5-1
T
HE KEYBOARD
Chapter 5
The Keyboard
The computer’s keyboard layouts are compatible with a 101/102-key enhanced
keyboard. By pressing some keys in combination, all the 101/102-key keyboard
functions can be executed on the computer.
The number of keys on your keyboard depends on which country/region’s
keyboard layout your computer is configured with. Keyboards for numerous
languages are available.
There are five types of keys: typewriter keys, keypad overlay, function keys, soft
keys and cursor control keys.
Typewriter keys
The typewriter keys, produce the upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, punctua-
tion marks, and special symbols that appear on the screen.
There are some differences, however, between using a typewriter and using a
computer keyboard:
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❖ Letters and numbers produced in computer text vary in width. Spaces, which
are created by a “space character,” may also vary depending on line justifica-
tion and other factors.
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❖ The lowercase l (el) and the number 1 (one) are not interchangeable on
computers as they are on a typewriter.
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❖ The uppercase O (oh) and the 0 (zero) are not interchangeable.
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❖ The Caps Lock function key locks only the alphabetic characters in upper-
case while the shift lock on a typewriter places all keys in the shifted position.
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❖ The Shift keys, the Tab key, and the BkSp (backspace) key perform the same
function as their typewriter counterparts but also have special computer
functions.
