peter@aucs.UUCP (Peter Steele) (09/08/88)
I've seen quite a few different extended keyboards for the MacPlus, but none
that have a control key like Apple's extended keyboard for the SE and II. Does
one exist and if not, why not? I would think that a control key would not be
an impossible feature for the MacPLus to support.
--
Peter Steele, Microcomputer Applications Analyst
Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, Canada B0P1X0 (902)542-2201x121
UUCP: {uunet|watmath|utai|garfield}!dalcs!aucs!Peter
BITNET: Peter@Acadia Internet: Peter%Acadia.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDUcyosta@taux01.UUCP (Yossie Silverman) (09/18/88)
In article <1245@aucs.UUCP> peter@aucs.UUCP (Peter Steele) writes: >I've seen quite a few different extended keyboards for the MacPlus, but none >that have a control key like Apple's extended keyboard for the SE and II. Does >one exist and if not, why not? I would think that a control key would not be >an impossible feature for the MacPLus to support. I think that the reason you will never see a control key for a mac plus is that the hardware interface uses some of the control characters as interface control characters. Basically this means that there is NO way using current system software and mac plus hardware to send certain characters over the keyboard connection. A solution would be to use an INIT to supplant the system keyboard driver and use a new keyboard which would "quote" or "escape" the control characters. This would probably not work in all cases. I base my thoughts on information from the ancient "Underground Inside Macintosh" paper. -- Yossie Silverman What did the Caspian sea? National Semiconductor Ltd. (Israel) - Saki UUCP: taux01!yossie@nsc.UUCP NSA LSD FBI KGB PCP CIA MOSAD NUCLEAR MI5 SPY ASSASSINATE SDI -- OOCLAY ITAY
earleh@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Earle R. Horton) (09/18/88)
In article <896@taux01.UUCP> taux01!cyosta@nsc.UUCP (Yossie Silverman) writes: >In article <1245@aucs.UUCP> peter@aucs.UUCP (Peter Steele) writes: >>I've seen quite a few different extended keyboards for the MacPlus, but none >>that have a control key like Apple's extended keyboard for the SE and II. Does >>one exist and if not, why not? I would think that a control key would not be >>an impossible feature for the MacPLus to support. > >I think that the reason you will never see a control key for a mac plus is >that the hardware interface uses some of the control characters as interface >control characters. Basically this means that there is NO way using current >system software and mac plus hardware to send certain characters over the >keyboard connection. A solution would be to use an INIT to supplant the >system keyboard driver and use a new keyboard which would "quote" or "escape" >the control characters. This would probably not work in all cases. I base >my thoughts on information from the ancient "Underground Inside Macintosh" >paper. A simpler solution exists, if you are willing to do without your Caps Lock key. It is possible to write an INIT to patch the GetNextEvent() trap call to convert characters to control characters when the event received is a keyboard event and when the Caps Lock key is down. On a stock Mac Plus or original Macintosh keyboard, it is possible to remove a little locking mechanism from the Caps Lock key switch, and make this key behave mechanically like other keys. This solution will fool all applications which use GetNextEvent() to get keyboard input into thinking that a control character was generated by the keyboard when, in fact, the Caps Lock key had been held down. Earle R. Horton. 23 Fletcher Circle, Hanover, NH 03755 (603) 643-4109 Sorry, no fancy stuff, since this program limits my .signature to three
fjo@ttrdf.UUCP (Frank Owen ) (09/26/88)
in article <10113@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>, earleh@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Earle R. Horton) says: > > A simpler solution exists, if you are willing to do without your > Caps Lock key. It is possible to write an INIT to patch the > GetNextEvent() trap call to convert characters to control characters > when the event received is a keyboard event and when the Caps Lock key > is down. On a stock Mac Plus or original Macintosh keyboard, it is > possible to remove a little locking mechanism from the Caps Lock key > switch, and make this key behave mechanically like other keys. This > solution will fool all applications which use GetNextEvent() to get > keyboard input into thinking that a control character was generated by > the keyboard when, in fact, the Caps Lock key had been held down. Aha! I have done something like this already. I think I also had to patch KeyTrans() to get it to work. My patches really just convert the CapsLock key into another "command" key. This may NOT be the same as the true control key on the ADB keyboards, but it is good enough for my applications. I have also included a "software" Caps Lock, so that you don't have to really give up the Caps Lock function. To enable the Caps Lock, just hold down the command key while pressing the Caps Lock (now another "command" key). Repeat this operation to release the software CapsLock. There is no physical designation that the CapsLock is on, however, so you just have to remember. The hardware modification to disable the physical lockking mechanism of the key IS reversible, so if you decide you like the stock setup, you can revert. I have 2 complaints with my setup: 1) Apparently not all programs use GetNextEvent to detect key-stroke events. Desk Accesories (like KeyCaps for example) seem to fall into this catagory. 2) The spring that keeps the CapsLock key up is a little stiffer than the other keys. This is just a minor complaint. Other than the above two problems, I have been happy with my keyboard hack. The patch does take about 700 bytes of system heap space. (Nothing is free). If people are interested, I'd be happy to post the INIT to the .binaries. -- Frank Owen (fjo@ttrdf) 312-982-2182 AT&T Bell Laboratories 5555 Touhy Ave., Skokie, IL 60077 PATH: ...!att!ttrdf!fjo