APL Keyboards for VECTOR Subscribers!

Transcribed from the printed issue; not yet reviewed. Read it in the PDF of the issue, page 17

Very few APLers enjoy the luxury of using a keyboard having proper APL characters on the keytops, especially matching their own choice of keyboard layout. This is one reason why it is so inconvenient to teach APL to a class of students using centralised facilities. It also causes problems for consultants having to debug APL code on-site, on someone else’s machine, even. Being on-site in a foreign country has its own problems (I frequently have to use a keyboard in Denmark), where you even have to hunt for the ‘£’ sign, not to mention ‘@’ and ‘[’ and ‘]’.

Now everyone has their own favourite solution to this problem, but it’s safe to say that there’s no general, complete solution on the horizon. Various software solutions have been proposed. APLs have the ability to re-map keyboard layouts, but to re-map somebody else’s keyboard isn’t the work of a moment and will earn you no great deal of thanks.

APLomb (Clark, 1992), designed for educational use by APL novices, has a floating palette with the commoner symbols, converts ‘==’ into {gets} on-the-fly, and offers a sort of wizard to identify and type the symbol you need, even if you can’t quite remember what it is. And of course there are always the various systems of ASCII keywords, like {comma-underbar}... Wunderbar! In desperation you can type {quad}AV (if you can find {quad}) and copy/paste the output.

I’ve been looking into hardware solutions, viz. to be able in effect to carry your own labelled keyboard around with you. These might be attractive to firms setting up new APL programming shops (yes, there are some...!) or to schools and colleges considering serious classroom use of APL. Just at the moment employment prospects for APLers in UK and Europe aren’t too bad, so maybe it’s not totally out of the question to contemplate teaching APL again.

Contech, based in Stevenage, will engrave keytops of standard IBM-compatible PC keyboards with the symbols of your choice, in a range of colours, if you provide them with your requirements in the form of simple artwork (a drawing will do). They will either supply you with a new low-cost standard IBM-compatible ‘Cherry’ keyboard, suitably engraved, or will take your existing keyboard and engrave the keytops. These must be able to pull off, so this seems to preclude laptops. Contact Suzanne with your requirements on +44 (0)1438 315757 (fax: +44 (0)1438 313679, email: sales@contech.co.uk).

What does it cost? I phoned Suzanne, explained that an APL ‘unified’ keyboard would require 48 to 50 keys to be engraved and asked for some cost estimates. A single keyboard would cost £55, but with an order for ten of these the cost would come down to around £30 per keyboard. Add £17 for the low-cost ‘Cherry’ keyboard if you want the firm to supply the keyboards too. Allow 10-14 days for the order to be completed.

Another solution is to use a ‘keyboard glove’. This is a close-fitting flexible transparent cover, usually to protect a keyboard in a dusty or coffee-laden environment, but the glove can be fitted with keytop labels, preferably on the underside.

Inpace Ltd manufactures keyboard gloves, using your own keyboard if necessary (1 day turnaround excluding delivery times) but has some 2,000 moulds in stock, covering all the common brands of keyboard. Gloves for any type of keyboard cost the same, depending on the quantity ordered: £19.95 for single gloves, £14.95 each for 5, £13.95 each for 10. The firm uses an outside supplier to print keytop labels. As with all printing, costs come down with volume, so that a print-run of 1,000 would cost just £1.90 per set of labels. Add to this £2.00 per keyboard glove for the labour to stick them on. Get in touch with Ben with your requirements, on +44 (0)1993 706303.

Now it isn’t an attractive proposition to pay for a minimum order of, say, 50 sets of labels if you only want one keyboard glove. We discussed the possibility of the British APL Association paying for a print-run, which would be available free to members, or their organisations. You would then simply phone Ben, tell him you’re a bona-fide VECTOR subscriber, and explain to him the layout you want or ask for one of the standard ones, and pay only the £2.00 fitting charge on top of the basic charge for a keyboard glove. Since each keyboard is hand-labelled, you can have any label on any key. The simplest and most reliable way to specify the glove is to photocopy your keyboard and write the symbols on the photocopied keytops by hand. This, plus the make, model and FCCID number, is enough to identify the keyboard too. I’m told that laptops aren’t entirely out of the question either.

In the interest of promoting the use of APL, which is part of the British APL Association’s brief, we the committee are happy to collect requests and enquiries. If there’s sufficient interest, we will order a trial print-run of keyboard stickers, either sticky-topped for applying to the underside of a keyboard glove as described, or sticky-bottomed, for applying directly to keytops. The intention is to furnish these as a free service to VECTOR subscribers, and their organisations, for their own use (but not for re-sale, of course). However there must be sufficient people interested in order to go ahead. In a future issue we shall announce an ongoing policy, i.e. who’s eligible and for how many, and whether you can pay to have more. Meanwhile, let’s hear your requirements.

Contact any member of the BAA Committee (see this issue’s back cover), including myself:

Ian Clark, IAC Human Interfaces, R21 Auckland Business Centre, St Helen Auckland, Bishop Auckland, Durham DL14 9TX, England. Tel: +44 (0)1388 605544. Mobile: [telephone number omitted], Email: [omitted].