Programmable function keys (was Re: .plan)

[Barry Margolin]

In article <1815 at cunixc.cc.columbia.edu> fuat at cunixc.cc.columbia.edu (Fuat C. Baran) writes:
>Just out of curiosity, what unix applications make use of a terminal's
>capability to rebind function keys and/or have it type back arbitrary
>data on command?

I don't know any specific Unix applications that do this (Unix
applications tend not to rely on features not supported by most
terminals), but I can certainly imagine generic applications that
could use the ability.

Someone else already mentioned programming function keys at login
time.  Another use would be to remap the keyboard completely, say to
Dvorak style (yes, there *are* terminals that let you remap any key --
I believe the Ann Arbor Ambassador can do this).  Editors and
forms-filling programs might want to do this, too.

Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar at think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar