fisher@sc2a.unige.ch (06/18/91)
In article <3258@krafla.rhi.hi.is>, einari@rhi.hi.is (Einar Indridason) writes: > I don't know how that ALED reads the keyboard, but it seem to me to be > something like this: > int 16h > cmp al,7fh > ja error ; Nobody uses the 8th bit, so why should I??? > .... > This is clearly the Wrong way of reading the keyboard. This is not correct. Using the swiss-french keyboard, I can enter without problem chars such as ('e), (`a), (,c) or (`e). This means that the 8-th bit is *not* masked. On the other hand, keys such as ("u) or ("a) return an error message "Macro not defined", the ("o) gets me an ascii table (this I find really funny) and (~n) displays the time in the top right corner... Even the non-US AltGr key works on some keys (@), (#), etc. The AltGr key is often confused by US software with a regular Alt... I suspect the main problem with ALED is the macro feature. I also suspect that this behavior is due to a bug with the NULL character. Any normal key returns a character between 32 and 254. Control keys and special keys like Tab return characters between 1 and 31. Shift keys return nothing, only an internal shift-state table is updated. All others return a NULL character followed by a unique code. It seems that the input routine of ALED sometimes confuses "normal" characters with an "extended" code. Another bug would be to mask the 8-th bit when checking for control characters, but this seems unlikely. BTW: the display of an ASCII table or of a clock are both mapped to Alt-keys, which makes the first therory more likely. Thus: ALED does *not* mask the 8-th bit! It *has* a serious bug involving extended codes and possibly the Alt-key, making the program useless for non-english users. Markus G. Fischer fisher@sc2a.unige.ch
einari@rhi.hi.is (Einar Indridason) (06/19/91)
In article <1991Jun18.104523.484@sc2a.unige.ch> fisher@sc2a.unige.ch writes: >This is not correct. Using the swiss-french keyboard, I can enter without >problem chars such as ('e), (`a), (,c) or (`e). This means that the 8-th >bit is *not* masked. On the other hand, keys such as ("u) or ("a) return >an error message "Macro not defined", the ("o) gets me an ascii table (this >I find really funny) and (~n) displays the time in the top right corner... Ok. So it does not mask the 8th bit. But it is still unusable to me. I lose our national characters. So it is still in the waste-basket :-) (But the fact still remains, that much *too* *many* programs *mask* the 8th bit!) -- Internet: einari@rhi.hi.is | "Just give me my command line and drag UUCP: ..!mcsun!isgate!rhi!einari | the GUIs to the waste basket!!!!" Surgeon Generals warning: Masking the 8th bit can seriously damage your brain!!