Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucbvax!cck.coventry.ac.uk!esx038
From: esx038@cck.coventry.ac.uk ("W. J. G. Overington")
Newsgroups: comp.sys.transputer
Subject: (none)
Message-ID: <11231.9008060900@cck.cov.ac.uk>
Date: 6 Aug 90 11:00:48 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 42

Adrian Lawrence recently wrote
> Well, I make a keyboard template. And I would be lost and irritated if I had
> to remember (or even call up the help page for) all those funny key
> combinations. If you don't use a template, I am not at all surprised that you 
> find the TDS unfriendly! I suspect that I would put my fist through the screen
> pretty quickly in those circumstances!!! In case you are wondering, I use
> colour coding to identify control or ALT or SHIFT combinations.
> Again, in beta test, including a template with the TDS was considered: that
> was rejected because of the variety of different keyboards. But there is 
> something in the manual. By the time I volunteered to provide a set of
> PostScript files for all the common keyboards, it was too late. The product
> release was frozen.
> (But I guess that I could put that on the net as well if it is a useful use
> of bandwidth...)

I have recently begun using TDS and learning the various commands for
OPEN FOLD and the like.
I like the idea of the keyboard template and the idea of colour coding.

May I make a general suggestion please?

Whilst it would be easy for anyone to draw up their own template and
choose their own colours, can I suggest that we invite Adrian Lawrence to
circulate the particular colour choices that he made as, since, although
which colour is actually used by anyone is itself not critical, it might be
useful if everybody had the chance to be using the same colours.

This could be known as the NET QUASI-STANDARD FOR TDS TEMPLATES, or
indeed whatever Mr. Lawrence chooses to call it.

I do not know what a PostScript file is, but doubtless this will become
clear.

Indeed, I feel that, more generally, a collection of such quasi-standards
might be extremely useful.
It might make it a lot easier to converse over the net and telephone
about quite intricate problems.

Will Overington
esx038@uk.ac.coventry.cck
Coventry Polytechic,
England.