Introduction

The keyboard for a 7035 series terminal contains only a limited number of keys. Keyboard remapping allows you extend the number of characters that can be produced by the keyboard. For example, it allows you to remap the "A" key to a Greek alpha. When the default map is in effect, pressing "A" will give you "a" but when the remap keyboard is in effect, pressing "A" gives you "a". Almost any key and some key combinations can be re-mapped to any Unicode character.

This remapping feature only works at the TekTerm level (it cannot be used in DOS). A data file named keyboard.map is downloaded into the terminal (details below). The remapping functionality is toggled on and off. On start-up the default keyboard map is used. Once the toggle sequence (Alt-K) is entered the remapped keyboard will be used and will remain in use until the toggle sequence is entered again. All Unicode values for remapped characters are converted to the configured character set before being sent to the host. If the Unicode value associated with a key cannot be converted to the host character set, an error beep will sound and the key is ignored.

Data File Format

The map uses the following format:

0x<scan code> 0x<character code (ASCII)> U+<remapped character (Unicode)>

Examples

0x1E 0x41 U+03B1    \# This will map capital letter a (A) to Greek small letter alpha (a).
0x68 0x00 U+03A3    \# This will map Alt-F1 to Greek capital letter sigma (S).

Note on the configuration file

  1. All values are in hexadecimal.
  2. Every key entry must be on a separate line.
  3. Comments must start with (#) and continue to the end of the line.
  4. Not all keys are available on all terminals, i.e. punctuation keys are not available on 34 key 7035.
  5. No function remapping can be done, i.e. F1 cannot be remapped to F10.
  6. Functions can be lost in mapping, i.e. F1 can be mapped to "A". The F1 function is lost while the remapped keyboard is in use.
  7. The configuration file must be put on the A:\ drive of the terminal and must be named "keyboard.map".

How to configure keyboard remapping

The following hardware and software is needed to remap a 7035 series keyboard:

  • The keyboard-remapping template file "keyboard.map".
  • 7035 serial cable.
  • A terminal transfer protocol using Ymodem running on a PC.

Make a copy of the template file "keyboard.map" and rename it to something else.

  • A copy of the original keyboard.map file should be kept in case the edited keyboard.map does not work properly.

Edit the keyboard.map file

  • Any text editor can be used to edit the file.
  • Uncomment all the keys that will be remapped (remove the starting #) and fill in the Unicode value that the key will be remapped to (4 hexadecimal digits following U+).
  • Comments have been put in the template "keyboard.map" file to show which lines correspond to which key on the keyboard.
  • All comments and non-remapped keys can be removed from the file to make it smaller.

Load the keyboard.map file on the terminal.

  • Connect the terminal to the PC running the file transfer program using the serial cable.
  • Boot up the terminal and go to the Display Menu.
  • Enter "c" for the DOS prompt.
  • Enter the password and press the enter key. (The dos prompt should appear).
  • Go to the A:\ drive if you are not there already. (Enter "a:")
  • Start ymodem receive on the terminal. (Type "ymodem" and press enter.) This uses the default baud rate and port. To see what the default baud rate and port are type "ymodem -?". To explicitly set the baud rate and the port use the following command "ymodem -y[baud[:port]]".
  • Send the keyboard.map file with the file transfer program.
  • When the transfer is complete confirm that the file was download correctly by typing "dir" and checking that "keyboard.map" is one of the listed files.
  • Type "Start". (You should now be back in the Display Menu).