How can I show the numeric virtual keyboard on the Blackberry Storm?

I'm having some difficulty showing the virtual keyboard I want for the Blackberry Storm. I have an option to toggle the keyboard's visibility on a certain screen. Whenever the user types a number, it's handled by the screen, rather than any particular field (there are no textfields on this screen). This much works fine. I can show and hide the keyboard when the user chooses to.

My question is this: How do I make the keyboard that shows up the same as what would appear had the focus been on a BasicEditField with a numeric filter applied, without using a BasicEditField for the input?

From stackoverflow

• I don't think BlackBerry has exposed any APIs to allow for programmatic control over the type of virtual keyboard that is shown. I seem to remember reading about it in the BB forums (although unfortunately I can't find it now).

  One thing you could try doing is using a BasicEditField with a numeric field, but place it offscreen so that it isn't visible. When you want to capture numeric input from the user, put focus on that element. I haven't tried this, it's just a thought.

  Ed Marty : I too thought of this idea, except the problem is that the focus has to elsewhere while they enter data.