gak@apple.com (Greg Kimberly) (05/09/90)
Various postings have mentioned that the keyboard of the 48 is soft assignable. Is their a way to assign values (i.e. characters) to combinations of keys? If so, then it ought to be possible to make a chord keyset mode to ease the entry of text. Does anyone have an idea of whether this can be done?
garyf@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Gary Friedman) (05/10/90)
In article <8136@goofy.Apple.COM> gak@apple.com (Greg Kimberly) writes: >Various postings have mentioned that the keyboard of the 48 is soft >assignable. Is their a way to assign values (i.e. characters) to >combinations of keys? If so, then it ought to be possible to make a chord >keyset mode to ease the entry of text. Does anyone have an idea of whether >this can be done? I thought of doing this on my HP-71 (What's *that*? :-)) The assembly language algorithm would be relatively simple: scan the keyboard by writing to the OUT register and reading corresponding 1's on the IN register; take note of every key found depressed and wait untill all buttons are up before translating the keycode and placing the result into the key buffer. The HP-48 has some rather stiff buttons, making chordian typing a stress-inducing activity. Power consumption would also skyrocket, since the CPU would be actively seeking inputs rather than going to sleep and waiting for an interrupt between keystrokes. Finally, the amount of work necessary to display the text sideways on the 48's display (you *were* going to place this thing horizontally, weren't you?) makes calling the UK and ordering an already-implemented AgendA seem like a level-headed solution. -Garyf Gary Friedman Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA. 91109 (818) 354-0410 Uucp: {cit-vax,elroy,psivax}!devvax!garyf Arpa: devvax!garyf@cit-vax.ARPA -or- garyf@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV -- Gary Friedman Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA. 91109 (818) 354-0410 Uucp: {cit-vax,elroy,psivax}!devvax!garyf Arpa: devvax!garyf@cit-vax.ARPA -or- garyf@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV