A9 Character Set, Keyboard

This Appendix deals with the QL character set and keyboard.

A9.1 The Character Set

The codes from 0 to 31 (except 10) and 192 to 254 are not standardised - they are undefined on standard QLs (a checkerboard square) but Minerva sets them to the characters listed below. The keying required for many of the characters seems to differ on every type of machine, which is very annoying for the programmer.

Some of the keyings will also be different on new replacement keyboards, although these normally only add to the standard set.

We have supplied the keyings on standard British and German QLs so that you can see where problems may occur in different keyings. We recommend that you make your program fully configurable if these differences appear to be a problem.

The full character set is:

Code

Character

Keys to press

0

NUL

<CTRL> <£> British <CTRL> < ESC> German

1

F1

<CTRL> <A>

2

F2

<CTRL> <B>

3

F3

<CTRL> <C>

4

F4

<CTRL> <D>

5

F5

<CTRL> <E>

6

AK

<CTRL> <F>

7

minim

<CTRL> <G>

8

BS

<CTRL> <H>

9

HT

<CTRL> <I> <TAB>

10

NL

<CTRL> <J> <ENTER>

11

VT

<CTRL><K>

12

FF

<CTRL><L>

13

CR

<CTRL><M>

14

SO

<CTRL><N>

15

SI

<CTRL><O>

16

0 (small 0)

<CTRL><P>

17

1 (small 1)

<CTRL><Q>

18

2 (small 2)

<CTRL><R>

19

3 (small 3)

<CTRL><S>

20

4 (small 4)

<CTRL><T>

21

5 (small 5)

<CTRL><U>

22

6 (small 6)

<CTRL><V>

23

7 (small 7)

<CTRL><W>

24

8 (small 8)

<CTRL><X>

25

9 (small 9)

<CTRL><Y>

26

A (small A)

<CTRL><Z>

27

B (small B)

<ESC>, <CTRL><SHIFT><[> British <CTRL><SHIFT><Ü> German

28

C (small C)

<CTRL><SHIFT><\> British <CTRL><SHIFT><<> German

29

D (small D)

<CTRL><SHIFT><]> British <CTRL><SHIFT><+> German

30

E (small E)

<CTRL><SHIFT><£> British <CTRL><SHIFT><\> German

31

F (small F)

<CTRL><SHIFT><ESC>

32

(space)

<SPACE>

33

! (exclamation)

<SHIFT><1>

34

” (speech mark)

<SHIFT><’> British <SHIFT><2> German

35

# (hash)

<SHIFT><3> British <#> German

36

$ (dollar)

<SHIFT><4>

37

% (percent)

<SHIFT><5>

38

& (ampersand)

<SHIFT><7> British <SHIFT><6> German

39

‘ (quote)

<’> British <SHIFT><#> German

40

( (bracket)

<SHIFT><9> British <SHIFT><8> German

41

) (bracket)

<SHIFT><0> British <SHIFT><9> German

42

* (asterisk)

<SHIFT><8> British <SHIFT><+> German

43

  • (plus)

<SHIFT><=> British <+> German

44

, (comma)

<,>

45

  • (minus/hyphen)

<->

46

. (fullstop)

<.>

47

/ (stroke)

</> British <SHIFT><7> German

48

0

<0>

49

1

<1>

50

2

<2>

51

3

<3>

52

4

<4>

53

5

<5>

54

6

<6>

55

7

<7>

56

8

<8>

57

9

<9>

58

: (colon)

<SHIFT><;> British <SHIFT><.> German

59

; (semicolon)

<;> British <SHIFT><,> German

60

< (less than)

<SHIFT><,> British < < >German

61

= (equal)

<=> British <SHIFT><=> German

62

> (greater)

<SHIFT><.> British <SHIFT>< < >German

63

? (question mark)

<SHIFT></> British <SHIFT><á> German

64

@ (address symbol)

<SHIFT><2> British <CTRL><\> German

65

A

<SHIFT><A>

66

B

<SHIFT><B>

67

C

<SHIFT><C>

68

D

<SHIFT><D>

69

E

<SHIFT><E>

70

F

<SHIFT><F>

71

G

<SHIFT><G>

72

H

<SHIFT><H>

73

I

<SHIFT><I>

74

J

<SHIFT><J>

75

K

<SHIFT><K>

76

L

<SHIFT><L>

77

M

<SHIFT><M>

78

N

<SHIFT><N>

79

O

<SHIFT><O>

80

P

<SHIFT><P>

81

Q

<SHIFT><Q>

82

R

<SHIFT><R>

83

S

<SHIFT><S>

84

T

<SHIFT><T>

85

U

<SHIFT><U>

86

V

<SHIFT><V>

87

W

<SHIFT><W>

88

X

<SHIFT><X>

89

Y

<SHIFT><Y>

90

Z

<SHIFT><Z>

91

[ (square bracket)

<[> British <CTRL><9> German

92

\ (backslash)

<\>

93

] (square bracket)

<]> British <CTRL><0> German

94

^ (circumflex)

<SHIFT><6> British <SHIFT><\> German

95

_ (underscore)

<SHIFT><->

96

£ (pound)

<£> British <CTRL><7> German

97

a

<A>

98

b

<B>

99

c

<C>

100

d

<D>

101

e

<E>

102

f

<F>

103

g

<G>

104

h

<H>

105

i

<I>

106

j

<J>

107

k

<K>

108

l

<L>

109

m

<M>

110

n

<N>

111

o

<O>

112

p

<P>

113

q

<Q>

114

r

<R>

115

s

<S>

116

t

<T>

117

u

<U>

118

v

<V>

119

w

<W>

120

x

<X>

121

y

<Y>

122

z

<Z>

123

{ (brace)

<SHIFT><[> British <CTRL><á> German

124

| (vertical line)

<SHIFT><\> British <CTRL><8> German

125

} (brace)

<SHIFT><]> British <CTRL><#> German

126

~ (tilde)

<SHIFT><£> British <CTRL><#> German

127

copyright

<SHIFT><ESC>

128

a umlaut

<CTRL><ESC> British <Ä> German

129

a tilde

<CTRL><SHIFT><1>

130

a circle

<CTRL><SHIFT><’> British <CTRL><SHIFT><Ä> German

131

e acute

<CTRL><SHIFT><3>

132

o umlaut

<CTRL><SHIFT><4> British <Ö> German

133

o tilde

<CTRL><SHIFT><5>

134

o bar

<CTRL><SHIFT><7>

135

u umlaut

<CTRL><’> British <Ü> German

136

c cedilla

<CTRL><SHIFT><9>

137

n tilde

<CTRL><SHIFT><0>

138

ae diphthong

<CTRL><SHIFT><8>

139

oe diphthong

<CTRL><SHIFT><=> British <CTRL><SHIFT><#> German

140

a acute

<CTRL><,>

141

a grave

<CTRL><-> British <CTRL><SHIFT><4> German

142

a circumflex

<CTRL><.>

143

e umlaut

<CTRL></> British <CTRL><-> German

144

e grave

<CTRL><0> British <CTRL><SHIFT><V> German

145

e circumflex

<CTRL><1>

146

i umlaut

<CTRL><2>

147

i acute

<CTRL><3>

148

i grave

<CTRL><4>

149

i circumflex

<CTRL><5>

150

o acute

<CTRL><6>

151

o grave

<CTRL><7> British <CTRL><SHIFT><,> German

152

o circumflex

<CTRL><8> British <CTRL><SHIFT><D> German

153

u acute

<CTRL><9> British <CTRL><Ä> German

154

u grave

<CTRL><SHIFT><;> British <CTRL><SHIFT><Ö> German

155

u circumflex

<CTRL><;> British <CTRL><Ö> German

156

á (beta/sz)

