^X (was: an odd question

From: Bill Pechter <pechter_at_bg-tc-ppp1225.monmouth.com>
Date: Sat Aug 11 19:10:20 2001

> Paul Williams skrev:
>
> >Iggy Drougge wrote:
> >>
> >> >> I'll also often use ^[ for ESC.
> >>
> >> >A must when using DEC keyboards with "vi".
> >>
> >> Why not use the F10 or F11 key?
>
> >F11 only generates raw ESC in VT100 mode, which has other drawbacks.
>
> What was DEC's logic behind the exclusion of a proper escape key?

The use of ESC [ for ANSI CRT control use was pretty hard for some
people to code for relying on time between characters and all...

So they tried to discourage the use of ESCAPE for anything other than
cursor control.

They did include it on the keyboard -- just made it less than useful for
touch typists. (and vi Unix users...>

Some folks used to use Control-S in their software which also was a
bitch to deal with on DEC terminals and printers. (emacs? WS -- i know>


Bill

-- 
  Bill Gates is a Persian cat and a monocle away from being a 
  villain in a James Bond movie              -- Dennis Miller 
  bpechter_at_shell.monmouth.com|pechter_at_pechter.dyndns.org
Received on Sat Aug 11 2001 - 19:10:20 BST

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