I use my Desktop far more often than I use my Dashboard. However, my MacBook Pro comes with a dedicated key for Dashboard but it doesn't come with one for Desktop.
Using this article, I was able to remap my Dashboard key to show the desktop by changing the values for keys 62 and 63 ("Dashboard") to the same values used by keys 36 and 37 ("Show Desktop"). Specifically, I changed the value for both array index #1s to 111.
This worked great for my external (kinesis freestyle) keyboard. But when I went back to my internal macbook keyboard, I discovered that the Dashboard key still mapped to the Dashboard rather than the Desktop.
How can I complete this mapping for all of my keyboards? The Kinesis Freestyle, my internal MacBook Pro keyboard, and my external Apple Aluminum Bluetooth keyboard?
Update: I'm definitely not looking for a solution that involves using the Function keys instead of the special keys. I wish to keep using my Function keys as function keys as they're indispensable for other applications.
Best Answer
It's certainly no solution - but just to add to the conversation: by default hitting command+(Show All Windows) shows the desktop. i.e. hitting command-F3 where F3 is functioning as a special key and not truly as "F3" If nothing else, it's an easy reach on the keyboard and somewhat logical. I still can't understand why there is no show desktop special key - especially in light of the dedicated dashboard key (who uses that?) and an empty space at F5.