File LK250.HLP            LK250 KEYBOARD UTILITY                  January 1990
 
 
LK250.COM is a "device driver" for the DEC LK250 keyboard.  This is a keyboard
made by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) which can be substituted for IBM's
keyboard on IBM PC/ATs and compatibles.  This program has no effect when run
on original PCs and PC/Xts.
 
Here's what LK250 does:
 
1) It allows the keyboard to be switched from DEC to IBM mode and back under
program control.  This replaces the "Press Alt-Special" mechanism provided
by DEC.
 
2) It allows programs which call it to manipulate the state of the keyboard.
Currently, MS-DOS Kermit only does this to set/clear the Hold Screen LED, so
that the user can tell if s/he's in Hold Screen mode.
 
3) It intercepts certain key scancodes which normally can't be seen (like Num
Lock) so that they can be used as DEC functions.
 
LK250.COM controls the behavior of the top-row function keys and the two
keypads on the right end of the keyboard.  When LK250.COM is active, it puts
your LK250 keyboard into "DEC" mode, meaning that the legends on the keytops
apply, rather than the blue labels on the front of the keys.  The blue labels
correspond to IBM keys and functions.
 
If LK250.COM is loaded, MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 will make use of it by putting the
keyboard into DEC mode during terminal emulation (CONNECT), and returning it
to IBM mode whenever terminal emulation ends.
 
When LK250.COM is told to go into DEC mode by Kermit's CONNECT command then
the scan codes of the DEC keys are mapped to the MS-DOS Kermit keyboard verbs
of the same name as the DEC keys, so the keyboard appears to work like the
regular LK201 DEC keyboard found on the VT200 and 300 series terminals.
Here's the list of assignments when LK250.COM is active and the keyboard is in
DEC mode:
 
LK250 Key           Assignment (Character or Kermit Verb)
 
Compose             Escape (\27)                  Main Keyboard
Backspace           DEL (\127)
Shift-Backspace     Backspace (\8)
Return              Carriage return (\13)
Shift-Return        Linefeed (\10)
Tab                 Horizontal Tab (\9)
 
F1  (Hold)          \Kholdscrn                    Top Row Function Keys
F2  (Print Screen)  \Kprtscn
F3  (Setup)         (none)
F4                  (none)
F5  (Break)         \Kbreak
F6  (Interrupt)     \KdecF6
F7  (Resume)        \KdecF7
F8  (Cancel)        \KdecF8
F9  (Main Screen)   \KdecF9
F10 (Exit)          \KdecF10
F11 (ESC)           \KdecF11
F12 (BS)            \KdecF12
F13 (LF)            \KdecF13
F14 (Insert/Overst) \KdecF14
F15 (Help)          \KdecHelp
F16 (Do)            \KdecDo
F17                 \KdecF17
F18                 \KdecF18
F19                 \KdecF19
F20                 \KdecF20
 
Find                \KdecFind                     Cursor/select keypad (gray)
Insert Here         \KdecInsert
Remove              \KdecRemove
Select              \KdecSelect
Prev                \KdecPrev
Next                \KdecNext
Up Arrow            \Kuparr
Left Arrow          \Klfarr
Right Arrow         \Krtarr
Down Arrow          \Kdnarr
 
PF1 (Gold)          \Kgold                         Numeric keypad
PF2                 \Kpf2
PF3                 \Kpf3
PF4                 \Kpf4
Keypad 7            \Kkp7
Keypad 8            \Kkp8
Keypad 9            \Kkp9
Keypad - (Minus)    \Kkpminus
Keypad 4            \Kkp4
Keypad 5            \Kkp5
Keypad 6            \Kkp6
Keypad , (Comma)    \Kkpcoma
Keypad 1            \Kkp1
Keypad 2            \Kkp2
Keypad 3            \Kkp3
Keypad Enter        \Kkpenter
Keypad 0            \Kkp0
Keypad . (Period)   \Kkpdot
 
To install LK250.COM, just type "lk250" (this assumes that the file LK250.COM
is in your current disk and directory or in your DOS path).  You can also
run LK250 from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you want it to be active all the
time.  To build LK250.COM from the assembly language source, see the
instructions in the source file, LK250.ASM.
 
The LK250 program was written in IBM PC assembly language and contributed to
Kermit Distribution by Terry Kennedy, St. Peter's College, Jersey City, New
Jersey, USA (TERRY@SPCVXA.BITNET), December 1989.
 
End of File LK250.HLP.
