DOS ain't dead

International keyboard support (Developers)

posted by bretjohn  , Rio Rancho, NM, 13.02.2023, 15:35

> > There are also some keyboard that have multiple "modes" they can be in.
> it's not 'multiple'. it's 2: 'translated to local' and 'completely
> transparent or no translation at all'.
>
> and this mode is questionable via INT whatever.

It is INT 2F.AD85, and is supported by later versions the PC-DOS KEYB program. AFAIK it was never supported by MS-DOS KEYB. The FD-KEYB program by Aitor does support it but it works a little differently than the PC-DOS version. The FD-KEYB program has way more than 2 "modes" (sub-mappings). The KEYB programs from other DOS clones may support it also (like DR-DOS or PTS-DOS), but I'm not sure.

> > Again, some keyboard drivers
> > provide a way to do that and others don't.
> then 'others' are buggy. what's the problem?

The problem is that sometimes other programs (not KEYB) need to know what the current keyboard mapping and/or sub-mapping is in order to work properly (automatically) without requiring manual intervention from the user. When a KEYB program doesn't identify itself to other programs the user must do it themselves and they shouldn't need to do that.

> > And there's also the problem of "custom" keyboard layouts that don't
> follow
> > any particular widely recognized "standard". There are also keyboard
> > layouts that are available in, e.g., a Windows command prompt that have
> > never had a DOS equivalent made.
>
> it's not such a big deal to create your own keyboard layout.

Creating a custom keyboard layout is not a big deal, but having it automatically be able to notify other programs that may need to know what it's doing can be a very big deal.

Complete thread:

• International keyboard support - mbbrutman, 21.01.2023, 21:44
  • International keyboard support - marcov, 22.01.2023, 14:19
  • International keyboard support - tom, 22.01.2023, 18:06
  • International keyboard support - Laaca, 22.01.2023, 21:55
    • International keyboard support - mbbrutman, 22.01.2023, 22:46
      • International keyboard support - Laaca, 23.01.2023, 00:20
      • International keyboard support - bretjohn, 23.01.2023, 18:12
        • International keyboard support - mbbrutman, 23.01.2023, 23:51
          • International keyboard support - bretjohn, 24.01.2023, 21:10
        • International keyboard support - tom, 12.02.2023, 18:39
          • International keyboard support - bretjohn, 13.02.2023, 15:35
            • International keyboard support - tom, 13.02.2023, 18:36
              • International keyboard support - bretjohn, 14.02.2023, 04:51
            • International keyboard support - tkchia, 13.02.2023, 20:13
              • International keyboard support - bretjohn, 14.02.2023, 05:05
      • International keyboard support - tom, 14.02.2023, 12:17
        • International keyboard support - tom, 15.02.2023, 13:19
          • International keyboard support - marcov, 15.02.2023, 18:14
            • International keyboard support - tom, 15.02.2023, 21:31
              • International keyboard support - mbbrutman, 18.02.2023, 03:17
                • International keyboard support - Aitor, 06.03.2023, 01:09