When navigating the PC file structure these remote control buttons may be used:
| UP | move up in a files list or menu |
| DOWN | move down in a files list or menu |
| LEFT | move to the containing folder or collapse a folder |
| RIGHT | expand a folder |
| OK | display the menu for an item or select from a menu |
When a file is open these remote control buttons may be used:
| UP | scroll up |
| DOWN | scroll down |
| LEFT | scroll left |
| RIGHT | scroll right |
| OK | display menu |
| UP | jump ahead 60 seconds or position to the next slide |
| DOWN | jump back 60 seconds or
position to the previous slide |
| LEFT | stop |
| RIGHT | play or pause |
| OK | display menu |
| VOL+ |
increase
the
volume |
| VOL- |
decrease
the
volume |
| MUTE |
turn
the volume on or off |
If you are using a wireless keyboard you may use the Up, Down, Left, Right, and Enter keys instead of a remote control. Additionally, the Home, End, PageUp, and PageDown keys can be used to navigate the file panel. Also, typing a letter will select the first file in the file panel that begins with that letter.
Armchair presents your PC's file structure in the left (file) panel and information about the selected file or directory in the right (information) panel. Press the remote control's OK button to bring up a menu of operations for the selected file or directory.
The first entries in the file panel implement Armchair features. They are:
| Armchair | This is the root of the file structure and is the initial item selected when Armchair starts up. It is also selected when you choose the Select Root menu item. When Armchair is selected this help information appears in the information panel. |
| About Armchair | The information panel displays information about this version of Armchair. |
| Quick Picks |
Folders and files that are accessed frequently may be added to the Quick Picks folder. The information display shows how to add and remove quick picks and shows the list of current quick picks. |
| Settings | Armchair allows a certain amount of customization through its Settings menu. Settings are saved when the program exits. |
| Exit | The information display shows how to exit the program. |
Following the Armchair items, the file panel displays the PC's disk structure. When you select an item in the file panel, information about it is displayed in the information panel.
Shortcuts (.lnk files) act like folders containing a single item: the target of the shortcut. You may expand and collapse shortcuts just like folders.
When a file is recognized as an image file (.jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png only), the image is shown in the information panel.
When a file is recognized as a text file, the first few lines of the file are shown in the information panel.
You can operate on the selected item using the following menu commands.
On many menus:
| Cancel | Do nothing. |
| Select Root | Select Armchair, the first item in the file panel. |
On the Quick Picks menu:
| Remove Quick Pick | Show a menu containing the list of current Armchair quick picks and allow one to be selected for removal from the list. |
On the Settings menu:
| Divider to Left | Make the file panel slightly narrower and the information panel slightly wider. |
| Divider to Right | Make the file panel slightly wider and the information panel slightly narrower. |
| Font Larger | Make the font slightly larger. |
| Font Smaller | Make the font slightly smaller. |
| Window Larger | Make the Armchair window slightly larger. |
| Window Smaller | Make the Armchair window slightly smaller. |
| Slideshow
Settings |
Show
the slideshow settings menu. |
| Enable
Window Control |
Control
windows
other
than
the
Armchair
application
window.
This
option
requires
that
AutoHotkey
is
installed
and
takes
effect
the
next
time
Armchair
starts.
See notes about window control below. |
| Disable
Window
Control |
Do not
control windows other than the Armchair application window. If the
Armchair AutoHotkey script is already running, you must stop it with
the Window Control Exit command. See notes about window control
below. |
| Start Logging | Start recording Armchair activities and errors to ArmchairLog.html in the user's home directory. This may be helpful in diagnosing Armchair defects. |
| Stop Logging | Stop recording activities to ArmchairLog.html. |
On the Slideshow Settings menu:
| No Captions |
Do not show metadata
captions during a slideshow. This is the default setting. |
| Captions Above | Show metadata captions above the image. |
| Captions Below | Show metadata captions below the image. |
| Captions Left | Show metadata captions to the left of the image. |
| Captions Right | Show metadata captions to the right of the image. |
| Longer View Time | Show individual slides for a slightly longer time. |
| Shorter
View Time |
Show
individual slides for a slightly shorter time. |
| More
Caption Space |
Use
slightly more screen space for captions. |
| Less
Caption Space |
Use
slightly less screen space for captions. |
| Choose Metadata | Enter the name of a metadata tag to be used as a caption. An on-screen keyboard will be used to enter the name. |
On the Exit menu:
| Exit | Terminate the Armchair program. |
On file, directory, and disk entry menus when appropriate: (See additional commands for HTML files in the next table.)
