



                                 TRANSKEY_v1.3A
                                     1/10/91


               Congratulations  on  your  purchase  of   the   TransKey
          Keyboard Interface, I hope you find it as useful as I do.

               This new version of the TransKey  Operating  System  has
          PLENTY of extra goodies, including much better  emulation  of
          the stock Atari keyboard functions.

               An even better version  is  in  the  works,  which  will
          provide for User writable macro strings, directly copied from
          the IBM keystrokes. This will be  offered  in  both  Volatile
          Memory (data is  lost  on  powering  down)  and  Non-Volatile
          Memory Versions. Don't worry, you're already on  the  mailing
          list, and will be automatically notified when  this  revision
          is complete.

               Now let's take a look at what has been changed or  added
          since Version 1.2 was released.


     
     SCROLL_LOCK  When pressed alone, and depending  on  it's  current  mode
     (see below), will send out either CTRL-1's or CTRL-S/CTRL-Q (XON/XOFF).
     CTRL-SCROLL LOCK will still do a BREAK function.

     CTRL-SHIFT-SCROLL_LOCK  This sets the type of pause mode you desire  to
     have the SCROLL  LOCK  key  initiate.  The  default  mode  is  to  send
     CTRL-1's, but when toggled, it will send  XON/XOFF  characters  instead
     (used while communicating with BBS's). This is a toggle  function,  and
     when used, will alternate between the two modes.

     CONSOLE_KEY-ARROW_KEY  If Start (F9), Select (F10), or Option  (F11  or
     ALT) are pressed with an arrow key, the same results will occur  as  if
     done on the normal ATARI keyboard (very useful for ATARIWRITER  or  any
     other software that needs to see the  normal  character  on  the  arrow
     keys).

     CTRL-ARROW_KEYS  As above, will produce the normal  unSHIFTED/unCTRL'ed
     ATARI character for these keys, but  without  a  CONSOLE  keypress.  If
     NUMLOCK is active, the CTRL-ARROW action will still be  sent  from  the
     number pad arrows (same as v1.2).

     SHIFT-ARROW_KEYS  Will produce the same character as the Shifted  Arrow
     on the ATARI keyboard, independent of whether NUMLOCK is active or not.

     TILDE_KEY  This was used as an extra ESCAPE key in  v1.2,  but  now  it
     will function as the INVERSE key (formally CTRL-F6). When  Shifted,  it
     will send the CAROT (^) symbol (*SEE NOTE BELOW).

     BRACES (SHIFTED [ and ])  Open Brace sends CTRL-A, Closed  Brace  sends
     CTRL-D. (*NOTE: These are  normally  non-supported  characters  on  the
     ATARI, but with these special character sends, and when  using  the  PD
     Program BOBTERM in either ASCII or VT-52 MODES, the  ASCII  equivalents
     will be sent.)



                        TransKey v1.3A Addendum  Page #1






     CTRL-CAPS  This was a missing command on v1.2, it is now supported.

     CONSOLE_KEY-INSERT  Will now send the Greater Than  (>)  symbol.  (When
     used  with  OPTION  in  ATARIWRITER,  will  indicate  input  for   Form
     Printing.)

     CTRL-F5-DELETE  Should do a HELP-RESET, used as a COLDRESET by a couple
     of replacement O.S.'s including ULTRA SPEED PLUS from Computer Software
     Services.

     SHIFT-ESCAPE-DELETE  Yet another type of COLDRESET command supported by
     some systems.

     CTRL-CONSOLE_KEY-DELETE  Will do a reset with whatever  Console  Key(s)
     are being pressed. The CTRL-ALT (CTRL-OPTION) BASIC  disabling  feature
     indicated in the v1.2 Manual, only works with some Program Disks and is
     no different than the same combination on the ATARI  keyboard  in  this
     respect.

