v053qgzj@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (David M Snyderman) (03/22/91)
I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four years? Dave
tabu6@CCVAX.IASTATE.EDU (Adam Goldberg) (03/22/91)
In article <66886@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>, v053qgzj@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (David M Snyderman) writes: >I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use >for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is >there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four >years? > >Dave Of course there is, Dave! IBM wouldn't just put something there for no reason! It's used in conjunction with the SYS REQ key, on particular applications, when using MS-DOS (not PC-DOS) 3.1415927, and you hit SYS REQ when scroll lock is ON, you get an extra special menu that opens up whole new worlds of PC-based applications! Uh huh. Actually, Lotus 1-2-3's scrolling manner changes when you have scroll lock on/off, ie, it is possible to sense whether scroll lock is on or off, but nobody ever did anything with it (because it was a lame idea, thanks, Big Blue) Adam PS: Apologies, just call me facitious. Flames=/dev/null; +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + Adam Goldberg Bitnet: tabu6@ISUVAX.BITNET + + Iowa State University Internet: tabu6@CCVAX.IASTATE.EDU + + H: (515) 233-5135 + "It's simple! Even a Pascal programmer could do it!" + +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
CTuna@cup.portal.com (Don S Gladden) (03/22/91)
I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four years? Heh... I'm glad SOMEBODY asked about that before me.. it has been bugging me, too! Anyone ?????
v053qgzj@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (David M Snyderman) (03/22/91)
In article <40442@cup.portal.com>, CTuna@cup.portal.com (Don S Gladden) writes... >I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use >for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is >there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four >years? (my original question) > >Heh... I'm glad SOMEBODY asked about that before me.. it has been bugging >me, too! Anyone ????? Ok-- I got a quick E-mail response on this-- here is also another response somewhere before this on the board. Scroll lock has something to do with the scrolling of the original Lotus Windows. Whoop dee doo. In other words, I may have been missing the boat-- but not on scroll lock. I guess the next thing we have to do is find a way to put that piece of plastic to work. No reason to let it freeload on the keyboard! Dave David M. Snyderman V053QGZJ@UBVMSB
cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) (03/23/91)
In article <1991Mar22.011729.4929@news.iastate.edu> tabu6@CCVAX.IASTATE.EDU writes: >Actually, Lotus 1-2-3's scrolling manner changes when you have scroll lock >on/off, ie, it is possible to sense whether scroll lock is on or off, but >nobody ever did anything with it (because it was a lame idea, thanks, Big Blue) Actually, it's not such a lame idea. It's just that IBM, in their infinite wisdom, realized that it made better sense to assign the "scroll lock" function to the CTRL/NUMLOCK sequence. Can't you see the logic in that? -- ----------------------------------------------------- Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us Disclaimer: Yeah, I said it. So what?
raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) (03/23/91)
In article <67011@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>, v053qgzj@ubvmsb (David M Snyderman) writes: >Scroll lock has something to do with the scrolling of the >original Lotus Windows. Talk about confusing the effect with the cause... IBM introduced `scroll lock' to allow an application to give the arrow keys an additional level of meaning, namely to control scrolling. Lotus 1-2-3 is one of the more popular programs that use it for this purpose. (Borland's SideKick also uses it.) Most applications, however, blithely ignore the `scroll lock' key and use some other nonstandard way of controlling scrolling. Lotus certainly didn't invent `scroll lock'; in fact, it could be argued that Lotus was just `following the rules'. `Scroll lock' turned out to be a standard that never caught on. Such is life.
