JesseWest@cup.portal.com (jesse c newcomb) (06/21/91)
Hello!
I'm building a keyboard for the PC that throws away the antiquated
QWERTY layout from the days of Underwood manual pushrod typewriters and
uses [gasp!] ergonomics instead. My keyboard is based on the idea that
all letters and symbols should be laid out in front of you (no combination
keys), but that they should also be where your hands can get at them.
Punctuation and other symbols are mapped to letter keys so you might hit
[special blue key] plus "E" for a period. Space, return, shift, and some
others are under your thumb... Anyhow; I'm looking for schematics and
source that I can modify for an 8048 or 8051 keyboard so that I don't
have to start from scratch. Any leads? -Jesse Newcomb, Mt View, CApenneyj@slc.com (D. Jason Penney) (06/24/91)
In article <43529@cup.portal.com> JesseWest@cup.portal.com (jesse c newcomb) writes: >Hello! > I'm building a keyboard for the PC that throws away the antiquated >QWERTY layout from the days of Underwood manual pushrod typewriters and >uses [gasp!] ergonomics instead. My keyboard is based on the idea that >all letters and symbols should be laid out in front of you (no combination >keys), but that they should also be where your hands can get at them. >Punctuation and other symbols are mapped to letter keys so you might hit >[special blue key] plus "E" for a period. Space, return, shift, and some >others are under your thumb... Anyhow; I'm looking for schematics and >source that I can modify for an 8048 or 8051 keyboard so that I don't >have to start from scratch. Any leads? -Jesse Newcomb, Mt View, CA If you're really interested in ergonomics, why not try the Dvorak keyboard? All the software to convert your PC is already written, plus programs to help you learn to touch-type, either QWERTY or Dvorak (aoeuidhtns home row). I append a form letter telling you how to get it. ----------- Hello. This is a hastily edited form letter. The source code you are looking for is available from my MBAS (mail-based archive server). I enclose two things: 1) Part of the MBAS index, 2) Help file for the MBAS. Good luck! --J --------------- The pertinent section(s) of the index is(are): [begin index] INDEX of jason-archive as of 28 Jan 1991 -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 3261 Dec 7 10:39 help general help using the archive server index -- this file [snip] --------------------------------------------------------- dvorak/ -- Dvorak support for IBM PC's and the Sun console, plus a tutorial program and test data for learning to touch-type either dvorak or qwerty. -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 37175 Oct 15 09:19 dvorak/ATT-Kbmap [from comp.sources.misc] "kbmap" is an attempt to modify the AT&T Unix SysV/386 v3.2.2 system keyboard map. In particular, it can make minor adjustments to the system's keyboard scancodes to allow all "alt" keys to be used in the gnuemacs meta-commands. Aside from the system default and emacs maps, any keyboard map may be manually added to a "kbmap.table" file. -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 56241 Mar 21 09:46 dvorak/Data01 -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 51507 Mar 21 09:46 dvorak/Data02 -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 44805 Mar 21 09:46 dvorak/Data03 -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 43184 Mar 21 09:46 dvorak/Data04 These are the data files for the learning program -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 50964 Mar 21 09:48 dvorak/Ibm01 -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 33413 Mar 21 09:48 dvorak/Ibm02 These are the drivers and a BASICA version of the learning program for the IBM and compatibles. The driver is "smart" -- you can toggle between qwerty and dvorak, and even one-handed layouts are available. It could use more work, but I've used it in its current form for years. -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 19278 Mar 21 11:34 dvorak/Unix01 This is the learning program in C and under curses, as well as a driver for the Sun console keyboard. -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 57644 Jan 29 09:13 dvorak/xdvorak01 -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 29822 Jan 29 09:13 dvorak/xdvorak02 Driver stuff to remap DECstation or Sun-4 keyboard under Xwindows (or OpenWindows). Many thanks to Bruce Schuchardt for this. -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 55945 Mar 22 16:28 dvorak/Xenix01 -rw-r--r-- 1 penneyj 9281 Mar 22 16:28 dvorak/Xenix02 This is "keybind", a console remapper for Xenix 386 (and presumably some SysV variants as well). No dvorak mapping is included, because I can't test it here. I include it because it looks pretty clear that it could be used to implement a Dvorak keyboard. Note you'll have to pick up Unix01 if you want the learning program. --------------------------------------------------------- [snip] [end index] Here is the help file for my MBAS. Enjoy! HELP FOR jason-archive, as of 7 Dec 1990 This is a variant of the "kiss" archive server. Requests to this server should be addressed to penneyj@slc.com, and include the phrase, "jason-archive-request" in the subject. To contact a human, make sure that "jason-archive-request" is NOT in your Subject: line. The Subject: line is otherwise ignored. The remainder of the mail message should consist of "kiss" commands, one per line. Lines that do not form a valid command are ignored. You may request multiple files in a single mail message. There is no advantage in splitting the requests into multiple mail messages. The server recognizes six commands. They are: path <path> This lets the requestor override the address that is normally be extracted from the header. If you do not hear from the archiver server within oh, about 2 days, you should consider adding a "path" command to your request. The path describes how to mail a message from slc.com to your address. Overriding the path can also reduce uunet charges (see below). slc.com is directly connected to ogicse and uunet. I strongly prefer that your replies be routed through ogicse. Domain-based addresses are preferred, such as: path luser@baz.foo.bar.edu (These will be automatically routed through ogicse.) An example without domain routing: path ogicse!foo!oof!bar!rab!luser help This message. It equivalent to the command "send help". index This is equivalent to the command "send index". send <whatever> The whatever is mailed to you. Examine the index to see what is currently available. Wildcards are NOT supported -- if you want multiple files, you should ask for them separately, one per line. Filenames are relative to a kiss "data" directory. All files except "index" and "help" are in subdirectories, so you will need to prepend a directory path, Unix style. Filenames are case-sensitive. compress ALL of the files requested in the current mail message will be "compressed" and "xxencoded". "xxencode" is NOT compatible with uuencode, so you will need to acquire misc/Xxencode01 BEFORE using this. xxencode is preferred over uuencode because the latter is useless on some BITNET sites using non-ASCII character sets. This is related to translation problems in some Internet/Bitnet gateways. If your system does not have compress, a public domain version is available in misc/. This is the most economical way to move files, but again, you will need to upload misc/Xxencode01 in a separate message, and possibly misc/Ncompress01 and misc/Ncompress02 as well. quit Nothing past this point is interpreted. This is provided so that the occasional lost soul whose signature contains a line that looks like a command can still use the server without getting a bogus response. Some Examples: ------ path uunet!frobozz!foo!myname index send misc/Ncompress01 send misc/Ncompress02 send misc/Xxencode01 quit Sends the "compress" and "xxencode" packages. ------ help send games/Crypto01 compress send games/Crypto02 Sends help, Crypto01, and Crypto02 in compressed format. You will need Ncompress and Xxencode in order to read the reply. -- D. Jason Penney Ph: (503) 629-8383 Beaverton, OR 97006 uucp: ...uunet!servio!penneyj (penneyj@slc.com) "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." -- Steve Martin