<CTRL><SHIFT><,> British <á> German

157

cent symbol

<CTRL><=> British <CTRL><SHIFT><G> German

158

yen symbol

<CTRL><SHIFT><.>

159

backquote

<CTRL><SHIFT></> British <CTRL><SHIFT><-> German

160

A umlaut

<CTRL><SHIFT><2> British <SHIFT><Ä> German

161

A tilde

<CTRL><SHIFT><A>

162

A circle

<CTRL><SHIFT><B>

163

E acute

<CTRL><SHIFT><C>

164

O umlaut

<CTRL><SHIFT><D> British <SHIFT><Ö> German

165

O tilde

<CTRL><SHIFT><E>

166

O bar

<CTRL><SHIFT><F>

167

U umlaut

<CTRL><SHIFT><G> British <SHIFT><Ü> German

168

C cedilla

<CTRL><SHIFT><H>

169

N tilde

<CTRL><SHIFT><I>

170

AE diphthong

<CTRL><SHIFT><J>

171

OE diphthong

<CTRL><SHIFT><K>

172

lower alpha

<CTRL><SHIFT><L>

173

lower delta

<CTRL><SHIFT><M>

174

upper theta

<CTRL><SHIFT><N>

175

lower lambda

<CTRL><SHIFT><O>

176

lower mu

<CTRL><SHIFT><P>

177

lower pi

<CTRL><SHIFT><Q>

178

upper phi

<CTRL><SHIFT><R>

179

inverse !

<CTRL><SHIFT><S>

180

inverse ?

<CTRL><SHIFT><T>

181

script mark

<CTRL><SHIFT><U>

182

section symbol

<CTRL><SHIFT>(V):sup:British <SHIFT><3> German

183

cross-circle

<CTRL><SHIFT><W>

184

French quote

<CTRL><SHIFT><X>

185

French quote

<CTRL><SHIFT><Y> British <CTRL><SHIFT><Z> German

186

ø (degree)

<CTRL><SHIFT><Z> British <CTRL><SHIFT><Y> German

187

division

<CTRL><[> British <CTRL><Ü> German

188

left arrow

<CTRL><\> British <CTRL><SHIFT><2> German

189

right arrow

<CTRL><]> British <CTRL><+> German

190

up arrow

<CTRL><SHIFT><6>

191

down arrow

<CTRL><SHIFT><-> British <CTRL><SHIFT><á> German

192

up-left arrow

<LEFT>

193

up-right arrow

<ALT><LEFT>

194

down-left arrow

<CTRL><LEFT>

195

down-right arrow

<CTRL><ALT><LEFT>

196

upper delta

<SHIFT><LEFT>

197

small eta

<ALT><SHIFT><LEFT>

198

large upper phi

<CTRL><SHIFT><LEFT>

199

upper gamma

<ALT><CTRL><SHIFT><LEFT>

200

spades

<RIGHT>

201

hearts

<ALT><RIGHT>

202

diamonds

<CTRL><RIGHT>

203

clubs

<ALT><CTRL><RIGHT>

204

upper lambda

<SHIFT><RIGHT>

205

inverse upper delta

<ALT><SHIFT><RIGHT>

206

infinity

<CTRL><SHIFT><RIGHT>

207

upper omega

<ALT><CTRL><SHIFT><RIGHT>

208

upper pi

<UP>

209

upper psi

<ALT><UP>

210

registered

<CTRL><UP>

211

upper sigma

<ALT><CTRL><UP>

212

upper theta

<SHIFT><UP>

213

upper upsilon

<ALT><SHIFT><UP>

214

dagger

<CTRL><SHIFT><UP>

215

double dagger

<ALT><CTRL><SHIFT><UP>

216

upper xi

<DOWN>

217

plus minus

<ALT><DOWN>

218

[unknown]

<CTRL><DOWN>

219

exactly equal

<ALT><CTRL><DOWN>

220

less or equal

<SHIFT><DOWN>

221

not equal

<ALT><SHIFT><DOWN>

222

greater or equal

<CTRL><SHIFT><DOWN>

223

approximately equal

<ALT><CTRL><SHIFT><DOWN>

224

empty square

<CAPS>

225

filled square

<ALT><CAPS>

226

filled circle

<CTRL><CAPS>

227

lower chi

<ALT><CTRL><CAPS>

228

differential/del

<SHIFT><CAPS>

229

element-of

<ALT><SHIFT><CAPS>

230

FR (French Francs)

<CTRL><SHIFT><CAPS>

231

lower gamma

<ALT><CTRL><SHIFT><CAPS>

232

upper kappa

<F1>

233

lower iota

<CTRL><F1>

234

vertical line

<SHIFT><F1>

235

lower kappa

<CTRL><SHIFT><F1>

236

one-quarter

<F2>

237

one-half

<CTRL><F2>

238

three-quarters

<SHIFT><F2>

239

lower omega

<CTRL><SHIFT><F2>

240

lower psi

<F3>

241

=> (conclusion)