dth@cs.brown.edu (Dzung T. Hoang) (03/23/91)
In article <40442@cup.portal.com> CTuna@cup.portal.com (Don S Gladden) writes: >I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use >for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is >there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four >years? > >Heh... I'm glad SOMEBODY asked about that before me.. it has been bugging >me, too! Anyone ????? There is a TSR that exists just to make the SCROLL LOCK key useful. It is called SCROLOCK or something similar. Anyway, the TSR lets you use the key to (guessed it yet?) pause the screen before scrolling begins, if the scroll lock light is on, of course. This is useful for viewing a long directory, for instance. The program is pretty smart about when to pause the screen, but I have found no need for it, so it's no longer in my system. I believe it was posted to comp.binaries.ibm.pc some time ago. If not, it should be at simtel.arpa. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dzung T. Hoang dth@cs.brown.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
wbl@plague.Berkeley.EDU (Wen-Po Bobby Lee) (03/24/91)
>>I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use >>for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is >>there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four >>years? >> The only times I ever use that key is when I need to send a Ctrl-Break on my standard XT keyboard. Of course, it would have made more sense to print "Break" on the top and "Scroll Lock" on the bottom side (or not at all). Perhaps, as somenone has already mentioned, IBM thought "Scroll Lock" goes better with "Num Lock". Kansei (sp) engineering? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the University nor any of its affiliates. -wbl@ocf.berkeley.edu
c60b-1eq@web-1f.berkeley.edu (Noam Mendelson) (03/24/91)
In article <1991Mar23.182625.19132@agate.berkeley.edu> wbl@plague.Berkeley.EDU (Wen-Po Bobby Lee) writes: >>>I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use >>>for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is >>>there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four >>>years? >The only times I ever use that key is when I need to send a Ctrl-Break on my >standard XT keyboard. Of course, it would have made more sense to print >"Break" on the top and "Scroll Lock" on the bottom side (or not at all). >Perhaps, as somenone has already mentioned, IBM thought "Scroll Lock" goes >better with "Num Lock". Kansei (sp) engineering? Indeed...But on the extended keyboards, Num Lock is its own key grouped with the numeric keypad, a new "Pause" key is put in Num Lock's old spot, Ctrl-Pause becomes break, and Scroll Lock is left by itself. _Then_ you notice how useless it really is. +==========================================================================+ | Noam Mendelson ..!agate!ucbvax!web!c60b-1eq | "I haven't lost my mind, | | c60b-1eq@web.Berkeley.EDU | it's backed up on tape | | University of California at Berkeley | somewhere." |
ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Nur Iskandar Taib) (03/25/91)
>Ok-- I got a quick E-mail response on this-- here is also another response >somewhere before this on the board. Scroll lock has something to do with >the scrolling of the original Lotus Windows. Whoop dee doo. >In other words, I may have been missing the boat-- but not on scroll lock. Lotus Windows huh? Well, true, it changes that. (cursor remains in the same spot, spreadsheet scrolls by it in- stead of the other way around. Took me an hour to figure it out the first time I did it by mistake.) But other programs make use of it too. NCSA Telnet uses it to toggle to a scrollback mode (hit scrlk, then uparrow). FansiCon- sole has a switch that allows you to use it as a one button (HAHAHAHAHA) scroll lock, relacing ctrl-S crtrl-Q. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iskandar Taib | The only thing worse than Peach ala Internet: NTAIB@AQUA.UCS.INDIANA.EDU | Frog is Frog ala Peach Bitnet: NTAIB@IUBACS ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sophist@brainiac.raidernet.com (Phillip McReynolds) (03/25/91)
c60b-1eq@web-1f.berkeley.edu (Noam Mendelson) writes: > Indeed...But on the extended keyboards, Num Lock is its own key grouped with > the numeric keypad, a new "Pause" key is put in Num Lock's old spot, > Ctrl-Pause becomes break, and Scroll Lock is left by itself. _Then_ > you notice how useless it really is. > > +==========================================================================+ > | Noam Mendelson ..!agate!ucbvax!web!c60b-1eq | "I haven't lost my mind, | > | c60b-1eq@web.Berkeley.EDU | it's backed up on tape | > | University of California at Berkeley | somewhere." | Egads! With its very own light and everything! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Phillip A. McReynolds, sophist@brainiac.raidernet.com Licensed Philosopher org: Phillip's Philosophy Shop, Inc. (MPA Certified) "Quality Philosophy Products Since 1990" #include BiFF's_.sig = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
coop4y44@bwdla28.bnr.ca (Takis Skagos) (03/26/91)
I've a question about turnin off the scroll lock key in AUTOEXEC.BAT. I've seen an escape sequence used once, but I cannot remember where. If somebody knows of the sequence, could you please pass on the info. Thanks! Taki
shane@inferno.peri.com (Shane Bouslough) (03/30/91)
From article <40442@cup.portal.com>, by CTuna@cup.portal.com (Don S Gladden): > I'm just curious-- in my four years of PC usage, I have never found a use > for the scroll lock key. Are they just a leftover from mainframe days or is > there a legitimate use for them? Have I been missing the boat these past four > years? > > Heh... I'm glad SOMEBODY asked about that before me.. it has been bugging > me, too! Anyone ????? Heck, what about the `pause' key!!!! If I remember correctly, there isn't even a scan code for it! Why didn't they just label it `nop'. -- Shane Bouslough | ...!rutgers!mcdhup!inferno!shane 516-467-0500 Periphonics Corp. | 4000 Veterans Hwy. | "I've been doing it for years, Bohemia, NY 11716 | now my goal is moving near." - KaTe