Subject: Re: terminology

From: "Alain LaBont/e'/" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 08:42:34 -0400

At 16:46 15/07/1996 EDT, [email-masked] wrote:
>To: LaBont<e'>, Alain  <[email-masked]>
>
>From: C.Y.Alexis Cheng,     National Language Technical Centre                 
>IBM Mail: CAIB2499 at IBMMAIL    Internet: [email-masked]                 
>( )IBM Confidential  (x)Unclassified                                           
>Subject: terminology                                                           
>
>Bonjour Alain,                                                                 
>
>If the "Shift" key is now known as "Level 2 Select" in ISO-speak,              
>would the "unshift" status of the keyboard be called "Level 1 Select",         
>and the "Alt" key called "Level 3 Select"?                                     
>
>Please advise on the correct terminology...Merci.                              
>
>A la prochaine...Alexis                                                        

No selection is necessary to directly access level 1 (if we exclude the
tolerance - marginal - of the bad practice to select it in CapsLock with
level 2 select!), so the status of this state is just Level 1 (Niveau 1).

Alt is not Level 3 Select, these are 2 different functions, implemented in
fact with two keys (which just happen to have the same function on most
American keyboards only -- on some keyboards there are 2 Alt keys and 2
Level 3 Select keys for better ergonomy on each side of the space bar).

Here is the proper terminology of some common functions, according to
ISO/IEC 9995-7 (there are others, see the standard, also for descriptions):

English                 français              

Level 2 Select          Sélection du niveau 2
Level 3 Select          Sélection du niveau 3
Capitals Lock           Blocage en capitales
Numeric Lock            Blocage numérique
Level 3 Select          Sélection du niveau 3
Group Select            Sélection de groupe
Insert                  Insertion
Backward Erase          Effacement arrière
Delete                  Suppression
Scrolling               Défilement
Print Screen            Impression de l'écran
Return (New Line)       Retour (changement de ligne)
Enter                   Validation
Alternate               Alternative
Break (Current Action)  Interruption (de l'action en cours)
Escape                  Échappement
Undo                    Renoncement
Previous Page           Page précédente
Next page               Page suivante
Compose Character       Composition de caractère

etc.

Zai jiàn!

Alain LaBonté