Symbol Series 3800, Reference Manual

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5-9
Operating the Series 3800
Keyboard Speed
If your application program allows it, the characters may be set to appear faster or slower.
Refer to the Series 3000 Application Programmer's Manual for more information.
Keyboard States
The keyboard states are listed below, in the order in which they take priority:
Unshifted
Alpha
Shifted
Function
Control
Momentary and Locked States
Each keyboard state is either momentary or locked. A momentary state lasts for only the
following keystroke. A locked state lasts until the activator key is pressed again.
Only one momentary state can be active at a time. Momentary states always take priority
over locked states. If you press several momentary state keys in a row, the system changes to
the state of the last key pressed. For example, if you press SHF, then CTRL, the terminal
enters the CONTROL state.
If you press a momentary state key twice in a row, the system enters the state and then cancels
it. For example, if you press SHF, SHF, the terminal is shifted and then immediately unshifted.
If the terminal is programmed for it, the cursor character displays an up caret (^) in the
ALPHA state and a down caret (
ÿ
) for the UNSHIFTED state. When batteries are low, the
cursor changes. See Keyboard State Cursor Formats in Table 5-2.
When an operator ends a momentary state (by toggling it off or by completing the key
sequence), the system returns the keyboard to the last active locked state.
The ALPHA key activates the locked state. The CTRL, SHF, and FUNC keys activate a
momentary state.
Note: Pressing the FUNC key does not clear the last momentary state.
However, pressing another momentary key after FUNC clears the
FUNCTION state.