Computing for the Bewildered.
 By Bill Hayles

The Keyboard - Part 1
=====================

Hello again.  As I said previously, for the next few weeks I'll be
concentrating on the absolute basics of computing - for the truly
bewildered, and where better to start than the keyboard.  This week,
I'll concentrate on the basics - producing text on the screen, and also
using the  keyboard to instruct the computer.  Next time, I'll be
looking at more advanced tricks to produce much more than the
characters on your keyboard.

There are many different keyboard layouts for the PC, usually, but not
always, being associated with a specific country.  For that reason, we
shall assume a Spanish layout keyboard.  Unlike, for example, French
and German keyboards, the UK and Spanish layouts both conform to the
traditional “qwerty” layout in the arrangement of the main keys.  This
makes changing from one to the other a comparatively easy exercise. 
The Spanish keyboard is a more versatile instrument than its UK
counterpart, which is why I recommend the use of it even if you don't
speak a word of Spanish!

There are many minor variations in layout even amongst keyboards
nominally of the same country, and this is particularly true of laptops.
Your keyboard may well have differences from the standard layout I'm
describing.

Terminology.
============

There are four blocks of keys.

The function keys, F1 to F12, along the top row (also, usually, the
escape key). The main block, at the left, containing letters numbers
and a few others. The action block, to the right of the main block. The
number pad, at the right, which contains duplicates of keys found
elsewhere.

The keys themselves can be divided into five main types.

Character keys.
These are the keys that, when pressed, will place a character on the
screen - press the “a” and the letter a appears.  If you keep a key
pressed down too long, it will repeat, so instead of a single a you
will get a whole line of aaaaaaaaas.  If this happens to you, you will
need to learn to tap a key rather than pressing and holding.

Alternative keys.
These, the Shift, Caps Lock, Control, Alt and Alt-Gr keys, change the
character associated with a character key, or the function of a
function key.

Function keys.  
These are programmable by the software author to carry out a specific
action, and you often need to read the software instructions to find
out what they are.  However, there is a recognised set of function key
actions  - for example pressing the F1 key almost always initiates some
sort of help system.

Sticky (or lock or toggle) keys.
There are three of these - Caps lock, Scroll lock, and number pad lock.
You press them once to turn them on - a light will show on the top
right of the keyboard - and again to turn them off.

Action keys.
These, the keys between the main block and the number pad, move your
position on the screen (or in a document).

Some keys cannot be categorised; these are dealt with individually.

The Main Block.
==============

Most of the keys in the main block are character keys - letters,
numbers and punctuation.  Press one and a character appears on the
screen.  What the character is depends not only on the key pressed, but
what, if any, alternative key is pressed. A character key pressed on
its own will produce the lower case letter in the case of a letter key,
or the lower character of the other keys.  If a key has three
characters on it, such as some of the number keys, it is the lower left
character which appears. The big key on the bottom row is the space bar.
Press that and a space appears.

To get a capital letter, or the upper character, you first need to
press the shift key.  There are two of these, one each side of the
bottom row of letters, usually with an upward facing arrow on them.
They are equal; the reason there are two is to assist touch typists. So,
to get an “A”, press and hold down a shift key,  tap the “a” key  and
release the shift key.  If you wish to produce a series of CAPITALS you
can continue to hold the shift key down whilst typing the letters; the
same applies, should the need arise,  to the upper characters on the
other keys.

Another way of producing A SERIES OF  CAPITALS is the Caps Lock key to
the left (usually) of the A key and marked “Bloq Mayús” in Spanish.
This is a sticky key.  Press it (and release it) and from then on all
letters will appear as CAPITALS.  However, it ONLY works on the 28
letters (26 for a UK keyboard).  It has NO effect on any other keys;
for example to produce the $, you must press and hold the shift key
down whilst tapping the 4 key, even with the Caps Lock on.  When the
Caps Lock is on, a light will shine (the middle one of the three) at
the top right of the keyboard. When you wish to return to normal, press
the Caps Lock again and the light will go out.

Some keys have three characters on them.  To get the third character,
the lower right, you need to use the Alternative Graphics key,
abbreviated both on Spanish and UK layouts to AltGr, and to be found to
the right of the space bar. Please be aware that the key the other side
of the space bar, the Alt key, is NOT a duplicate.  They have very
different functions. So, to get the # which I've just typed, I pressed
and held down the AltGr key, tapped the “3” and released the AltGr. The
US layout keyboard doesn't make use of the AltGr key at all (which is
why it's confusing to read keyboard tutorials written for the US) and
the UK layout uses it for just one character - the | found on the key
next to the “1”, the only UK layout key with three characters.

Some keys on the main block I'll leave for now, but at this stage we
should mention the large odd shaped key with an arrow pointing down
then left to be found on the right above the shift key.  This is
the“Enter” key often, but incorrectly, referred to as the “Return” key.
When you are typing, this will work as the carriage return on a
traditional typewriter, moving down one line and to the left hand
margin, but it's other important use is as a confirming key - often you
will need to confirm to the computer that you wish to do something
-“OK". The Enter key is how you do it. Above the Enter key is the
backspace or “rubout” key; it has a left facing arrow.  The action this
performs can vary, but in general, it erases the character to the left
of the cursor (the cursor marks where you're working on the screen) and
the resultant gap is filled by everything being moved up one character.
If you're an inaccurate typist, the backspace key is your friend.  You
didn't think I typed this in 100% correctly first time round, did you?

The Function Keys.
=================

Along the top of the keyboard are the twelve function keys, marked F1
to F12.  These do not have any pre-ordained meaning - they are for the
author of any software  to program.  However, certain standard uses for
these keys have developed by custom and practice, and it is usual for
pressing the F1 key to invoke some sort of help system.  Similarly, F5
usually redraws your screen, useful when browsing the web, and F7
invokes a spellcheck. Just to make life more interesting, there are
actually 48 functions, because the use of an Alternative key (Shift,
Alt or Control) in combination with a function key performs a
completely different action.  Probably the best known is Alt-F4 (hold
the Alt key down, press F4, release the Alt key) to close a program.
The other key on that row, at the very top left, is the Escape key.
This usually has the meaning “get me out of here” and is the first port
of call when things seem to be going wrong, or you wish to cancel an
action in progress.

On some keyboards, three of the action keys are located to the right of
F12.  We'll deal with these in a minute.

The Action Keys
===============

The arrangement of these keys, to the right of the main block, can vary
considerably. There is a bottom set of four, in the shape of an
inverted T, each with a directional arrow on it.  These are the cursor
keys.  On the screen there will always be some sort of symbol, usually
flashing, to show your current position.  When you are working with
text, this will normally be a flashing vertical bar.  The cursor keys
are used to move the cursor around the screen, so that you can work in
a different place.  They can also be used as a mouse substitute,
although it's slow and painful.  The cursor keys can be used in
combination with the alternative keys for various purposes beyond the
scope of this article.

Above the cursor keys are three keys marked, from left to right, “Supr”,
Fin” and “Av. Pág” or Delete, End and Page Down.  Above those another
three marked “Insert”, “Inicio” and “RePág”, or Insert, Home and Page
Up. The top three, sometimes next to the function keys, are “Impr Pant
Pet Sis”, “Bloq Despl” and “Pausa Inter”,  or Print Screen System
Request, Scroll Lock and Pause Break.  We will ignore these for now.

The Number Pad
==============

If you wish, you can, at this stage ignore the number pad altogether.
Except for one specialist operation, it merely duplicates keys found
elsewhere for the benefit, mainly, of those who need to key in lots of
figures.  For those keys on the number pad which have an action and a
number, the numbers apply if the NumLock light (above) is on, toggled
by the “Bloq Num” key.  If the light is off, the action (i.e. cursor
key) alternative applies.

That's all for today.  Next time we'll look at some keys in more detail,
and also some "tricks of the trade". If you have any questions about
this column, please e-mail them to questions@billnot.com. I have
various website for different topics, all of which can be reached from
http://billnot.com.  My general e-mail address is billnot@billnot.com
If you have been, thanks for reading this.