SECTION H FILE INTRO.H THE BASIC KEYBOARD ****************** THE PCW 8000 BASIC KEYBOARD It is not my intention here to show you =========================== how to use the keyboard; I expect you know how to do that already, whether at 80 words per minute or search and peck with two fingers like me. However, the keyboard works differently in LOCOSCRIPT, CP/M and BASIC and I want to draw your attention to aspects of the keyboard when in MALLARD BASIC configuration which may not be immediately apparent. Much of the keyboard operates in the same way as a standard QWERTY typewriter keyboard. We see the standard arrangement of letters and numbers, and several familiar keys, such as SHIFT, SHIFT LOCK and TAB on the left-hand side and SHIFT and RETURN (carriage) at the right-hand side of the standard keys. There are, however, a number of keys which may not be familiar and some of those on the right-hand side which are labelled as dedicated word processor keys, may have a different use in BASIC. Let me now reveal the inner mysteries of the keyboard, starting with an examination of some of the individual keys. The ALT and EXTRA keys are used, with character keys (numbers, letters etc.) in the same way as the SHIFT key to produce still more characters, and these are further enhanced by combining SHIFT+ALT. These extra characters are showh in the BASIC program which follows this file. ALT In addition to producing these extra characters the ALT key === doubles as the CONTROL key found on the keyboard of many other computers. It can be used with some letter keys to generate CONTROL CODES which instruct the computer in various actions. On the PCW keyboard most of the codes useful to BASIC have been duplicated by a single dedicated key, which makes operation a lot easier. The table below shows a shortlist of codes and the dedicated keys. KEY COMBINATION/ CODE / DEDICATED KEY / ACTION =================================================================== ALT+A / CONTROL A / Left cursor (arrow) key /moves cursor left; or /copies previous line ALT+F / CONTROL F / Right cursor (arrow)key /moves cursor right ALT+C / CONTROL C / STOP /stops program ALT+I / CONTROL I / TAB /jumps cursor to right ALT+G / CONTROL G / DEL| /deletes to right ALT+U / CONTROL U / CUT /deletes to end of line ALT+M / CONTROL M / RETURN /Carriage return ALT+V / CONTROL V / + /insert/overstrike edit ALT+S / CONTROL S / f5 /control screen scrolling ==================================================================== Control codes are used in CP/M and their obvious use in BASIC is minimal because one would normally use the dedicated keys. I introduce them here simply to illustrate that the CONTROL key thatyou may find mentioned in magazines or books is labelled ALT on the PCW. If you are interested, look up CONTROL CHARACTERS in the index of your manual. [+] Key (immediate left of space bar) This key toggles between the =================================== insert and overstrike method of adding characters during editing. It also changes the parameters of printing. (See PTR key) [-] Key (immediate right of space bar) Used with [+] key and PTR key ==================================== PTR (Printer) When pressed this key displays the current printer ============= status in a line along the bottom of the screen. It can be altered by using the cursor keys to highlight the option to be changed then pressing [+] or [-] keys as required. Pressing the [+] key when the RESET is highlighted will cause all printer parameters to return to their standard (default) condition, but be careful, because this will affect parameters not shown on the line, such as paper length, italic etc. If this key is pressed whilst the printer is operating, the printer will stop. This is good to know if the printer is chewing up the paper ! EXIT Pressing the EXIT key clears the printer status line from ====== the screen , and if appropriate, starts or restarts the printer. Also like the ALT key, the EXIT key has another name on most other computers, where it would be called the ESCAPE key, although it doesn't work quite the same as an ESC key in MALLARD BASIC. FUNCTION KEYS f1 to f8 These have no immediate use in BASIC except ====================== for f5, which controls screen scrolling (CONTROL S). Because of this they are useful keys to make into dedicated keys for common BASIC commands. This is discussed in the very last section of the course. CAN,COPY,PASTE,PAGE,PARA,EOL,CHAR Not used ============================================ FIND Press twice to send the cursor to the end of a line whilst ==== editing CUT Delete to end of line during editing.( Two presses ). === ENTER Same as RETURN ===== ARROW KEYS Cursor control ========== SPECIAL KEY COMBINATIONS ========================== 1) ALT + RELAY Pressing these two keys together changes a group of keys at the righthand side, including the arrow keys, to a numeric keypad. Pressing ALT+RELAY again returns to normal 2) ALT + ENTER Pressing these two keys together locks the letters into capitals, but retains the numbers. 3) SHIFT + EXTRA + EXIT .... BE CAREFUL This resets the computer. End of file INTRO.H  SHIFT + EXTRA + EXIT .... BE CAREFUL This resets the computer.