| Add to Quick Picks | Add the selected item to the list of Armchair Quick Picks. Quick Picks are also used as destinations of the Move menu command. |
| Close | Close the file that is being displayed. Restore the file panel. |
| Delete | Delete the selected item. |
| Magnify | Make an opened PDF or HTML
file
slightly larger. (Note that Some HTML files do not magnify well.) |
| Move | Move the selected item (a folder or file) to one of the items (a folder or disk) in the list of Quick Picks. |
| Open | The Open action depends on
the
file type. o Executable: Launch the program in a new window. o Media: Start to play the file. o Text, PDF: Display the file. o HTML: Display the file in an embedded web browser. o Word 97-2003, Excel 97-2003: Display the text content of the file without formatting. o Unrecognized file types are displayed as if they were text. Encrypted files cannot be opened. Files are opened in full window mode; the file panel is hidden. Use the Close menu command when finished. |
| Print the selected file on the default printer using the application associated with the file's type. In general, if right clicking on the file in Windows Explorer shows a Print option then you can print the file from Armchair. | |
| Refresh | Re-read the current folder from disk and update the file panel. Use Refresh if another program has added or deleted files. |
| Rename | Rename the selected item. An on-screen keyboard will be used to enter the item's new name. |
| Shrink | Make an opened PDF or HTML file slightly smaller. |
When the open file is an HTML file the embedded web browser is active. Note that the web browser attempts to suppress all popup windows, even those you may want to see. These buttons and menu commands are available when appropriate:
| UP |
After
a Position
Pointer command, move the crosshairs cursor upwards half way to the
top of the focus rectangle. |
|
| DOWN |
After
a Position Pointer command, move the crosshairs cursor downwards half
way to the bottom of the focus rectangle. |
|
| LEFT |
After
a Position Pointer command, move the crosshairs cursor leftwards half
way to the left of the focus rectangle. |
|
| RIGHT |
After
a Position Pointer command, move the crosshairs cursor rightwards half
way to the right of the focus rectangle. |
|
| OK |
After
a
Position Pointer command, display the menu of available commands. |
|
| Back |
Navigate
to
the
previous
URL
in
the
browser
history. |
|
| Add to
Favorites |
Add
the current HTML file to the web browser's Favorites list. The
favorites list is in the user's home directory. You may need to use the
Refresh menu command to see the new favorite in the files list. |
|
| CLEAR |
Close
full screen mode and either activate Window Control (see below) or
immediately return control to Armchair. A second CLEAR will
deactivate Window Control. (If
you put a web video into full screen mode Armchair will be suspended
until you press the CLEAR button or the Esc key.) |
|
| Enter
Text |
After
a Position
Pointer command, left
click the
mouse at the crosshairs position. Enter text at that screen
position, typically an input field. An
on-screen keyboard will be used to enter the text. |
|
| Enter
URL |
Navigate
to
a
different
URL.
An
on-screen keyboard will be used to enter the new URL. |
|
| Esc |
|
|
| Forward |
Navigate to the next URL in the browser history. | |
| Left
Click |
After
a Position
Pointer command, left
click the
mouse at the crosshairs position. This is typically used to click on a
hyperlink or on inner scrollbars. (The arrow buttons only scroll
the outermost scrollbars.) Left Click is also used to give focus
to the web browser by clicking
on a blank area of the web page. If you have a
wireless keyboard or mouse you can then interact with the web page as
in a standard browser. When
the web browser has focus Armchair is inoperable. When
you
type
the
ENTER
key
or
OK
button
control
will
return
to
Armchair. |
|
| Left
Click Again |
Left
click the mouse at the position of the previous click. This may be
useful when clicking on play/pause video controls. |
|
| Position
Pointer |
Position
the
mouse
cursor
before
executing
a
Left
Click
or
Enter
Text
command.
