Re: ISIRI 2901 to Unicode map

From: Michael \(michka\) Kaplan (michka@trigeminal.com)
Date: Sat Aug 03 2002 - 17:13:53 EDT


From: "Doug Ewell" <dewell@adelphia.net>

> The shift states ("levels") are also identified: Level
> 1 is the normal state, Level 2 is the Shift state, and Level 3 is the
> AltGr or Ctrl+Alt state. (There isn't supposed to be a "Level 4,"
> corresponding to Shift+AltGr, but many systems provide one.)

Although the Ctrl and Ctrl+Shfit states are not recommended, they are
allowed by Windows for people are using the DDK to develop a keyboard
layout.

And Shift+AltGr is definitely used by many keyboards.

> The nice thing about ISO 9995 nomenclature is that you can refer
> unambiguously to, say, the "B01" key instead of calling it the "Z" key
> and confusing your French and German users. The disadvantages are that
> the system is not familiar or convenient to many people, especially end
> users -- quick, what key is at C07? -- plus there are some keys that may
> appear in different physical locations, such as the (U.S.) backslash/
> vertical bar key, which may be found at D13, C12, or even B00.

I am not sure I see this as any better or worse than the system that the DDK
uses which refers to keys by their virtual key numbers -- VK_A has the
advantage of being meaningful to anyone who has an English keyboard, and for
those who do not they are not any worse off than they would be with an
arbitrary system.

Sometimes people go a bit too far to prove they are not English-centric. :-)

I do not know much about ISO 9995 -- but does it have a nomenclature for
ligatures? And does it have one for dead keys?

How about the "SGCAPS" functionality found in the Windows Swiss German and
Czech keyboards?

MichKa

Michael Kaplan
Trigeminal Software, Inc. -- http://www.trigeminal.com/



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