Summary Keyboard Mapping

Technical Bulletin Product: RUMBA OFFICE 2.0 RUMBA for UNIX RUMBA for the VAX Version #: See above Host: UNIX, VAX Summary If you find that one or more of the keys you press in RUMBA for the VAX or RUMBA for UNIX doesn't produce the effect you expect, it may be that there is a mismatch between how the keyboard is mapped in RUMBA software and how the keys are mapped on the host. By remapping the characters that a key sends, RUMBA software can emulate most keyboards and be made to work with almost any application. When a key is pressed one of two things can happen. If the key defines a "local function," RUMBA software performs that function and nothing is sent to the host. One local function is the F2 or PrintScreen key. This function does not require host interaction. RUMBA software simply copies the information from the screen to the printer. If the key does not define a local function then RUMBA will send either a single character or a string of characters to the host. This document describes how to change the character or string of characters sent by RUMBA software when a key is pressed. It also covers some basic ways to determine what the host or application expects. To effectively fix key mapping problems, you will need to talk with your system administrator and possibly with the vendor of the host application you are using. Keyboard Mapping Host applications are written for a specific host keyboard. In the case of DEC and UNIX applications, this keyboard is usually a VT keyboard. When you access the host using RUMBA for the VAX or RUMBA for UNIX, your PC keyboard emulates the VT keyboard, using single keys and combinations of keys to produce the VT keyboard commands. This is called keyboard mapping; PC keys and key combinations are "mapped" to VT keyboard functions. With RUMBA software, you can specify how the VT commands are mapped to your PC keyboard. For more information about this topic, see the Administrator's Guide for RUMBA for the VAX, or your host computer's keyboard mapping information. For advanced information about the file in UNIX that stores keyboard strings (generally, the file name is "termcap"), see the end of this document. NetManage, Inc. www.netmanage.com Technical Bulletin Changing Keyboard Mapping In RUMBA software, it is easy to change the character or string of characters sent by a particular key. To change a keyboard mapping, 1) Select Options/Keyboard, then choose Keyboard Strings from the list box located under the keymap. Figure 1. The default keyboard map. 2) Select the Add String button in the lower left hand corner, and the Add Keyboard String dialog box will appear. 3304.DOC Page 2 Technical Bulletin Figure 2. The Add Keyboard String dialog. The Characters To Enter text box is where the string will be defined. Below this text box is a list of extended or control characters that can be inserted into the string. By selecting a character from the list and selecting the Insert button, special characters can be added to the text box (items can also be added by double clicking on them). Once the string has been defined, click OK to return to the keyboard map. At this point, the character string has been defined but it has not been mapped to a key. The string just defined should appear in the list box in the lower left hand corner of the keyboard mapping dialog box. 3) To map this string to a particular key or key combination, select the Add button in the lower right hand corner of the dialog box (in the Mapped to... section). Use the mouse to select a key or combination of keys. Selecting the Accept button will map the string to the highlighted key(s). If the key has been previously defined, then an OverWrite Warning dialog box will appear. Figure 3. The OverWrite Warning! box warns you when you are overwriting the mapping of a previously defined key. Selecting OK will allow the process to continue and will replace the original key definition with the new string. 3304.DOC Page 3 Technical Bulletin Figure 4. The keyboard mapping dialog box with the F1 key remapped as <ESC>OP. 4) Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each key that you would like to remap. 5) Once the complete keyboard map has been defined, select File/Save to save this keyboard definition into a .MAP file. This file can be copied to multiple installations of RUMBA software, so this mapping process should only have to be done once. 6) Choose File/Exit to return to the main RUMBA screen. 7) Remember to save the profile (from the RUMBA menu, select File/Save) to associate the keyboard map file and the profile permanently. If the map file is copied to another workstation, it can be loaded using the following procedure. 1) Select Options/Keyboard from the RUMBA main menu. 2) Select File/Open from the keyboard map. 3) Select the previously defined .MAP file. 4) Select File/Exit to return to the RUMBA main screen. 5) Select File/Save from the RUMBA menu to associate the keyboard map file and the profile permanently. 3304.DOC Page 4 Technical Bulletin Determining Mapped Keyboard Strings in RUMBA Software NOTE: Versions of RUMBA for the VAX before version 1.1 did not support keyboard strings. To see how the strings are mapped in RUMBA software by default, look in the on-line help under the topic Codes Sent by Keyboard Keys. If the keyboard strings on your PC have been remapped from the default, you may have to examine each key individually. To do so, 1) Select the Options/Keyboard command. 2) Click Add, then click the key on the keyboard diagram that needs to be identified. 3) Click Accept. Since the key is already mapped to a string, you will get a warning message. Figure 5. When mapping a key to a new keyboard string, you get a message like this if the key is already mapped. The string or VT function to which the key is mapped is displayed in this dialog box. Select Cancel and repeat this process for each key that needs to be identified. The keyboard strings are defined in a .STR file, but the key names are not defined. User-Defined Keys Remapping keyboard strings as described previously is the preferred way to reassign values to keys. However, you can also create User-Defined Keys to map keyboard strings in RUMBA for the VAX and RUMBA for UNIX. Creating User-Defined Keys is the only method available for versions of RUMBA for the VAX prior to version 1.1. RUMBA for the VAX and RUMBA for UNIX support up to 14 User-Defined Keys (UDKs). You can define a UDK as a string of regular characters and/or control characters. UDKs are similar to keyboard strings. User Defined Keys are host-programmable; the host application can program UDK #6 to send a particular string whenever you press the key to which UDK #6 3304.DOC Page 5 Technical Bulletin is mapped. The host does not redefine the keystrokes that represent UDK #6; it defines the string sent whenever UDK #6 is pressed. That is, if RUMBA software has defined UDK #6 as Shift-F6 and the host defines UDK #6 as the <ESC>OP string, then <ESC>OP will be sent whenever Shift-F6 is pressed. The host could change the <ESC>OP string to a different string, in which case the new string would be sent whenever Shift-F6 was pressed. You can prevent the host from redefining the UDKs by selecting Options/Terminal/Advanced, then selecting Lock User-Defined Keys in the dialog box. UDKs are normally mapped to Shift-F6 through Shift-F12, and Ctrl-Alt-Shift-F1 through Ctrl-Alt-Shift-F10, but these key(s) can be remapped to generate a particular UDK. Because UDKs can be mapped to any key or key combination and the string sent can be defined by RUMBA software, UDKs can be made to act like keyboard strings. To create a UDK, 1) Select Options/Keyboard, then select User Defined Keys from the list box below the key map. Click UDK Setup. 2) In the UDK Setup dialog box, select a UDK from the list box. Define the string you want to send with that key by typing regular characters and/or control characters, or by selecting control characters from the Characters To Send list and clicking Insert. 3) Define all the UDKs you want, then click Close to return to the keyboard map. 4) At this point the strings have been defined, but not mapped to any keys. Select a UDK from the list box. If a string has been mapped to a key combination, that will show in the Mapped to... section. You can add a key combination or change the existing mapping if you like. Click Add on the right hand side in the Mapped to... section to add a mapping, or click Change to change the one shown. 5) Using the mouse to click keys on the keyboard map shown in the dialog box, select the key or key combination (such as Alt and F1) to map the string to and click Accept. 6) Save this map and return to the display. The key should now send the keyboard string you have defined. Remember to save the profile to associate the keyboard map file and the profile permanently.

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