This
command
displays
a
"focus
rectangle",
initially
encompassing
the
entire
window,
and
a
crosshairs
cursor
in
the
middle
of
the
window.
Use
UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT
to
position
the
crosshairs
cursor
to a point on the
screen where you wish to left click the mouse or enter text into an
input field. With each UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT, the focus rectangle reduces
its size by half. In this way you can position the cursor to the
point of interest with a minimum of button presses. |
|
| Reload |
Reload
the current
HTML file. |
|
| Undo |
After
a Position
Pointer command, retract the
previous UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT command. The crosshairs cursor and
focus rectangle will return to their previous states. |
Using the remote control as a mouse:
This is a typical sequence of remote control operations for simulating a mouse operation:
1. Position Pointer menu command. The focus rectangle and crosshairs appear.
2. Some number of UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT button presses to position the crosshairs over a point of interest.
3. Left Click menu command over a hyperlink to direct the web browser to a new URL. - or -
4. Enter Text menu command over an input field to allow text input into that field.
Window Control
All the previously presented commands are concerned with controlling the Armchair application window. The Window Control commands provide some degree of control over any application window.
Normally, Armchair maintains "focus" so that the OK button is always available to invoke the Armchair menu. However, there are instances when Armchair may lose focus making it impossible to invoke the Armchair menu. Examples: another window opens on top of the Armchair window or the mouse is clicked on a video playing within the Armchair window. To restore focus to Armchair using Window Control, do one of the following:
1. Left Click on the Armchair window to bring it to the front.
2. Left Click on the Armchair window titlebar.
After doing one or both of the above with the Window Control commands, two or three presses of the OK button will display the Armchair menu.
To enable Window Control:
1. Install the AutoHotkey application. Refer to Installation Notes in About Armchair.
2. Execute the Enable Window Control menu command in Settings.
3. Exit and restart Armchair.
To activate Window Control:
1. Press the CLEAR remote control button or the Esc key. The focus rectangle and crosshairs cursor will appear.
When Window Control is active these buttons and menu commands are available when appropriate:
| UP | Move the crosshairs cursor upwards half way to the top of the focus rectangle. |
| DOWN | Move the crosshairs cursor downwards half way to the bottom of the focus rectangle. |
| LEFT | Move the crosshairs cursor leftwards half way to the left of the focus rectangle. |
| RIGHT | Move the crosshairs cursor rightwards half way to the right of the focus rectangle. |
| OK | Display the menu of available commands. |
| CLEAR | Alternately activate
Window Control or send Esc to the active window. Two consecutive CLEAR
presses will send Esc to the active window. Activating Window Control
has the side effect of terminating full screen mode in some
applications. |
| Esc | Alternately activate
Window Control or send Esc to the active window. Two consecutive Esc
presses will send Esc to the active window. Activating Window Control
has the side effect of terminating full screen mode in some
applications. |
| Exit | Disable Window Control. Window Control will remain disabled at least until Armchair restarts. To keep Window Control disabled you must execute the Disable Window Control menu command in Settings. |
| Left Click | Left click the mouse at the crosshairs position. |
| Left Click Again | Left click the mouse at the position of the previous left click. |
| Left Double Click | Left double click the mouse at the crosshairs position. |
| Right Click | Right click the mouse at the crosshairs position. |
| STOP
STOP STOP |
(3
STOP button presses within 2 seconds.) This is an alternative to CLEAR
for remote controls lacking that button. |
| Undo | Retract the previous UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT command. The crosshairs cursor and focus rectangle will return to their previous states. |