Repeatedly moving from the THINC control's touchscreen to the hardware keyboard can be a hassle. Additionally,there are times when the hardware keyboard is inaccessible.
DataZen has developed an onscreen keyboard suited to the needs of THINC machine operators. Many software keyboards are not suited for touchscreens, or for the needs of THINC controls. Unlike other software keyboards, DataZen provides a full QWERTY keyboard, a numeric keypad for machine operators, and a panel mode selector toolbar for switching between screens on the THINC control.
A keyboard for the THINC control should be unobtrusive, yet easily accessible when needed. When not needed, our keyboards minimize to translucent icons at the top of the screen, always accessible. An icon on the HMI vertical toolbar provides access to the keyboards when needed.
Numeric Keypad
A click of the numpad icon will display our numeric keypad. This keypad, unlike most, was designed with machine operators in mind. It may also be dragged anywhere on the screen, so it need never be in the way of your work.
Along with the standard ten-key numeric entry, this keypad includes delete, backspace, enter, as well as the dot and dash symbols likely to be found in part numbers. Tab and backwards Tab are included for navigating tables, and a Start button allows easy access to the Windows Start Menu. The numeric keypad buttons are oversized for more convenient usage on a touchscreen.
All these features create a unique numeric keypad for THINC controls, built with machine operators in mind.
Full "QWERTY" Keyboard
A click of the keyboard icon will display our alphanumeric keyboard. Like the numeric keypad, this keyboard was designed for machine operators at the NC control panel. This is a full keyboard, including all letters, numbers, and symbols you expect to find.
The control, alt, and shift keys are 'sticky', remaining pressed until you click them again; a necessity for a touchscreen keyboard.
As with the numeric keypad, this keyboard is draggable anywhere on the screen, and easily hidden when not in use.
Panel Mode Selector
Finally, our keyboard includes a panel mode selector toolbar. This allows easy switching between panel modes from the touchscreen, without having to revert to the hardware keyboard on the control. Other commercial software keyboards are not designed with THINC controls in mind, and do not include such a tool. The panel mode selector makes DataZen's Onscreen Keyboard for THINC an ideal solution for remote touchscreen monitors, such as our own Remote Monitor kits.
Eliminate repetitive movement between the touchscreen and the hardware keyboard. No more fumbling around to open the start menu and display the taskbar. No awkward function-key combinations for special characters. Both keyboards are available on-screen with the touch of a finger. Especially when used in conjunction with the remote monitor kit also sold by DataZen, this keyboard provides an easier and more pleasant data input experience for machinists at the control panel.
Download
The Onscreen Keyboard requires THINC API 1.9. A license key must be entered to use the keyboard; contact DataZen for licensing information.Download full installer package - includes all redistributables and documentation. (33.5 MiB)
Download installer only - includes only an MSI installer. (811 KiB)