<CTRL><F3>

242

lower rho

<SHIFT><F3>

243

lower sigma

<CTRL><SHIFT><F3>

244

lower tau

<F4>

245

lower upsilon

<CTRL><F4>

246

square root

<SHIFT><F4>

247

cubic root

<CTRL><SHIFT><F4>

248

lower xi

<F5>

249

… (three dots)

<CTRL><F5>

250

lower zeta

<SHIFT><F5>

251

integral head

<CTRL><SHIFT><F5>

252

integral middle

<SHIFT><SPACE>

253

integral foot

<SHIFT><TAB>

254

random pattern

<SHIFT><ENTER>

255

regular pattern

( <ALT> )

*) Yes, there are in fact three kinds of phi!

Note that CHR$(255) is used whenever a character code is undefined.

To make matters worse, the JS ROM makes a distinction between <CTRL><ESC> with and without caps lock (the former is equivalent to <CTRL><SHIFT><ESC>.

To see Minerva’s pattern character assigned to CHR$(255), try the following lines. Changing the CHAR_INC parameters is fun, or add OVER 1 at line 100…

100 CHAR_INC 6,9: CLS
110 FOR i=1 TO 10: PRINT FILL$(CHR$(255),30)

If you are designing a program which should work (without annoying the user) on all QLs and keyboards then avoid all of the above codes which are shown as being different on British and German QLs. Alternatively, you could make your program fully configurable for these keys, or store all of the different keyboard layouts in your program so that it will adapt itself to the machine on which it is working - the latter is however much work.

A9.2 Keyboard Layouts

As more and more QL Emulators appear as well as keyboard interfaces, it becomes increasingly difficult to list the standard keyboard layouts which will be available to a QL user. Instead, we have listed here the layouts used in the most common countries on a standard QL machine (as supplied by Sinclair).

British QL

F1     ESC  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   -   =   £   \
F2     TAB    Q   W   E   R   T   Y   U   I   O   P   [   ]
F3     CAPS    A   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   ;   '      ENTER
F4     SHIFT     Z   X   C   V   B   N   M   ,   .   /     SHIFT
F5     CTRL  LEFT RIGHT          SPACE             UP  DOWN   ALT

German QL

F1     ESC  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   á   #   \   <
F2     TAB    Q   W   E   R   T   Z   U   I   O   P   Ü   +
F3     CAPS    A   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   Ö   Ä      ENTER
F4     SHIFT     Y   X   C   V   B   N   M   ,   .   -     SHIFT
F5     CTRL  LEFT RIGHT          SPACE             UP  DOWN   ALT

French QL

F1     ESC  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   -   =   ^   ù
F2     TAB    A   Z   E   R   T   Y   U   I   O   P   é   è
F3     CAPS    Q   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   M   à      ENTER
F4     SHIFT     W   X   C   V   B   N   ,   .   ;   ç     SHIFT
F5     CTRL  LEFT RIGHT          SPACE             UP  DOWN   ALT

Swedish QL

F1     ESC  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   +   '   |   <
F2     TAB    Q   W   E   R   T   Y   U   I   O   P   Å   *
F3     CAPS    A   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   Ö   Ä      ENTER
F4     SHIFT     Z   X   C   V   B   N   M   ,   .   -     SHIFT
F5     CTRL  LEFT RIGHT          SPACE             UP  DOWN   ALT

Finnish QL

F1     ESC  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   +   '   |   <
F2     TAB    Q   W   E   R   T   Y   U   I   O   P   Å   ^
F3     LUKITUS A   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   Ö   Ä      ENTER
F4     VAIHTO   Z   X   C   V   B   N   M   ,   .   -      VAIHTO
F5     OHJAUS LEFT RIGHT         SPACE            UP DOWN     SIIRTO

Danish QL

F1     ESC  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   0   =   +   /  DEL
F2     TAB    Q   W   E   R   T   Y   U   I   O   P   Å   "
F3     LOCK    A   S   D   F   G   H   J   K   L   ’   \      ENTER
F4     SHIFT    Z   X   C   V   B   N   M   ,   .   -      SHIFT
F5     CTRL  LEFT RIGHT          SPACE             UP  DOWN   ALT