Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com (01/22/90)
In my OLD RKMs, in the keyboard device section, it shows, quite surprisingl
that the left shift key is actually two keys positions 60 and 30 in the
matrix. The RETURN is also shown as two keys (44 and 2B). Can someone
enlighten me:
1. I pried the keycaps off and discovered one pole for the shift key,
and 1 pole and one pole or post (I don't know the technical terms
for the parts) for the return key. Are the electronics in there
for the extra keys (under the black plate between the circuit
board and the keycaps)? I thought I would ask before taking apart
my keyboard.
2. If the electronics are indeed in there, are they software addressable
as shown in the diagram?
3. If the electronics somehow were nixed or never existed, why was this
decided?
4. Do other Ami keyboards exist which take advantage of these two extra
keys?
The reason for my curiosity is that the English alphabet has fewer letters
than many other languages, making it difficult and kludgy to map foreign
alphabets to the existing keyboards. As a result, you have to either steal
numbers or symbols from the character set, or put the additional letters in
bizarre positions. If it were possible to engineer a keyboard to include
the extra letters (or if such a creature exists), it would greatly enhance
the Amiga's attractiveness in foreign markets--and there are lots opening
up in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. I read about a planned computer
conference in Moscow and a grand plan to place thousands of computers in
Russian in the early 1990s. I'd like to see Commodore get their foot in the
door with the Amiga, which is MUCH easier to map to foreign fonts than the
blue PeeCees. \_
Julie Petersen (LadyHawke@cup.portal.com) )\_ _/
portal!cup.portal.com!LadyHawke `/)\_ __ //
__ _____________________________________________ `\\)\_ / '~//
/// `\\//\\/|'//'
/// "The lack of money is the root of all evil." (\/Yyyy/'
__ /// /Yyyy/'
\\\ /// Ayn Rand //\\ LadyHawke
\\/// ________________________________________________ ///\\\ dwl10@uts.amdahl.com (Dave Lowrey) (01/23/90)
In article <26182@cup.portal.com> Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com writes: > > In my OLD RKMs, in the keyboard device section, it shows, quite surprisingl >that the left shift key is actually two keys positions 60 and 30 in the >matrix. The RETURN is also shown as two keys (44 and 2B). Can someone >enlighten me: > 1. I pried the keycaps off and discovered one pole for the shift key, > and 1 pole and one pole or post (I don't know the technical terms > for the parts) for the return key. Are the electronics in there > for the extra keys (under the black plate between the circuit > board and the keycaps)? I thought I would ask before taking apart > my keyboard. > 2. If the electronics are indeed in there, are they software addressable > as shown in the diagram? > 3. If the electronics somehow were nixed or never existed, why was this > decided? > 4. Do other Ami keyboards exist which take advantage of these two extra > keys? The codes 30 and 2B are part of the "International" keyboards. The keys are actually "cut" from the left shift and return keys. You will not receive these codes from a USA keyboard. -- "What is another word | Dave Lowrey | [The opinions expressed MAY be for 'Thesaurus'?" | Amdahl Corp. | those of the author and are not | Houston, Texas | necessarily those of his Steven Wright | amdahl!dwl10 | employer] (`nuff said!)
dougp@voodoo.ucsb.edu (01/23/90)
-Message-Text-Follows- In article <26182@cup.portal.com>, Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com writes... > > In my OLD RKMs, in the keyboard device section, it shows, quite surprisingl >that the left shift key is actually two keys positions 60 and 30 in the >matrix. The RETURN is also shown as two keys (44 and 2B). Can someone >enlighten me: I believe you will find that there are two shift keys and two enter keys on the A1000 keyboard. (there is an enter key on the numaric keypad.) I believe that each of these has its own key code. Douglas Peale