Explaining My Modest Idea

[quadibloc]

It may be a few months before I have several hundred dollars scraped together to go for this myself, if it costs that much (which it may)...

Some time back, I noted the following facts:

Unicomp makes buckling spring terminal keyboards with the U.S. layout, but with a 102nd key added to the numeric keypad;

they do customize controllers as a relatively standard thing, although they do not offer dynamically user-programmable keyboards; and

just one extra key is enough to do a lot.

But a picture is worth a thousand words, and I may not have described clearly the kind of keyboard I'm thinking of that would at least appeal to me, and which may appeal to some others.



The first diagram illustrates the part of the idea that will be useful to the most people.

The unchangeable "master key" which is used as a shift key in combination with one of the function keys to pick a keyboard layout replaces Scroll Lock.

In the most basic arrangement, shown in the top of the image, Scroll Lock is moved to the extra key on the numeric keypad, to the right of Num Lock. Except for that, everything else is the same.

The middle arrangement shows what is likely to be the most popular setting for this keyboard, though. The Caps Lock key becomes the Ctrl key, of which there is only one. The two former Ctrl keys become the Windows Shift key (only one, again, on the left side) and the Windows Menu key.

So in this mode, the keyboard is up to date!

The key to the left of the Num Lock key is now the Fn key for this keyboard.

The bottom diagram shows how it can be used to shift the Print Screen key into Caps Lock, the Pause/Break key into Scroll Lock, and the Esc key into the extra key from non-U.S. keyboards.

Not shown is how it could also be used to shift the twelve function keys from F1 through F12 to have Internet and multimedia functions, such as are found on extra tiny buttons on so many keyboards these days. (It is even possible to do what Logitech has done, and make the multimedia functions the unshifted function, and use the Fn key to use the keys as function keys, since, with the mouse, the function keys aren't used as much these days. Since only three of a possible 12 keyboard layouts are defined, though, why not have both choices?)

And now, for true geeks, this image below illustrates the third mode of operation which makes this keyboard genuinely universal:



A 122-key keyboard doesn't have an Esc key, so we make that our Fn key.

It doesn't have the three key grouping Print Screen, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break. Scroll Lock is already spoken for: it's our master key that is used to choose the layout. Print Screen takes the place of the extra key between Z and the left-hand shift key, and Pause/Break takes the place of the extra key in the center of the cursor cluster.

The Fn key turns F1 through F12 into F13 through F24. It also turns the numeric keys at the top of the keyboard into the special keys in the old F1 through F10 positions.

The idea is that in this mode it will operate like a Host Connected Keyboard, not like the PC/5250 keyboard, so as to work with software that demands a "real" 122-key keyboard.

Since it requires no retooling (except perhaps new keycaps), I think this is a possible dream. Comments?

[quadibloc]

I've just learned that my pipe dream is no longer possible to achieve!

Now, according to

http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/3153terminal.html

the 3153 terminal keyboards from Unicomp, resembling a Model M though they may, are built with a "sturdy rubber dome technology". So the hardware tooling basis on which I thought a near-ideal keyboard could be made has, sadly, been lost.

EDIT: It turns out this was only the discount $69.00 3153 terminal keyboard; they still make this style of keyboard for $89.00 with one's choice of technologies, including buckling spring, for the 3151 and others. Whew!

[Rajagra]

I would imagine that programming in extra modes/layers is a fairly simple process, relative to all the other things a keyboard controller has to do (debouncing, avoiding ghost keys, working out which keys have changed, converting to PS/2 or USB protocol, etc.)

Maybe Unicomp should consider doing something along these lines for themselves to secure their position as provider to a niche market.

[quadibloc]

I was looking at their site some more, and found that the only keyboard which normally comes with a pre-programmable controller is their space saver, the one with the Windows keys. It could be that to accomodate the Windows keys, the matrix of the keyboard is completely different, and, of course, there could be rollover problems with trying to use the Esc key or the Scroll Lock key as shift keys. So there may be many potential obstacles, sadly...

[Xuan]

What're you using to draw those diagrams? I like them.

[quadibloc]

What're you using to draw those diagrams? I like them.

Just Paintbrush, from Windows 3.1... then another program to convert the images to GIF and change the color palette.

Because when something is pasted, the background color is transparent in that program, it's easy to build up complicated diagrams with repeated elements.

Given that the space saver keyboard is the programmable one, I devoted some thought to the modern arrangement with Windows keys:



This diagram highlights three keys that might be vulnerable to being repurposed without too much problem. The little-used Scroll Lock key, the much-maligned Caps Lock key, and the right-hand Windows shift key, since Microsoft itself is making keyboards these days with only one Windows shift key, which would seem to indicate we should not have to worry about future software distinguishing between the two.

Given that the right-hand Windows shift key is a shift key, this means that making it the Fn key would avoid any matrix ghosting issues!

In the normal mode, Fn would only be needed to get Scroll Lock, should it be needed. But since the Fn key doesn't move, maybe Scroll Lock should be left alone; we could now use the Fn key for switching layouts.

When switching to its one alternate mode, 122-key keyboard mode, the Esc key could become the foreign-language key from between Z and left shift, the Print Screen key could become the middle key of the cursor cluster, and the Pause/Break key could replace the extra key which we now don't have in the numeric keypad, as we're using a PC keyboard and not a terminal keyboard.

Thus, the Fn key is still only needed for PF13 - PF24 and the ten keys on the left.

[InSanCen]

...the right-hand Windows shift key, since Microsoft itself is making keyboards these days with only one Windows shift key, which would seem to indicate we should not have to worry about future software distinguishing between the two.

Given M$'s track record on many things, I would bet there is a fair chance that the software arm has no idea what the hardware arm of the corporation is doing. I would be wary of that one myself, if I used windows for any appreciable time.