232key version 2024.1 and 232key Pro 1.0.0-RC1 released

New releases are available for all versions of 232key!

232key free, Plus and MU have been updated to version 2024.1.

New device profiles:

New characters for “start with” and “end with”:

  • Backslash (“\”)
  • Minus (“-“)
  • Slash (“/”)

This release also contains minor improvements and bug fixes, please see our changelog for further information.

232key Pro is now available as release candidate 1 (RC1)

For the first time, it is now available with a conventional installer for Windows (64 bit). Please see this post for all changes.

New Licensing Terms for 2023: Two-Year Licenses at Reduced Prices

As of 2023, we will be offering two-year licenses at a reduced price, instead of perpetual licenses for our software. 90-day licenses are also available for some of our products.

Our two-year licenses are discounted by around 30% compared to our previous perpetual licenses*, and our 90-day licenses offer a shorter commitment for those who only need the software for a specific project or period of time.

*For 232key Pro, the previous promotional price has become the new default price.

What happens at the end of the licensing period?

After the selected license period ends, the license will expire. If the software has a free version (e.g. 232key Plus/Free), you can continue using it but won’t be able to use the paid features unless you buy a new license. If the software requires a paid license (e.g. 232key MU and 232key Pro), you will need to purchase a new license in order to continue using it.

How do I order a new license?

We are pleased to continue working with FastSpring to handle the online license ordering process. They are a trusted reseller with a user-friendly platform that makes it quick and easy for our customers to purchase new licenses. The entire process is fully automated and now available in multiple languages. For more information, you can check the About tab within the software or visit our dedicated software websites.

Is this a subscription?

No, the license will not automatically renew at the end of the selected period.

What is the reasoning behind these changes?

It’s important to note that the prices of our licenses have not been increased in many years. We decided to switch to shorter-term licenses at a reduced price instead of increasing the prices for perpetual licenses.

By offering shorter-term licenses, we hope to make it easier for our customers to use and stay up-to-date with our software. We believe that this change will also be beneficial for us as software developers, as it will create a more predictable revenue stream and allow us to release updates and improvements more frequently. We hope you will take advantage of these new licensing options and continue to use and enjoy our software.

232key version 2022.1 released

A new release of our popular virtual keyboard wedge software 232key is now available for download.

It contains the following newly added device profiles:

All of these profiles are available in the free and paid versions.

How to start 232key automatically

Our 232key software is a simple solution to transfer the weight from a scale to any application as simulated keystrokes. To start 232key automatically with Windows when a user signs in, please follow these steps.

1. Place a shortcut to 232key in the Windows Startup folder

1.1 Open the Windows Startup folder.

Press the Windows key and R and enter “shell:startup” (to start 232key automatically for the current user) or “shell:common startup” (to start it for all users):
shell:startupThis will open the Startup folder in File Explorer:
Windows Startup folder

1.2 Open the 232key program directory

Press the Windows key and R and enter “shell:programfilesx86”:
Windows Program Files x86 directoryIn the new Explorer window that opens, click on the Name column to sort by name:
232key program folder

Double-click on the 232key or 232key MU directory (depending on the installed version). You can now see the 232key.exe application file:
232key program folder open

1.3. Create the shortcut

Hold the Alt key, then click on 232key.exe and drag it to the Startup folder you opened in step 1.1:
create link (shortcut) in startup folderThis creates a shortcut to 232key. 232key will now be started automatically with Windows when the user signs in.
Shortcut in Startup folder

2. Configure 232key to connect to your scale automatically

In 232key, the user normally must press the Start button to connect to the scale. In the paid Plus version, you can configure 232key to connect automatically when the program is started by selecting Start: Auto in the Settings tab:
Settings tab in 232key Plus

See the 232key documentation for further information.

By starting 232key automatically and also connecting to the scale automatically, user intervention is no longer required.

Note: Please ensure your scale is switched on before 232key is started.

How to capture only the end result from a Mettler Toledo H53 Moisture Analyzer with 232key

Real-life example: Moisture Analyzer

One of customers wanted to capture the end result from his Mettler Toledo H53 moisture analyzer using our 232key software. However, the moisture analyzer sent a lot of data at the end of the moisture determination process:

14:08:42 Port opened: COM3 Bitrate: 9600 Data bits: 8 Stop bits: 1 Parity: NONE
...
14:08:45 -MOISTURE DETERMINATION-<13><10>
14:08:45 METTLER TOLEDO<13><10>
14:08:45 Type             HE53/01<13><10>
14:08:45 SNR           B123456789<13><10>
14:08:45 SW                  1.13<13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>
14:08:45 Drying Prog.       Rapid<13><10>
14:08:45 Drying Temp.      130 <29>C<13><10>
14:08:45 Switch-Off          Auto<13><10>
14:08:45 Display mode         %AM<13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>
14:08:45 Start Weight   0.637 g  <13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>
14:08:45 Total Time      4:20 min<13><10>
14:08:45 Dry Weight     0.604 g  <13><10>
14:08:45 End Result      5.46 %AM<13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>
14:08:45 Date: ..............<13><10>
14:08:45 Time: ..............<13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>
14:08:45 Comment: ...............<13><10>
14:08:45 Signature: .............<13><10>
14:08:45 --------- END ----------<13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>
14:08:45 <13><10>

Our customer was only interested in the end result (5.46 in the example above), but 232key captured and typed all the numbers it could find, resulting in the following output:

531234567891.131300.63740.6045.46

Regular Expressions to the rescue

Our software includes a powerful tool for such cases: regular expressions. Don’t worry, you don’t have to learn about them in detail. You can simply send us the data received from your device as displayed in the Event Log of our software (as shown above) and we’ll assist you. However, in some cases, all it takes is a small modification.

If you go to the Input tab in 232key and click on the Customize button, the currently used regular expression will be displayed:

Regular Expression in 232key MU

For the “Generic measuring device” and many other device profile, it looks as follows:

([-+]?\s*[0-9]*[\.,]?[0-9]+)

This regular expression captures the first number it encounters in each line of data. If you want to capture only the data of a specific line and ignore all others, look at what makes it unique. In this case, we could use the words “End Result”. Simply inserting them at the beginning, followed by “\s+” (which stands for “one ore more whitespace characters”) ensures that 232key only captures the number following these words:

End Result\s+([-+]?\s*[0-9]*[\.,]?[0-9]+)

That’s all it takes in this case. Alternatively, we could use the “%” character appearing at the end of the “End Result” line. As there’s no other line in the report where a number is followed by a percentage sign, the following regular expression also works (and will continue to work even if the user changes the language of the report):

([-+]?\s*[0-9]*[\.,]?[0-9]+)\s+%

Regular expressions are available in 232key Plus, 232key MU, 232key Pro and our Simple Data Logger software.

232key version 2020.1 released – Radwag and Mars Scale profiles

Version 2020.1 of our free virtual keyboard wedge software 232key is now available!

Improvements in 232key version 2020.1

  • New device profiles for Radwag scales and balances and Mars Scales.
  • UI and accessibility improvements (you can switch between tabs and trigger the start/stop button using an Alt + key combination).
  • We fixed a bug which prevented the import* of a previously exported configuration file. This problem only appeared when more than one license had been applied to the software and when the second or a later license had expired.
  • We’ve included many new keys which 232key can now press before* or after the measurement value:
    232key additional keys to press before measurement value

Download the 232key installer now or visit 232key.com for further information.

* This functionality requires a paid 232key Plus license.

Are you a manufacturer and would like us to include a profile for your devices?

Please contact us and provide us with the following pieces of information:

  • Default connection parameters: bit/s, data bits, stop bits, parity.
  • Terminator (last character in each line of data).
  • An example of the data transmitted (in ASCII and hexadecimal form).
  • Optional: The command used to trigger the device to send the data (this is supported by 232key Pro and Simple Data Logger).
  • Optional: Short instructions to be displayed to the user (e.g. “set communication mode to ‘PC'”).
  • Is this information valid for all your devices?

Note: We’ll try our best, but we cannot guarantee that all submissions will be included.

232key version 2019.1 released – SMA Scale Communication Protocol

Version 2019.1 of our virtual keyboard wedge software 232key is now available.

* This device profile requires a Plus license. Please contact us for trial licenses.

  • Bug fixed: Function keys set under “start with” were not working correctly.

Are you interested in reselling our software? Click here for further information and to apply for a reseller account.

232key version 2018.1.4 released – includes flow control support and new profiles for Mettler Toledo and Sartorius balances

Version 2018.1.4 of our virtual keyboard wedge software for devices with RS-232 interface is now available and includes the following new features:

  • Flow control (handshaking) functionality (XON/XOFF software flow control and RTS/CTS hardware flow control):
    Flow control (handshaking): RTS/CTS and XON/XOFF
  • Device profiles: Mettler Toledo (MT-SICS), Sartorius (SBI), Sartorius (SICS), Denver Instrument.
  • Previous “Sartorius” device profile renamed to “Sartorius (legacy)” and modified to set flow control to “RTS/CTS” automatically. This profile works with older Sartorius balances which require hardware flow control.

These improvements were possible thanks to the feedback from our customers.