Programming Enhanced Keyboards

Monday, January 5, 2009 at 10:14 AM Posted by S Lem

The big advantage of an enhanced keyboard is that each key can reproduce any sequence of alphanumeric characters and functions on a standard keyboard. This of course means that the user has the ability to program each key with its sequence of characters. Most users are not sophisticated computer programmers. As a result there are several features that are desirable when programming the enhanced keyboard.

  1. All alphanumeric characters should be programmed as the character itself.
  2. There should be and easy way to enter foreign characters with accent marks.
  3. Function keys should be easy to represent.
  4. Combining Ctrl and Alt keys with any alphanumeric or function key needs to be simple.
  5. The start and end of a command needs to be easy and clear.
  6. There should be a program available to simplify the programming of the keyboard.
  7. Downloading the program into the keyboard needs to be easy and intuitive.

?Let's look at each of these features in turn.The first two features work in conjunction and are self explanatory. Keep it simple sweetie.When programming a function keys they need to be intuitive. Two examples are <ctrl>for the control key, <tab>for the tab key. This makes creating a control function as simple as typing <ctrl>E or <alt>F7. </alt></ctrl></tab></ctrl>Some function keys on a keyboard remain in effect until they are struck a second time to toggle them off. One example is the Caps Lock. The same command that toggles Caps Lock on should toggle it off.To aid in quickly entering the key sequences a word processor especially written to enter the command needs to be available. The program needs to create a function by simply pressing the key. For example to enter the function F5 press the F5 key.Finally, no matter how simple the programming of the keyboard is the program needs to be downloaded into the keyboard. A simple to use program needs to be included with the keyboard for downloading. It also needs to check for coding errors.
Philip Kidder has worked with computers for over 35 years. He has worked in government as a programmer, in computer sales and as programmer and consultant to both business and individuals.

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