Function keys

The main use of the function keys is to expose additional menus; they are all described more fully in their own section. Two, f9 and f10, are used to manipulate the color palette and to single out individual bitplanes. ERASE is used throughout CAMEX to clear the CAM planes, INSERT and f5 to initiate processes.

The process may be nothing more than to load the CAM 's rule table; in any event there are two lines in the upper left hand corner of the screen which reveal the process. Normally the lines are inactive; returning from the menu search which pertains to them will activate them. So also will the page and paragraph keys, showing one line at a time on the console. The CONTROL options move them to their respective extremes, in harmony with similar usage in text editors and similar programs.

In a similar fashion, the horizontal arrow keys will illuminate the parameter panel in the lower left hand corner; the vertical arrows raise and lower the parameter values. The arrows are always active, even when no display is showing; which may not have been a good decision given the possibility of inadvertently hitting the keys or moving the mouse.



Harold V. McIntosh
E-mail:mcintosh@servidor.unam.mx