NAME

keyboard − how to type characters

DESCRIPTION

Keyboards are idiosyncratic.  It should be obvious how to type ordinary ASCII characters, backspace, tab, escape, and newline.  In Plan 9, the key labeled ­Return or ­Enter generates a newline (0x0A); if there is a key labeled ­Line Feed, it generates a carriage return (0x0D); Plan 9 eschews CRLFs.  All control characters are typed in the usual way; in particular, control-J is a line feed and control-M a carriage return.  On the Safari, the key labeled ­Caps ­Lock acts as an additional control key. 

The delete character (0x7F) may be generated by a different key, one near the extreme upper right of the keyboard.  On the Next it is the key labeled ­∗ (not the asterisk above the 8).  On the SLC, delete is labeled ­Num ­Lock (the key above ­Backspace labeled ­Delete functions as an additional backspace key).  On the other keyboards, the key labeled ­Del generates the delete character. 

The view character (0x80), used by 8½(1) and sam(1), causes windows to scroll forward. It is generally somewhere near the lower right of the main key area. The scroll character is generated by the ­VIEW key on the Gnot, the ­Alt ­Graph key on the SLC, and any of the three arrow keys ←, ↓, and → on the other terminals. 

Characters in Plan 9 are runes (see utf(6)). Any 16-bit rune can be typed using a compose key followed by several other keys. The compose key is also generally near the lower right of the main key area: the ­NUM PAD key on the Gnot, the ­Alternate key on the Next, the ­Compose key on the Slc, the ­Option key on the Magnum, and either ­Alt key on the Safari.  After typing the compose key, type a capital ­X and exactly four hexadecimal characters (digits and ­a to f) to type a single rune with the value represented by the typed number.  There are shorthands for some characters.  Follow the compose key with appropriate two-character sequence to generate the desired rune:

¡!!¢c$£l$¤g$
¥y$¦||§SS¨""
©cOªsa«<<¬no
­--®rO¯__°de
±+-²s2³s3´”
µmi¶pg·..¸,,
¹s1ºs0»>>¼14
½12¾34¿??À‘A
Á’AÂ^AÃ~AÄ"A
ÅoAÆAEÇ,CÈ‘E
É’EÊ^EË"EÌ‘I
Í’IÎ^IÏ"IÐD-
Ñ~NÒ‘OÓ’OÔ^O
Õ~OÖ"O×muØ/O
Ù‘UÚ’UÛ^UÜ"U
Ý’YÞ|Pßssà‘a
á’aâ^aã~aä"a
åoaæaeç,cè‘e
é’eê^eë"eì‘i
í’iî^iï"iðd-
ñ~nò‘oó’oô^o
õ~oö"o÷-:ø/o
ù‘uú’uû^uü"u
ý’yþ|pÿ"yα∗a
β∗bγ∗gδ∗dε∗e
ζ∗zη∗yθ∗hι∗i
κ∗kλ∗lμ∗mν∗n
ξ∗cο∗oπ∗pρ∗r
ςtsσ∗sτ∗tυ∗u
φ∗fχ∗xψ∗qω∗w
Α∗AΒ∗BΓ∗GΔ∗D
Ε∗EΖ∗ZΗ∗YΘ∗H
Ι∗IΚ∗KΛ∗LΜ∗M
Ν∗NΞ∗CΟ∗OΠ∗P
Ρ∗RΣ∗SΤ∗TΥ∗U
Φ∗FΧ∗XΨ∗QΩ∗W
←<-↑ua→->↓da
↔ab∀fa∃te∂pd
∅es∆De∇gr∉!m
∍st∗∗∗∙bu√sr
∝pt∞if∠an∧l&
∨l|∩ca∪cu∫is
∴tf≃~=≅cg≈~~
≠!=≡==≦<=≧>=
⊂sb⊃sp⊄!b⊆ib
⊇ip⊕O+⊖O-⊗Ox
⊢tu⊨Tu⋄lz⋯el

Note the difference between ß (ss) and µ (micron) and the Greek β and μ.  As well, white and black chess pieces may be escaped using the sequence color (w or b) followed by piece (k for king, ­q for queen, ­r for rook, ­n for knight, ­b for bishop, or ­p for pawn). 

SEE ALSO

Intro(1), ascii(1), tcs(1), 8½(1), sam(1), cons(3), utf(6)

Plan 9  —  January 03, 1993