Re: U2

[Robert Holmgren holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to note from xywrite@xxxxxxxx Mon, 12 Jun 2000 15:45:31 +0000


>> It seems to me that that's a recipe for real trouble. 
>> I'd put it on any key, or key combination, *except* one of the basic "shifting"
>> keys defined in your KBD file, e.g. CTRL, ALT, SHIFT, etc. XyWrite really
>> doesn't want you to assign anything to any of those keys in their pure form
>> -- they are intended to be used only in combination with other keys. Don't do
>> it.

> I disagree, Robert. I've assigned various standalone
> functions to these keys, without any ill effect.

Those are two different things. Of course you _can_ do it; whether you have ill
effects or not depends on your habits, I guess. For example, suppose you want
to issue Alt-F10, and you happen to hit F10 a nanosecond before Alt
-- the effect is to issue Alt by itself. The same thing happens if you hit
them simultaneously, as this test program, assigned to Alt, proves:

<>"">+1>

But my point was XyQuest's "intent": if they had intended you to use
those keys standalone, they wouldn't have assigned a 3-byte NUL to every one of
them, in every factory-issue KBD file for the PC. I think it's because
they intend shifting keys to be inert by themselves, & used
simply to branch to the real instruction. Makes good sense to me.

But -- to each his own (hopefully nobody will point out that that's the
beauty of XyWrite)...

-----------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
-----------