CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS
20
also programmable if you write your own shutdown utility.) The programmable
property means that the effect of a key press depends on the application. In other
words, the application program can set how a keypad driver behaves in a
keystroke of a particular key. In addition to the programmable property, the keys
can be ‘customized’, meaning that a key can be mapped to another one by
configuring the keypad driver outside the application sphere. In consequence of the
above-mentioned adaptability the keys can produce the result differing from their
default ones explained here. For further information on the key customizing, see
the section ‘Mapping Key’s Functionality onto Another’ (on page 101).
Control Keys
You typically use a
‘tab’
key and
arrow keys
in the
control key area for navigating e.g. between the
Windows CE shell segments, and for selecting some
item on menus, respectively. The arrow keys also
capture control of cursor movements in the text editing
context, whereas the ‘tab’ key advances cursor
predefined number of spaces or to the next tab stop.
The control key group also incorporates a
scan
key
(a yellow key with a barcode symbol) which is
intended, by default, to set off optically visible
identification code label reading when pressed.
In addition, the control keys include an ‘ok’ key and
an ‘esc’ key. These two keys are considered operational ones. The
‘ok’
key press
accepts or activates operation you are selecting. In the text editing context the key
advances the cursor to the next line. The
‘esc’
key press cancels the operation
being under way. Typically, as a visible effect, the key press gets a window such as
control panel applet or a window menu to disappear from the screen.
The control sphere of a
‘del’
key is limited to text editing. Using the key you
remove the last character you keyed in a text area such as an entry field. To be
precise, pressing the key deletes the previous symbol being nearest to the cursor.
Two keys are included in the control key group that cannot be obviously
considered control keys. These are the keys marked with a
‘square’
and a
‘circle’
symbol. The ‘square’ and ‘circle’ keys are designed for the special needs of a
business application. However, as to the ‘square’ key, the keypad is customized by
default, meaning that the ‘square’ key is mapped onto a toggle of the touch screen
input method (SIP_TOGGLE) as a factory default. You can find this key
customization (as well as change it, if need be) on the ‘Mappings’ tab in a NID
Keypad control panel applet by selecting ‘Square’ in the Key field.
