Introduction

Following a successful installation, KbdEdit is started by choosing the "KbdEdit" icon from the Start Menu's "KbdEdit" folder.

At startup, KbdEdit will automatically load your default layout. As described in Manage language bar list, this is the layout that gets activated by Windows when you log on, and which gets re-activated whenever a new application is started. Thus you can start customizing the layout you normally use immediately after KbdEdit is started.

If you have chosen to disable the Open default layout at startup setting in the Options dialog, the initially active layout is "Untitled". This is the same layout that becomes active when New command is executed.

If you intend to create a completely new layout from scratch, or create a layout based on "US English", you might take "Untitled" as a starting point. In the majority of cases, however, you would start by opening an existing layout, and either continue modifying it or create a new layout based on it. In either case, you can find detailed explanation on how layouts are created, saved, modified etc in Administration and deployment.

KbdEdit views

KbdEdit's layout editing features are grouped into four main views:

High level editor - used for editing Unicode mappings assigned to "character-producing" virtual keys and modifier positions.
Low level editor - this is where virtual key codes are assigned to physical keys (i.e. scan codes); in this editor modifier keys and modifier combinations are also defined.
Dead character editor - for editing the layout's dead character table.
Preview - enables the current layout to be tested and previewed before it is saved.

At any moment, only one of the four views is active and visible.

To switch to another view, use the four tabs marked as High Level, Low Level, Dead Char and Preview. The tabs are placed just below the toolbar.

Alternatively, you can use the View menu items High level mapping, Low level mapping, Dead characters and Preview. In this menu, a checkmark is placed next to the current view.

KbdEdit view switching menu

Manual index