I would like to use one of my unused function keys on my iMac to insert a pre-defined text string. The application of interest will not accept a keyboard shortcut; I need to insert the full text. Is this possible? How?
iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.1), 16GB memory, 27" display, 2015 ver.
Text replacement & creating your own 'string' are in another section and or application to add to keyboard.
When you are in the box or field interested to paste your formula with a right mouse click
ie Control & Trackpad, do you have this under substitutions:
In the program under services, is Services available or not?
MY BAD for my confusion because I was thinking your key was non-functional and you wanted access to the key to paste your info.
Thanks for the reply. I follow all your steps, but I am unable to implement the last piece of this sequence. I have the menu keyboard open on my desktop and System Preferences>Keyboard>Input Sources open. Now what? How do I assign a text string to a function key so that this function key then inserts the text string when needed?
That is a keyboard viewer, not a functional onscreen keyboard for keystroke input. Bogus, untested advice. You may need a third-party application (e.g. Alfred, etc.) to map text to keyboard keys.
If you were working with Cocoa framework based Applications that offer a Edit menu : Substitutions : Replace Text selection, then in System Preferences : Keyboard : Text, you could map a couple of characters to a lengthy expression. Then, when you type the "trigger" replace characters, the text string will be automatically inserted at that point. But this does not solve the circumstance where you are working with applications that do not support text replacement.
Put Keyboard in Menu Bar and use from there:
Open Preferences:
Select Keyboard
Then make sure tick is on
THEN GO to the bar and select KeyBoard
You're in Business !!!
Can An Unused Function Key Insert Text?
