Keyboard US/BR274 is a simple REXX program that switches between US and BR274 keyboard settings and alters its own program object icon to reflect the new state of the keyboard.
The BR274 keyboard definition implements a number of "dead" keys on a standard US keyboard to facilitate the creation of diacritics. For example,
[`],[a] will produce à ,
['],[e] will produce é ,
["],[i] will produce i ,
[^],[o] will produce ô ,
['],[c] will produce ç ,
[~],[n] will produce ñ , etc.
The left and right single quote keys and the double quote key function as grave, acute and diaeresis, respectively. To obtain a quote character, type the quote key followed by a space:
[`],[ ] will produce ` ,
['],[ ] will produce ' , and
["],[ ] will produce " .
Any invalid combination (e.g. ['],[p]) will result in a warning beep.
GROUNDWORK
To enable full use of all (Latin) diacritics in OS/2, code page 850 should be loaded at boot time. For this to work, the "CODEPAGE" entry in the CONFIG.SYS file should read:
CODEPAGE=850,437
or, if you want to be able to use the ISO 8859-1 (Windows) code page,
CODEPAGE=850,1004
You will then be able to use the "CHCP 1004" command to switch to the ISO code page, and "CHCP 850" to change back to the standard OS/2 code page.
To load the Brazilian 274 keyboard definition at boot time, edit the "DEVINFO=KBD,..." entry in the CONFIG.SYS file to read:
DEVINFO=KBD,BR274,C:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
That's all!
INSTALLATION
To install the Keyboard US/BR274 program, unzip the KeybUSBR.ZIP file in a (temporary) directory and launch KeybInst.CMD.
The installation program will ask for a target directory name (new or existing) to which it will copy the program files.
In addition, a program object ("Keyboard US/BR274") will be created on the desktop. Launching the Keyboard US/BR274 program will change the keyboard definition from US to BR274 and vice versa. The program object icon will change to match the current keyboard definition. Each change of keyboard setting affects all instances of OS/2 programs, including VIOs and VDMs.
A handy place to put (a shadow of) the program object is on the OS/2 Taskbar (or Launchpad).
Once the installation has been completed you can delete the source files.
BUGS
Some earlier versions of 4OS/2 3.xx (up to and including version 3.02 revision A [build 129]) contain a bug that breaks RXQUEUE, and so prevents the KeybUSBR program from processing the KEYB command. This bug has been addressed in 4OS2 version 3.02 revision B (build 130), so the best solution is to upgrade to the latest version of 4OS2 (e.g. by simply applying the patch made available by JP Software, see <http://www.jpsoft.com>).
A workaround is to alter the settings of the KeybUSBR program object to use CMD.EXE rather than 4OS2.EXE (assuming you have defined 4OS2.EXE as your default command processor). To do so, proceed as follows:
- Open the properties notebook of the KeybUSBR program object;
- Copy the contents of the "Path and file name" entry to the clipboard;
- Change the "Parameters" entry to "/C " (without the quotes, but with the trailing space) followed by the clipboard contents;
- Change the "Path and file name" entry to "CMD.EXE" (without the quotes);
- Close the properties notebook.
The KeybUSBR program object should now work, changing the keyboard state and updating its own icon.
