On 10/12/2020 at 7:59 AM, Fnord42 said:
will ESC continue to work as a substitute for RUN/STOP?
I really hope not. ESC is not the "break" function on any other computer system I'm aware of, and the ESC key does serve a critical UI function (close dialogs or go back to a higher level menu).
On 10/12/2020 at 7:59 AM, Fnord42 said:
I seem to remember that someone said that the RESTORE key will not be used, is that correct?
RESTORE on the Commodore VIC-20 and 64 worked because it was wired to the NMI pin on the CPU. So it has the ability to bypass the keyboard input subroutine and can trigger a warm boot (or perform any other function) even if the computer is crashed - so long as the NMI handler is not trashed. This is impossible with the PS/2 keyboard, because none of the keys is directly wired to a pin like that. So last I saw, the CX16 prototype was fitted with an NMI button, but it would be on the front panel of the computer, not the keyboard.
On 10/12/2020 at 7:59 AM, Fnord42 said:
What about Ctrl-C? And F4 vs 40/80 DISPLAY?
Bear in mind that I'm just an observer, but I expect that as the KERNAL matures, the current workaround key sequences will be removed and the dedicated keys will be introduced. So F4 will serve another purpose, and Control-C will stop acting as the break key.
Bear in mind, however, that the three keys used for RESTORE, 40/80, and RUN/STOP are special keys on PCs and not included on all keyboards any more. RESTORE is the Print Screen key, 40/80 is Scroll Lock, and Run/Stop is actually the Break key on a PC keyboard. So if the emulator switches to using those keys (rather than the current stopgap functions), some users may not be able to access them.