Review: iKey 2.0

Product Name: iKey 2.0
Company: Scriptsoftware
URL: http://www.scriptsoftware.com/ikey/
Category: Automation software
Price: $30
Requirements: OS X 10.2
Rating: 2 bounces - Lack Luster

Overview

iKey2 is a new version of the automation utility iKey, previously known as YoupiKey. The basic objective of such programs is to provide a reasonably painlessly way to control and customise the Mac environment and to provide automation of repetitive tasks. The obvious alternatives are AppleScript which is more powerful but harder to use and QuickKeys, which is somewhat more powerful but significantly more expensive. In addition there are, of course, a host of utilities which provide shortcuts or alternative pathways to particular aspects of the Mac environment. For instance I make intensive use of DragThing to launch applications and files and MenuMaster to customise keyboard shortcuts for particular programs. iKey is flexible enough to be able to take over from these utilities, but it is slower to set up and use, so most people will probably only use a subset of its total potential rather than applying it to every task it could handle.

Installation and Start Up

iKey comes as a 2.8Mb stuff-it archive available for download from Script Software’s website. The folder contains the application, a read-me file and an extensive, well-written, manual. Installation is simply a matter of dragging the unstuffed folder into the Applications folder, indeed it will work fine anywhere else, but I do prefer to keep things tidy. When the application is run it installs a menu of commands on the right hand side of the screen. This default menu includes a shortcut to the iKey editor, and sub-menus for applications, preferences panes, recent documents and recent applications. The default settings are for this menu to be available continuously when iKey is running and, rather cunningly, the default preference is for iKey to launch on start-up. So opening iKey once results in it being accessible indefinitely - to get rid of it you need to uncheck the relevant preferences item, or dispose of the application totally. However, unless you already have a dangerously over-cluttered menubar (like me) you probably will be happy to leave iKey sitting there. Installation also provides a very well-written and comprehensive manual.

The iKey menu - this is automatically installed, comes with useful items like an applications sub-menu, And can be completely customised. Excellent for people who miss the Apple Menu of pre OS X days.

How it Works

The basic operational unit of iKey is a shortcut. This can be as simple as a command to open an application or file or a complex sequence of such commands. Shortcuts can be activated in several ways, via key combinations, menubar menus, dropdown cursor menus, palettes, as timed events or after an event such as opening an application. Shortcuts are created using the iKey editor, This is a reasonably straightforward application but it is not especially well-streamlined.

The main window of the iKey editor, providing listing of existing shortcuts, mrnus and palettes and the controls to create new ones.

Creating a new shortcut - three separate commands are combined here to provide a quick way of changing a set of location-related items.

Examples of use of iKey Use

To illustrate the kinds of things which can be done with iKey a few examples are useful. Here are some I have experimented with.

1. Change internet settings between work and home

I use a laptop and connect to the internet via an ethernet network at work but via adsl at home. The adsl connection is a bit picky and I have found the ‘automatic’ location choice is unreliable, so i have separate locations set up. In addition I use different Eudora settings files at work and at home, to allow email to be sent via my ISP or the work email server. Finally, I need to change default printer according to where I am. Making these changes is not complex, but it is a task which is done often enough to get boring. Automating this in iKey was straightforward, since there are commands for all three actions: setting Network location; selecting a default printer; and opening particular files (in this case Eudora settings files). So with one iKey shortcut for each location all the changes can be made in one go. This set of commands is almost enough to justify use of iKey by themselves - except that the default printer command seems to have become a bit temperamental since I upgraded to OSX 10.3.7.

2. Undo caps lock

I hate it when I accidentally hit the caps lock button and don’t notice until I have typed a load of text in uppercase. I then have to either retype the text, or try and remember how to change case in the particular application. With iKey there is a separate command to change selected case to lower text so setting up a shortcut to do just that is easy. Irritatingly though I could not find anyway to toggle the caps lock key off - there are commands to press keys they just don’t seem to work with the caps lock key.

3. Log-in to UK Train Sim

My young son loves Microsoft Train Simulator and I am repeatedly asked to download more files from him. This involves opening the WWW site then typing in my user name and password in the relevant boxes.

Opening a URL is easy to set-up, as there is a command to do just that. The log-in boxes can be tabbed to using “type-key” commands then the text typed using “type-text” commands (yes there are some confusingly similar commands, type-key and type-text are not quite the same). The main complication is that the shortcut needs to pause while the site opens before the log-in details can be entered. This could be done by pausing for a fixed number of seconds but the log-in time is variable. The alternative I used was to modify the behaviour of the shortcut after the open URL command had run - the usual behaviour is to immediately step on to the next command but alternatives include showing a message or opening a dialog box to ask what to do. The latter option worked nicely; the dialog box opens immediately after the browser window and the continue command button can be pushed as soon as the page has loaded, then the text is entered in the right boxes. Well, that was the idea anyway and it does work about 80% of the time, but I could not make it work reliably enough to continue with it.

4. Photoshop commands menu

I use Photoshop a fair bit, but not quite enough to remember the shortcuts for all the commands I use regularly, and some of them do not have built-in shortcuts. So I made use of the ability of iKey to create a pop-up menu which works in just one application. I first created commands in iKey for various menu items in Photoshop: Crop; Image Size; Canvas Size; Fill; etc. Then I created a menu incorporating these items and selected for it to be active only in Photoshop, to be activated by the F1 keystroke. The end result is that I now have a pop-up menu for these commands available at the cursor by hitting F1. This took about 20 minutes of work to set up, but since I use these commands repeatedly the effort in setting it up has proven worthwhile. Maybe I will do the same in all the other applications I use intensively, then again maybe I should just get on with the work I need to do, rather than spend all that time making myself more efficient.

Using a custom pop-up menu in Photoshop.

Discussion - Lifesaver or Time-Waster?

These examples illustrate fairly well some of the strengths and limitations of the program. For working with the operating system (and the Terminal application) there are specialist commands in iKey, and useful things, like changing settings between locations can easily be programmed. Conversely, when working in applications generic commands need to be used, setting up shortcuts is slower, more ingenuity is required and not everything is possible. The end result of setting up a good shortcut is a feeling of intense satisfaction as a boring task is reduced to a single keystroke or menu command, but the time saved needs to be balanced against the time taken to set up the shortcut. In addition, shortcuts are unlikely to work flawlessly after a program is upgraded - I am using MS Office X, is it really worth setting up menus of shortcuts for Word and Excel when I will probably upgrade to Office 2004 before too long and the menus will probably change so the shortcuts will stop working? If setting up shortcuts was really quick then the answer would probably be yes, but in practice setting up each shortcut is a slow process involving navigating through menu screens, typing names, debugging etc. There is no automatic recording of keyboard strokes and not enough drag and drop support. Moreover the Apple website reveals that an automation program is going to be built into OSX 10.4, Tiger.

The read me file states that “the purpose of iKey is to reduce and eliminate the repetitive actions that we all face thousands of times a day”. Well the obvious question is are there really repetitive actions that you face thousands of times a day, or even a few times a day? If there are then iKey is well worth looking at, if you are left thinking “like what?” then probably you should carry on happily as you are.

End rating

A couple of bounces, iKey is a great program for customisation geeks. But if you love Macs because they provide a painless, intuitive, if occasionally slow, path to get on with work you will probably not find it worth dabbling with. Then again if you like the idea of having just one low-cost utility to customise your Mac iKey would be a fine choice.

- Dr. Jeremy Young

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