Returning user

Hi all,

I’m Andreas. I’m a physicist from Sweden, and I learned programming C on RISCPCs in my secondary school half a lifetime ago. Though I’m a GNU/Linux user both privately and professionally since many years, I’ve had a soft spot for RISC OS since. My involvement with RISC OS has been minimal though: I’ve tried ROOL a bit before, and a few years back I wrote a Python tribute to Zarch, as a present/tribute to my old programming teacher (it’s available on gitlab⁰ and github,¹ but the code is very old by now…). I have an Archimedes and an Electron, though sadly neither is up and running at the moment. I’ve been contemplating asking my old school to see if they still have their old RISC machines, to see if I can save them from the scrap heap.

Anyway, I thought now, with the PI 400 just out and hopefully soon supported, was a good time to join the community. One of my main hurdles for using ROOL regularly is that I am a Colemak(UK) user, and this keyboard layout is not available in ROOL as far as I can tell. However, it seems the format² for making new layouts is fairly straight forward, so maybe I’ll have a go with that. :)

Anyway, happy to be here!

⁰ : https://gitlab.com/brandmateriel

¹ : https://github.com/skymandr/brandmateriel

² : https://gitlab.riscosopen.org/RiscOS/Sources/Internat/IntKey/-/blob/master/Doc/FileFormat

Welcome!

Thank you!

Welcome!

Your Python Zarch-a-like brings back lots of memories.

I did have make a small change before it would work, I’ve raised an issue on GitHub and GitLab.

However, it seems the format for making new layouts is fairly straight forward, so maybe I’ll have a go with that. :)

1st – As others said – Welcome.

Give it a go.
If you figure out what you need to do to add values to the function keys (which includes the cursor keys etc) then do let us know.
I can see how to swap keys around, and theoretically mapping values in the FNKey file from the .inc directory means you can do things like map F12 down onto F2 for the keyboards that lack a certain something (like a full set of Fn keys)

Your Python Zarch-a-like brings back lots of memories.
I did have make a small change before it would work, I’ve raised an issue on GitHub and GitLab.

Thanks! I never got around to implementing sounds, so it’s a very pointless error to get, but now it’s fixed. Good, in case I decide to get back to it. I already wrote this on the issue, but I’ll reveal here as well that there is a secret option in the menu, for those who want a sligthly more authentic experience… Glad you liked it!

Give it a go.
If you figure out what you need to do to add values to the function keys (which includes the cursor keys etc) then do let us know.
I can see how to swap keys around, and theoretically mapping values in the FNKey file from the .inc directory means you can do things like map F12 down onto F2 for the keyboards that lack a certain something (like a full set of Fn keys)

Thanks, I’ll see if I can wrap my head around it. I suppose I’ll have to get the DDE first though.

Thanks, I’ll see if I can wrap my head around it. I suppose I’ll have to get the DDE first though.

Probably a good move, but the source archive as downloaded contains the binaries that are used to create new mappings (keygen and keyconv) and poking those in the right way gives you the syntax they use so you can experiment with that part before you have the DDE.

I managed to make an Obey script⁰ (with a lot of help from !KeyMapCfg by Owl-Art¹). This doesn’t quite solve every issue, but it is enough to make the OS useable, which will help with trying to make a new more comprehensive layout.

As a side note, I noticed that github.com really doesn’t work very well in NetSurf… ;)

⁰ https://www.riscosopen.org/forum/forums/11/topics/15896

¹ http://www.owlart.co.uk/ The program isn’t available on the homepage as far as I can tell, but it is available on !PlingStore, which for some reason I cannot access in a browser. It is a utility for !KeyMapper by James Peacock², see also ³.

² http://www.effarig.co.uk/riscos/

³ https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/show/Welcome%20to%20RISC%20OS%20Pi