Re: how do you swap key definitions?

[Randy Haskins <rh@MIT-EECS>]

    Received: from MIT-MC by MIT-OZ via Chaosnet; 26 Sep 84 02:42-EDT
    Date: 26 September 1984 02:43-EDT
    From: Leigh L. Klotz <KLOTZ @ MIT-MC>
    Subject:  how do you swap key definitions?
    To: STRAZ @ MIT-OZ
    cc: BUG-OZ @ MIT-MC, bug-emacs @ MIT-OZ

	Date: Tue 25 Sep 84 21:08:30-EDT
	From: Steve Strassmann <STRAZ%MIT-OZ at MIT-MC.ARPA>
	To:   bug-emacs%MIT-OZ at MIT-MC.ARPA
	Re:   how do you swap key definitions?

	I and several others are now using a DEC pro 350
	(blechhh) running as a vt100 to connect to OZ, but
	the keyboard has a particularly brain-damaged
	layout. How can I set up in an LOGIN.CMD (well,
	EMACS.VARS, I bet) the magic which swaps
	back-quote and ESC. It would be nice to only do
	this conditionally (as we DO use normal terminals
	occasionally), and even better if this swapping
	could be done at exec for all of tops20, instead
	of just babyl/emacs. Thanks, -steve

    This sounds like a marginal idea, but as long as you have experienced
    users only it sounds ok.  Just try explaining to a new user that you type
    backquote which is like escape which is the command prefix for meta keys
    which this keyboard doesn't have...

	...

    I'd think it would be easier to get the source for the terminal emulator
    for the 350 (or write a new one) which swaps the key definitions at the
    machine.  Then maybe you can swap keycaps, too.

This is probably the thing to do, because:

    Unless someone wants to hack this into the exec like they did 
    ter reverse (delete and underscore characters).

There's more to doing this than hacking the Exec.  The Monitor also
has to be hacked (as it is in TERM REVERSE (DELETE AND UNDERSCORE)).
It's not that much code, but it's not very pretty either.  Also,
if we started doing this for lots of pairs of keys, the nomenclature
would kill us.  Would you like to see this?

@TERM REV ? one of the following:
 COLON-DQUOTE		CONTROL-C-CONTROL-Z		DELETE-UNDERSCORE
 ESCAPE-BACKQUOTE

No, neither would I.

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