Layout & Hotkeys

The Layout & Hotkeys tab lets you define a few settings related to appearance and behavior that are preserved across different ApSIC Xbench launches.

The fields in this window are:

  • Maximize on Startup. If you check this box, ApSIC Xbench will appear maximized when it is launched. It is recommended to check this box, as the maximized mode is the one that provides the maximum amount of information at the same time.

  • Internet Search / Open in Default Browser. When checked, it opens in your default browser the Internet query associated to the hotkey (for example, Ctrl+Alt+1 or Ctrl+Alt+2), instead of opening it in ApSIC Xbench embedded browser. For example, if you have the first configured entry of defined Internet links pointing to Google, you can use this feature to search the marked text directly in Google just by pressing Ctrl+Alt+1.

The following settings belong to the Hotkeys group.

  • Disable. This check box lets you disable the system-wide key combinations featured by ApSIC Xbench. It is recommended to leave this box unchecked as one of the most valuable features of ApSIC Xbench is the capability to search directly from any Windows application.
  • Source Hotkey. This is the hotkey defined to trigger a search of the clipboard contents in the source text. By default it is Ctrl+Alt+Insert.
  • Target Hotkey. This is the hotkey defined to trigger a reverse search of the clipboard contents in the target text. By default it is Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.

It is recommended not to change the above hotkey settings unless they clash with the values in another application.

ApSIC Xbench uses the clipboard as a transfer mechanism between the different Windows applications and ApSIC Xbench. The behavior for the transfer is defined in the Transfer Method group. Normally the most convenient and consistent transfer method is to leave the default options Manual Copy and Manual Paste, but in some scenarios (for example with applications that do not feature standard copy and paste keystrokes), you may have to change these settings to get the most out of ApSIC Xbench.

The options available as a transfer method for Input are:

  • Copy Message. When you press Ctrl+Alt+Insert, ApSIC Xbench sends a COPY message to the application to copy the selected text into the clipboard and then performs a search using the contents of the clipboard. A limited number of applications support this technique, but it has the advantage of avoiding the need for copying manually the text into the clipboard (normally with Ctrl+Insert).
  • Manual Copy. In this mode, ApSIC Xbench expects that the user has already copied the text to search in the clipboard. It sounds more tedious, but it has the advantage that many applications support the Ctrl+Insert key combination for copying text, which means that you feel a more consistent behavior across applications. On the downside, if the editing application has a slow response time, you may go too fast with the combination Ctrl+Insert, Crl+Alt+Insert for the application.
  • Keyboard Emulation (Ctrl+Insert). In this mode, ApSIC Xbench sends the Ctrl+Insert keystroke to the editing application and then performs the search. This way the user needs not to type Ctrl+Insert manually prior to the search. Some applications may not support this input method.
  • Keyboard Emulation (Ctrl+C). In this mode, ApSIC Xbench sends the Ctrl+C keystroke to the editing application and then performs the search. This way the user needs not to type Ctrl+C manually prior to the search. Some applications may not support this input method.

The options available as a transfer method for Output are:

  • Paste Message. When you press Enter to select a translation, ApSIC Xbench sends a PASTE message to the application to paste the translation. A limited number of applications support this technique, but it has the advantage of avoiding the need for pasting manually the text into the clipboard (normally with Shift+Insert).
  • Manual Paste. In this mode, ApSIC Xbench copies the target text of the selected entry into the clipboard if you press Enter to select a translation. The user is expected to press Shift+Insert (or the corresponding key combination for pasting text in the application) to complete the copy and paste operation. This is the default and recommended mode for consistency reasons across applications.
  • Keyboard Emulation. In this mode, ApSIC Xbench sends the target text as keystrokes to the editing application when you select an entry in the search results and press Enter.
  • Keyboard Emulation (Ctrl+V). In this mode, ApSIC Xbench sends the target text by simulating the Ctrl+V keystroke to the editing application when you select an entry in the search results and press Enter.