Subject: Re: (i18n.372) 9995 keyboard std

From: Alain LaBonté - SCT <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 09:48:45 -0400

A 20:19 97-09-27 +0200, Keld J|rn Simonsen a écrit :
>Alain LaBonté - SCT writes:
>
>> Level 3 is a position on a key (of a computer keyboard) accessible by
>> depressing a "level 3 select" key (also known as AltGr on European-type or
>> Canadian-type keyboards). "Level 2 select" keys are the traditional "Shift"
>> keys, although the term "select" is deprecated as there is no longer any
>> physical shift of a mechanism (and there is also a problem in other
>> languages as well, and a problem with the "other shift", the "level 3
shift").

[Keld :
>Some questions to prove I have understood things correctly about 9995:
>Is there a way to address an altGr+shift key?

[Alain] :
AltGr is called "Level 3 Select". Shift is called 'Level 2 Select".

That said, this combination is not disallowed although not standarized and
there is no plan to standardize it.

Group select is another concept to extend the keyboard. Now how you do the
group select is not standardized and left so far to the implementor.

[Keld] :
>Is there a way to address a control key and what is its name?

[Alain] :
There can be a key called "Control key", but its location is not
standardized firmly.

[Keld] :
>Can you address a control-altGr-shift key?

[Alain] :
This is not very ergonomic but you are not disallowed to do whetever you
want outside of the realm of the standard.

A way to extend a keyboard, though, is to use a Group Select mechanism, the
method by which it is activated being so far left to the implementor.

As a guideline, the easiest method I've seen to select a group is using the
same key as the <RightCtrl> of an IBM keyboard to select a group. That is
the method used with my keyboard, which also shows the <Group Select>
function symbol on this key. This is not universal though as some terminal
emulator programs use this key to do an < Enter>. That's why I have an
alternative method on my keyboard: <Level 3 Select>+<Right Level 2 Select>. 

Once in group 2, I still have 2 levels to play with, in addition to the 3
levels of Group 1. Eventually a group could be defined with up to 3 levels
like in a normal Group 1 (Group 1=national layout).

A group can be self-defined as latching (another script would be of this
nature) or non-latching (a group dedicated to enter dead keys used in
conjunction with another group is of this nature).

Alain LaBonté
Québec