavier+ releases the Ctrl key, otherwise Ctrl+Alt+Y would be simulated instead of Alt+Y. For technical reasons, Clavier+ cannot determine whether the user has released or not the special keys before the end of the shortcut, indicating whether or not they should be pressed again to allow shortcut repetition. To avoid buggy keyboard behavior, Clavier+ never presses the special keys down again.
You can access the last version of this FAQ in Clavier+ page.
The latest Clavier+ version is compatible with all NT family Windows versions: 2000, NT, XP, Vista, 7, 8. The older Clavier+ versions are compatible with Windows 95/98/ME too.
Some programs handle the keyboard in a non-standard way, preventing Clavier+ from writing text. To get around this problem, surround your text with [| and |], as below:
[|My text|]
Most of the time, no. Games access the keyboard in low-level, for various raisons: speed, cheat protection.
There is no standard way to format text: the exact procedure depends on which program you want to write text in (Word, Excel, OpenOffice).
The AutoText feature of Word allows to insert any formatted text block. With other programs, you can use keyboard shortcuts. For example, Ctrl+B often toggles the bold attribute. To make a word bold, one can write:
A [Ctrl+B]bold[Ctrl+B] word
Again, formatting hotkeys depend on the program you are using. Please refer to its documentation for more details.
No, Clavier+ is for Windows only. In particular, there is no Mac or Linux version, and I don’t know if software equivalent to Clavier+ exists for these systems.
Acess to Clavier+ shortcut list cannot be password protected. Indeed, storing data in a secure fashion is both difficult and restrictive in terms of available features. I strongly recommend using software specialized in passwords storage, such as KeePass, Password Safe or RoboForm.
Click the plus shaped button, choose Write Text, press the numpad dot key, then click the OK button. Write a comma in the Write text area.
In Windows Explorer, create a Windows shortcut to the special folder: press the right mouse button on the special folder, drag the mouse to another folder (for example C:\), release the buton and choose Create shortcut here in the popup menu.
Then, in Clavier+, create a Launch a program keyboard shortcut that executes the Windows shortcut you have just created. You have to write the full path manually, and to append the .lnk extension. For example: C:\My computer.lnk if you have created a shortcut named My computer in the folder C:\.
Some special folders can be opened without the need for a shortcut. For instance, ::{20d04fe0-3aea-1069-a2d8-08002b30309d} opens My computer. The CLSIDs marked as supported by Run in this list are also available.
In the shortcut command line, insert explorer /e, before the folder path; make sure to write a comma after /e. For example: explorer /e, C:\
Launch Clavier+ then quit it. Double-click on the Clavier.ini file located in the same directory than Clavier+. In the second line, that begins with Size=, replace the last zero by the digit one. For example: Size=923,501,0,0 should become Size=923,501,0,1.
As Clavier+ icon will no more be visible, you will have to launch Clavier+ twice to display its configuration window (once to launch it, once to display the window).
Two solutions:
Click the arrow-shape button, choose the command Simulate a Keystroke.
There are three keys related to sound volume:
To simulate those keys and change the volume with your keyboard, create a shortcut with Clavier+ in text mode, then write the key code in the Write text area, between brackets.
You can use the program VolumeManager to adjust the volume finely.
There are four keys related to music players:
These keys work even if the music player in not the active application. To use them, create a shortcut with Clavier+ in text mode, then write the key code in the Write text area, between brackets.
There are several keys related to Internet browsers:
These keys work only if the Internet browser is active.
Create a shortcut to Clavier.exe in Start Menu/Programs/Startup. To do this, click with the right button on Clavier.exe, keep the button down and drag the mouse to the Start menu, then Programs, then Startup, and release the mouse button. Choose Create a shortcut here.
The solution is to enclose the path of the two programs in double brackets, in the Write text area. For example, to launch notepad and the calculator:
[[notepad.exe]][[calc.exe]]
You need to create a shortcut of type Write text and use the [{MouseButton,code}] special command. For example, to simulate a left click: [{MouseButton,L}]. For a double-click, execute two left clicks: [{MouseButton,L}][{MouseButton,L}]. For a right click, use the R code: [{MouseButton,R}].
You can create a VBScript program and ask Clavier+ to execute it. The generic procedure is the following: launch Notepad, write the text of your script, save it with the .VBS file extension, then associate a shortcut to it with Clavier+.
An example: write the current date in the active program.
set shell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
shell.SendKeys Date()
If you want to write the date in another format, you can use the VBScript date functions.
To keep your Clavier+ shortcuts after upgrading or reformatting your computer, you can transfer the Clavier.ini configuration file, located in Clavier+ directory. Detailed procedure: