Online Help

Content

• Adjusting numerous settings
• Managing Macros
• Viewing statistics of your work behavior
• Viewing information about RSI (the 'ideal' working posture, etc.)
• Viewing information about RSI-Shield (how to register etc.)
  

7.1 Starting the settings program

The settings program can be started in 3 ways.

Method 1

1. Click with the right mouse button on the RSI-Shield counter (look at picture 7.1)

Method 2

1. Click on the RSI-Shield counter with the left mouse button (look at picture 7.1)
   Or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P
   
2. Click, with the left mouse button, on the upper bold option, in the menu that appears (look at picture 7.2)
   (Or, if you pressed Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P you can also press S)

Picture 7.2 The RSI-Shield menu

Method 3

1. Press the Windows start button (look at picture 7.3)
2. Select the option Programs
3. Select the option RSI-Shield in the sub-menu
4. Finally, choose the option Settings Program (look at picture 7.4)

Picture 7.3 Start knop

Picture 7.4 Settings program

7.2 The dynamic-help-function
We have developed a new help system for RSI-Shield. During development, we envisioned two important goals. First of all, the threshold for a user to request help should be as low as possible. Second, the user should use the mouse buttons as little as possible (because there are indications that this causes RSI). These two goals are met by the 'dynamic-help-function'.

Picture 7.5 The settings program (with the help screen at the bottom right of the screen)

The usage of the dynamic-help-function is very easy: When you want more information about an element in the settings program, you just hold the mouse pointer (the arrow) over that particular element for a moment. That is all. At the bottom right of the screen (in the white part) all information regarding that element will automatically appear (look at picture 7.6).

If the information does not fit on the yellow screen, the screen can be dragged by keeping the left mouse button pressed while moving the mouse up or down.

TIP. The information in the help-screen can be scaled by clicking in the screen with the left mouse button (or by pressing Ctrl+0), and than pressing the + or the - key. When you want to view everything in the normal size again, press the \ key.

7.3 Control
RSI-Shield is made in such a way, that it can be controlled almost completely without using the mouse. The settings program can be controlled by keyboard completely.

You can use key combinations to activate certain control elements (like buttons etc.). After this, a part of the keyboard input will be send to that element, enabling you to control it.

When an element of the settings program is activated, the mouse pointer (the arrow) will automatically move to that particular element and after a few seconds the dynamic-help-function will automatically do its job: showing the information about that particular element, at the bottom right in the yellow screen.

Making screens visible or active using the keyboard
For the large buttons to the left, the following key combinations can be used:

The dynamic-help-screen can be activated using the following key combination:

The wizard can opened using the following key combination:

The remaining screens can be shown using the following key combinations:

Activate Control-elements

• The menubar at the top of the screen can be activated by pressing F10.
• All elements, of which one of the letters is underlined, can be activated by keeping the Alt key pressed, while pressing the underlined letter on the keyboard and finally releasing the Alt key.
• You can position the mouse pointer so it is not located over any element by pressing the Escape key. This enables you to view the help of the entire screen, not just for one element.
• You can 'jump' from one element to the next by pressing the Tab key (possibly in combination with the Shift key).
• You can make the mouse pointer 'jump' between the normal screen and the help screen by pressing the F6 key.

Operate control elements
The various control elements can also be operated by keyboard:

Picture 7.6 A so-called spinner control

7.4 Language
Currently you can work with RSI-Shield in 2 languages. You can choose between English and Dutch. When you set RSI-Shield to a certain language, everything will be shown in that language: the menu options, help texts, movies, etc.

To switch between languages, you can follow the following steps:

1. Press F10 to make the menu bar active
2. Press s to select the option settings
3. Press l to select the option language
4. Press e or d to switch to English or Dutch
5. Confirm the two questions by pressing the Yes button

7.5 The wizard
To enable you to change the most elementary settings easily, RSI-Shield provides a wizard. This wizard 'asks' a couple of questions and afterwards calculates which settings are appropriate for you. All these settings are kept in a personal profile (in chapter 9 you will learn more about profiles). RSI-Shield will automatically start your profile when you start the computer.

To let the wizard make a profile for you or to let it modify an existing profile, you can follow the following steps:

1. Start the wizard by pressing Ctrl+W.
2. On the first screen (look at picture 7.7) there is some general information; nothing needs to be filled in. Read the text carefully and press the Next button.
3. On the second screen you can fill in the name for the profile you want to make or modify. By default RSI-Shield fills in the name, under which you are known in Windows, automatically for you. Usually you can leave this name unchanged and press the Next button. If a profile with the supplied name already exists, a warning will be shown which states that you are about to change an existing profile (press OK to close this message).
4. On the third screen you fill in how many days you work, with the computer, on average. Use the arrow keys to select another option and after this press the Next button.
5. On the forth screen you fill in how many hours you work, with the computer, on average. Use the arrow keys to select another option and after this press the Next button.
6. On the fifth screen you fill in how much working pressure you experience while working with the computer. You specify a rating from 0 to 5. Use the arrow keys to select another option and press the Next button.
7. On the sixth screen you will find statements related to your working posture and ergonomic situation. Put a check-mark in every check-box of which the statement applies to you. Use the arrow keys to select another statement and use the space bar to set or remove a check-mark from the check-box. When you are finished, press the Next button.
8. On the seventh screen you fill in, to which extent you have physical injuries. Read all definitions carefully and select the definition which is closest to your situation. Use the arrow keys to select another option and press the Next button.
9. On the eighth screen you can indicate which elementary options you appreciate or do not appreciate. The wizard automatically turns a number of options on. We strongly advice to leave these settings unchanged. If you still want to change the settings, you can check the appropriate check-box of every wanted option or uncheck the appropriate check-box for every unwanted option. Use the arrow keys to select another option and use the space bar to set or remove a check-mark from the check-box. When you are finished, press the Next button.
10. On the ninth (and last) screen you will find some general information; nothing needs to be filled in. Read the text carefully and press the Finish button. If you are changing an existent profile, a question will appear. If you want to keep the statistics of the profile, press Yes, if not, press No. Usually you want to keep the statistics and thus should press Yes.

Picture 7.7 The first screen of the RSI-Shield wizard

As stated before, you can only use the wizard to set some elementary settings. RSI-Shield 'knows' a lot more settings than you can make using the wizard. After you have created a profile with the wizard, you can alter the profile by using the 'Settings' screen or the 'Advanced settings' screen. In the next two sections of this chapter we will take a closer look at these screens.

7.6 Basic settings
The settings screen will automatically be shown when the settings program is started (look at picture 7.8). If the settings screen is not visible, it can be shown by pressing Ctrl+1. On this screen you can modify the most important settings for your profile. Furthermore, the timeline (section A) visualizes how the break-times are set up.

Picture 7.8 The settings screen (A timeline, B micro break, C medium break,
D macro break and E general settings)

Modify the length of the breaks
When you want a certain break to be longer or shorter, you can easily set this. You can modify the length of a particular break by using the arrows behind the 'Break time' field, of that particular break. If you, for example, want to increase the length of the medium break, you can follow the following steps:

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Click on the upper arrow behind the 'Break time' field, located on the right of section C (look at picture 7.8), until the desired length is shown. The following can be said about the minimum length of the break:
   • The length of the micro break can never be shorter than 15 seconds
   • The length of the medium break can never be shorter than the length of the micro break + 15 seconds
   • The length of the macro break can never be shorter than the length of the medium break + 15 seconds
     
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

Modify the frequency of the breaks
When you want a particular break to occur more often or less often, you can easily set this. You can modify the frequency of a particular break by using the arrows behind the 'Active time' field, of that particular break. If you want to increase the frequency, you use the upper arrow and if you want to decrease the frequency you use the bottom arrow.

The frequency of the micro break can by modified by following the following steps:

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Click on the arrows behind the 'Active time' field in section A (look at picture 7.8), until the desired time is shown in the field. The time shown here indicates how long you can work before a micro break is started.
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

The frequency of the medium break is expressed in a multiple of the time you can work before a micro break is started. If you, for example, look at Picture 7.8, you will see the field 'Active time' in section B shows '00:15:00' and in section C '01:00:00' is shown. This means the following: Every fourth time (see the text 4x in the arrow between the two fields) a micro break should come, a medium break will come instead. In this case you will get a medium break after 1 hour (4 x 15 minutes).

The frequency of the macro break is expressed in a multiple of the time you can work before a medium break is started. If you for example look at Picture 7.8, you will see the field 'Active time' in section C shows '01:00:00' (4 x 15 minutes) and in section D '02:00:00' is shown. This means the following: Every second time (see the text 2x in the arrow between the two fields) a medium break should come, a macro break comes instead. In this case you will get a macro break after 2 hours (2 x 1 hours).

Modify the number of breaks
By default, RSI-Shield works with 3 different kinds of breaks, which distinguish themselves in length and frequency. Although it is recommended to keep working with 3 breaks, you can change the number of breaks. Let us say you want only 2 breaks, than you can follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Remove the check-mark from the check-box to the left of 'Macro break', located above section D (look at picture 7.8) by pressing Alt+C
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

If you remove the check-mark in front of the field 'Medium period', located above section C (look at picture 7.8), you will get just one kind of break. In such a case the check-mark in front of the field 'Macro period', located above section D, is also automatically removed. Let's say you just want a micro- and a macro break. Than you can set the medium break just like the macro break is set and afterwards disable the macro break.

Set when you want to see exercises
By default, RSI-Shield only shows animated exercises during the macro breaks (in chapter 8 you will find more information about exercises). If you, for example, do not want to see any exercises, you can follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Make sure there are no check-marks in front of any of the 'Show exercises during this break' fields in the sections B, C en D (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+S, Alt+O and Alt+H.
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

Instead, if you want to see exercises more often, you can for example tell RSI-Shield that exercises must be shown in the medium and macro breaks:

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Make sure there are check-marks in front of the 'Show exercises during this break' fields in the sections C en D (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+O and Alt+H.
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

Disable keyboard and mouse during breaks
By default, RSI-Shield disables the keyboard and mouse during breaks. This way you are protected against yourself. You can not do anything during a break; whether you want to or not. Maybe you do not want this and just want to use RSI-Shield like some kind of timer, telling you when you should take a break. To make sure that RSI-Shield does not disables the keyboard and mouse any more during a break, you can follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Make sure there is no check-mark in the field 'Disable keyboard during breaks' in section E (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+L.
3. Make sure there is no check-mark in the field 'Disable mouse during breaks' in section E (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+D.
4. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

Automatically postpone breaks when using the Internet
Usually you must pay the phone company when you want to use the Internet. You obviously want to use this time as effective as possible, because time costs money. If RSI-Shield would block your keyboard and mouse, while you were on the Internet, you would have to pay while you could not even use it. That is why RSI-Shield can automatically postpone breaks for you while you are on the Internet. This is subjected to the same rules as the manual postponing of breaks (as explained in chapter 6). It is possible that this option is not available (grayed out), because RAS is not installed onto your computer (look in the Windows help how you can install a 'Dial-up connection'). This is not a problem though, because in this case you are not using a phone line to connect to the Internet, anyway. To make sure RSI-Shield automatically postpones breaks while you are on the Internet, you can follow these steps:

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Make sure there is a check-mark in the field 'Auto-Snooze when connected and a break starts' in section E (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+Z.
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

Play sounds during RSI-Shield events
It is possible to let RSI-Shield play sounds when a RSI-Shield event happens. This way you can, for instance, hear when a break starts or ends. At the following events a sound can be heard:

1. Beginning of a break
2. Ending of a break
3. When an exercise or animation is about to be shown
4. Playback of a Macro (see chapter 13)
5. Recording of a Macro (see chapter 13)
6. An automatical mouse click (see chapter 11)
7. When a break is postponed
8. When a break can not be postponed, because the maximum number of break-postpones has been reached

Default RSI-Shield will play these sounds. When you do not want to hear them, you can follow these steps (also possible via the context-menu, see chapter 6):

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Make sure there is a check-mark in the field 'Play sound on events' in section E (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+P.
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y

Enabling the Auto-mouse-click function
The auto-mouse-click tool can reduce RSI complaints by automatically pressing the mouse buttons, so you do not have to click them yourself. Read more about this in chapter 11.

If you want to enable the auto-mouse-click function, you can follow these steps (also possible via the context-menu, see chapter 6):

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Make sure there is a check-mark in the field 'Automatic mouse click' in section E (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+K.
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y
   

Enabling the 'Keyboard -> Mouse' function
The Keyboard -> Mouse tool can reduce RSI complaints by enabeling you to control the mouse using the keyboard. Read more about this in chapter 12.

If you want to enable the Keyboard -> Mouse function, you can follow these steps (also possible via the context-menu, see chapter 6):

1. Press Ctrl+1 to activate the settings screen
2. Make sure there is a check-mark in the field 'Keyboard -> Mouse' Mode in section E (look at picture 7.8), by pressing Alt+M.
3. Press the 'Apply Changes' button by pressing Alt+Y