     CTRL-SHIFT-5_(on_NUMPAD)  Brings Pin#1 of  J3  (on  the  TransKey  P.C.
     Board) LOW and when released, this pin will return HIGH.  This  can  be
     used  with  C.S.S.'s  Black  Box  Interface  to  give  you  a  keyboard
     controlled way to enter the MONITOR (wire from pin#1 of J3,  designated
     by a  SQUARE  Solder  Pad,  to  the  center  terminal  of  the  MONITOR
     pushbutton switch).

     CTRL-PRINT_SCRN (CTRL-* on_NUMPAD)  Brings Pin#2 of  J3  LOW  and  when
     released, this pin will return HIGH. This can be used  with  the  Black
     BOX to give you a keyboard controlled  PRINT  SCREEN  option  (wire  to
     center terminal of the PRINT SCREEN pushbutton switch).

     CTRL-F6  This no longer has any function in this current  version,  but
     will be used for activating a Recall Buffer in the next revision.

     KEY_ROLL-OVER_BUFFERING  This will cure the  "DROPPING  CHARACTER"  bug
     that existed in versions 1.0-1.2. This has  been  fine-tuned  recently,
     and should provide for error free typing.

     KEYBOARD_INITIALIZATION  The initialization routines have been improved
     considerably, with better keyboard compatibility  in  mind.  It  is  no
     longer necessary to hold down a key on power-up with a Mitsumi keyboard
     for proper initialization to occur. Many more keyboards should now work
     reliably with TransKey.

     SPECIAL_NOTES_ON_RESETS  If a keyboard is talking  to  TransKey  as  an
     'AT' Type keyboard, then on any RESET the SCROLL  LOCK  light  will  be
     turned OFF, the CAPS LOCK light will be turned ON, and the NUMLOCK will
     remain the same as before the RESET occurred. If  the  keyboard  is  in
     "PC' mode, then all the lights will be turned OFF and all flags will be
     reset accordingly (this is the best I can do,  since  a  'PC'  keyboard
     pretty much controls it's own lights). Following a 'PC' reset,  pushing
     CAPS LOCK twice will reinitialize the action of the light to the action
     of the key.






                        TransKey v1.3A Addendum  Page #2





     ALTERING_THE_EPROM_MACROS   Due  to  the   many   changes   (and   some
     oversight), the MACRO INDEX and MACRO TABLE locations are not where the
     v1.2 Manual shows them to be. The following is their new location.


                          INDEX TABLE ONE  $175C-$1763

                          INDEX TABLE TWO  $1764-$176B

                          MACRO TABLE ONE  $176C-$17AA
                         (Actual space extends to $186B)

                          MACRO TABLE TWO  $187D-$18BB
                         (Actual space extends to $197C)


          Since each Macro  Table  can  be  expanded  up  to  the  full  256
     character capacity without moving any of the other O.S. code, there  is
     no longer any need of dealing with the vectors  associated  with  these
     tables or for IRQ and RESET. All that is required, is to simply put  in
     your new Macro Strings (8 per Table) and then update  the  pointers  in
     the Index Table to point to the beginning of each individual Macro.  On
     the next revision I intend to  add  two  more  pre-defined  tables  and
     simplify the method of changing these Eprom Macros. There will also  be
     some RAM based Macro tables as well, which won't require re-burning the
     Eprom.

     CONSOLE_KEY_CONNECTIONS  In order for the Arrow keys to work  properly,
     the START,SELECT,OPTION connections  to  GTIA  must  be  made.  If  you
     experience erratic action  from  the  Arrow  keys  and  the  characters
     (_),(=),(+),(*) are being produced without holding down any other  key,
     then check to see if the GTIA  connections  are  secure.  If  you  have
     either an XL or XE computer, you can type BYE <RETURN> from BASIC,  and
     then use the  built-in  keyboard  diagnostics  to  confirm  the  proper
     operation of the Console keys.




          Look for me on the GENIE_ATARI_8BIT_BULLETIN_BOARD Cat 2 Topic #41
     -or- GENIE_EMAIL to: M.ST.PIERRE1  .... THANKS :-)



















                        TransKey v1.3A Addendum  Page #3

