Showing a touch keyboard on purpose in desktop application

Question

Hi, I've learned (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winappsuidesign/thread/9871c3d8-b484-4c85-b8d2-4d762591ff86) that kiosk application does not fit to Metro. So it will be a desktop application implemented in WPF/C# and controlled using a touch screen without any external keyboard, just the (single-touch) screen.

On many screens, the application could live without a keyboard. However, to type amounts (money), invoice numbers, typing names etc. an on-screen keyboard would be helpful. So having a generic on-screen keyboard slided off to a screen side for all the time does not fit.

Rather I would like to have it displayed just when needed (a appropriate field has a focus, like in Metro UI). I would also welcome specialized keyboard for typing numbers (integer or float), for typing e-mails, urls and a general one (similar list to new input types available in HTML, just adding different version for integers and floats). It should allow to type special characters. It might also allow to change keyboard language (layout).

As I understand, Windows 8 is going to be a touch-oriented OS. Unfortunatelly, I have not heard anything on this during Build, nor it exists in Win7. So, does Microsoft provide a usable control (WPF) for these basic types of input keyboard, or we still need to create proprietary ones?

Answer 1

Marilyn, the post is really meant as a question - whether there are such touch keyboards available in Windows 8, or not.

Answer 2

There are two Soft Screen Keyboards available in Windows Developer Preview.

The first is the “On-screen Keyboard” also known as “OSK”. This is primarily designed for users who have difficulty using a physical keyboard. The OSK has a few changes in Windows Developers Preview with the addition of some new buttons to aid navigation and so forth. This one has the keypad version with the numbers at the top starting with 789.

The second is the "Touch keyboard and Handwriting", formerly known as the "Tablet PC Input Panel" in Windows 7 or "TabTip". This is the default touch keyboard that users will be interacting with in Windows Developer Preview. This is the one with the inverted keypad with the numbers starting with 123.

This version has a reduced number of keys which are bigger and more touch friendly. This keyboard is primarily designed for text entry scenarios and for that reason a number of keys that appeared on the Windows 7 keyboard such as DEL, UP/DOWN, ALT have been omitted from the standard keyboard mode.

Users can still enable the old “compatibility” keyboard mode which has all the traditional keys by going to the “Language” Control Panel, selecting “Advanced settings”, checking the “Enable the compatibility touch keyboard” option and clicking “Save”. Users can then switch to compatibility mode by touching the “Input switcher” key on the bottom right of the touch keyboard and selecting the compatibility keyboard icon (the icon is a keyboard with more keys).

Hope this helps with your issues.

---

Marilyn

Answer 3

Thank you for figuring this out. This solves a lot of issues I had been having with the new keyboard! 

Answer 4

Thanks your your reply. However, this keyboard seems don't adapt to the type of information being expected.

For example of numeric field, I was hoping in a control like http://breathingtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NumericKeyboard.jpg supplied as part of Windows 8 to be either inserted as a control to a WPF form or automatically shown when a numeric field has focus.

Answer 5

You can send feedback about the issue with the soft keyboard.

We want to make sure we get the right info including your log files.  Can you also submit feedback using the Windows Feedback Tool from the Connect Site associated with your Windows Developer Preview program? If you’re an MSDN subscriber, the information on how to join the Connect program is included on the download page where you installed Windows Developer Preview.  There’s a link to the Connect site and an invitation code that you can click on to join using a Windows Live ID account. If you’re not an MSDN subscriber follow this limited use link to join the Connect program and then follow the steps here. 

 

---

Marilyn