Finale 2012: How to add shortcut

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Inside Out
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Post by Inside Out » Sun Mar 26, 2017 12:49 pm

Hello friends.

Please tell me how to assign shortcut to run desired tool?

Example: What should I do to set when I press PC keyboard button "S" to run "Staff tool",
button "K" to run "Key signature tool" etc.


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miker
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Post by miker » Sun Mar 26, 2017 3:19 pm

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motet
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Post by motet » Sun Mar 26, 2017 4:15 pm

The article Mike links to shows why you don't want to use S and K to switch between tools--they're very useful within a tool, for example S for applying staccato in the Articulation tool. Instead, use the function keys F1-F12 to switch between tools. Probably the best way to do this on Windows is to use the TGTools Menu Shortcuts plug-in. Please read this:

https://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/Fin ... lug-in.htm

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Post by miker » Sun Mar 26, 2017 4:22 pm

And the article I referenced shows that the shortcuts are already there: not quite as simple as you wanted, but quickly available.
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motet
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Post by motet » Sun Mar 26, 2017 4:41 pm

I don't think there are pre-programmed shortcuts to switch between tools, are there?

There's also a non-TGTools way to program F2-F12 to select a tool, but I couldn't find where that's described in the manual (it must be there somewhere), but that may be document-specific, which doesn't seem ideal.

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Post by miker » Sun Mar 26, 2017 4:53 pm

Any document-specific shortcut can be made global by applying it to the default doc.
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Post by motet » Sun Mar 26, 2017 4:56 pm

True, but not to existing documents.

It looks like you can switch to the Key Signature tool, for example, then press Shift+F4, say, to program F4 to switch to the Key Signature tool from now on. But I think the TGTools plug-in is more powerful, and applies automatically to all documents. (So may programming F2-F12 this way, I guess, but I would have to disable TGTools to test it, which I don't want to do.)

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Post by motet » Sun Mar 26, 2017 5:50 pm

(Just to clarify, Mike: O.P. asked about switching between tools. The TGTools plug-in is not appropriate for Metatools.)

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Post by miker » Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:15 pm

Still, the OP needs to spend some time with the manual. It seems we're doing a lot of his work for him. There are lots of preprogrammed metatools. OK, they use two or three keys, rather than one. Still, he should learn about them.

On the Mac, I've programmed my F keys to the functions I use the most.
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Post by OCTO » Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:42 pm

TGTools: program F-keys instead for that purpose. They are powerful since you need to press only one key at the time. Everything else is less shortcut.
Not to talk about the default 'shortcuts' that can be used only by an octopus.

If you want to use K to get to KEY-tool, don't do it. Every time if you touch key K it will move there. And you really don't want that to happen so...
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Post by Harpsi » Mon Mar 27, 2017 7:20 am

To the OP:

Metatools are keyboard shortcuts used within tools, that is not what you are asking about. You want to assign shortcuts to tools. Motets explanation above with function keys is the standard Finale way of doing this on windows. TGTools solution is not included in Finale, you would have to buy the full version of TGTools.

Another way is to use FinaleScript. Open the FinaleScript Palette which is in the plugins menu. In a new empty script type for instance "Staff tool". Save. Right click the script in the palette and choose to create a shortcut. You must use at least a modifier key for this. Done.

The good thing about this is that works with any document. The function key route will be document-specific.
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Post by motet » Mon Mar 27, 2017 2:28 pm

I'm speaking of TG Tools lite which is indeed included with Finale and documented in the manual (link given above).

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Post by Harpsi » Mon Mar 27, 2017 3:35 pm

Oops, sorry, I didn't know that! I always thought that was a part of the full version.
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Post by zuill » Mon Mar 27, 2017 3:47 pm

Just a heads up that if you get Finale 25, the Menu shortcuts feature has some issues.

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Post by motet » Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:12 pm

Are there issues other than it doesn't work if you switch between a older version of Finale and the current one?

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Post by zuill » Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:22 pm

That's the main one. However, I also found that it didn't properly record my key choices, even if i stayed in v25. One example is the preference I have to use the number-pad 0 for ties. Finale 25 doesn't honor that choice. Since I didn't want to continue to have issues, I chose not to open that utility in the plugin in v25. Just opening it corrupts the existing plugins. I believe what needs to happen is that the 64bit version needs to not share plugins with the 32bit version. That would be a start.

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Post by motet » Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:45 pm

A pity. It's by far the best way to remap keys in Finale. FinaleScript with a hotkey is wonky, and external macros have timing issues. The O.P., should he or she ever return, can use Shift-Fn for the purpose requested, though.

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Post by motet » Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:49 pm

Have you complained to MM, by the way? Since it's documented in the manual, it seems like their bailiwick rather than Herr Giesen's directly.

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Post by zuill » Mon Mar 27, 2017 5:31 pm

Here was their reply (12/9/16) to my ticket:

"Yes, I have been looking into this issue for you. I can confirm that this is in fact a bug with the updated version of the TGTools. I was trying to find a solution to this and it appears that the file these plug-ins reference for the saved keyboard shortcut information is in a location within the Windows Registry. So, I cannot recommend editing this manually. it is definitely disappointing that this feature is not working correctly and I wish I could provide a workaround for this. Unfortunately, this is an issue that we will need to be addressed on our end and with the developer of the TGTools so hopefully a future update will provide a resolution for this.

David C. | Customer Success Manager"


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Post by motet » Mon Mar 27, 2017 5:52 pm

Three months and still not fixed.

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Post by zuill » Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:01 pm

Also odd that the Knowledge Base doesn't mentioned this MAJOR bug.

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