The ACUCOBOL-GT default keyboard layout is very similar to that used by RM/COBOL-85, but it is not identical. Consider these
points:
- Under MS-DOS, RM/COBOL-85 defines the Command key to be Alt-C. When you are typing this key it is easy to accidentally type
Control-C instead, which is the interrupt key in DOS. For this reason, ACUCOBOL-GT uses Alt-D (for "Do") instead.
- ACUCOBOL-GT defines more editing keys than RM/COBOL-85 does. In particular, the Home, End, Clear, Clear-to-End and Line-Kill keys return exception values under RM/COBOL-85, while under ACUCOBOL-GT they perform various field-editing functions.
- ACUCOBOL-GT defines Page Up, Page Down, and Help keys that are not defined under RM/COBOL-85. These keys are used by the ACUCOBOL-GT debugger.
- The default RM/COBOL-85 keyboard includes the following keys as exception keys: Attention, Home, New Line, Tab Left, Erase
Right, Tab Right, Insert Line, Delete Line, and Send. Under ACUCOBOL-GT, these keys either act as editing keys or are ignored.
Because these keys are generally not available on most keyboards (or, in the case of the Tab Right and New Line keys, are
ambiguous with control keys), most applications do not use them. If you need to use any of these keys, you can alter the ACUCOBOL-GT
keyboard configuration as described in Redefining the Keyboard.
- The RM/COBOL-85 layout varies from machine to machine. In the interest of portability, the default ACUCOBOL-GT keyboard interface
is the same for all machines.