To install SLAPP on Windows follow the instructions from this short video:
For reference purposes, here is a quick recap of the main stages:
- Download the file for your processor type: x64 or ARM64. Find your processor type from Settings / System / About.
- Click to open the downloaded file and follow instructions.
- You will not be able to do meaningful work in SLAPP until you have some assignments and/or exercises to open. To download from the website: Click the download link; open the downloaded ZIP file; click to extract all; select the location where you want the exercise or assignment folder; and extract.
- If you are installing an updated version of SLAPP, you will be given an option to install over the previous installation. I most cases, this is what you want.
- Once the program is installed, there are some technical matters to be aware of:
- Hot Keys: SLAPP uses multiple key combinations. These are not ‘hot keys’ of the sort that work even when an app is not in the active window. However other apps may use the same key combinations as hot keys. If hotkey combinations do overlap with combinations used by SLAPP it is likely that the hotkey functions will fire when the combination is typed. SLAPP does its best to avoid standard Mac and PC combinations. If there is overlap, most apps have a means of changing their hot-key combinations.
- Dead Keys: There can be a related problem with system dead keys. These place an accent on the next typed character, and are a function of your system’s keyboard map. You want system dead keys off. In the USA the default language and keyboard is likely to be English (United States) with the US QWERTY board. This is fine. If you have a different default, select languages and keyboards from Settings / Time & language / Language & region. Then holding down the Windows key and pressing the spacebar cycles among your installed boards.
- Function Keys: SLAPP makes use of the function keys F1 – F12. On many computers these keys are assigned to special functions (for volume and the like). If this is so, there are generally methods of changing the default behavior between regular F-key and the special assignments (different on different systems and keyboards). Whichever default behavior is selected, holding down the fn-key at the same time as you type an F-key gives the non-default behavior.