Keyboard

Keyboard

Connecting a Keyboard to the Aquarius⁺

Your best option is to use a non-Bluetooth, USB dongle-based wireless keyboard + mouse combo (usually 2.4Ghz). The mouse IS supported by the OS, and there are several demos that use its functionality.

Some wired USB keyboards work, as indicated by the list below, but keyboard with excessive power needs are problematic. USB hubs are not currently supported. As such, keyboards with a built-in USB HUB will not work (such as most wired Apple USB keyboards).

Verified Compatible Keyboards

Connection	Make & Model	Verified by
Wireless, USB Dongle	Logitech MK235 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse	van den Hoef, Harrington
Wireless, USB Dongle	Logitech K400+ Wireless Keyboard with Touchpad	Kaylor
Wireless, USB Dongle	XBox s/x Keyboard (no ESC or modifier keys)	Harrington
Wireless, USB Dongle	Rii K22 Wireless Keyboard with Touchpad	Harrington
Wireless, USB Dongle	Tecknet E0WK013015 Wireless KBD/Mouse	Wharton
Wireless, USB Dongle	Tecknet X315 Wireless Keyboard	Wharton
Wired	DELL Keyboard, KB216t	Kaylor
Wired	DELL Keyboard, RT7D50	Templeman
Wired	ViewSonic KeyMate KBM-KU-306 VSACC27936-2M	Harrington
Wired	Kinesis Advantage 2	Konrath
Wired	CHERRY Stream Keyboard TKL Wired	Konrath
Wired	HP SK-2120	Templeman
Wired	perixx PERIBOARD-409WU	Wharton
Wired	Rii Rk100+	Kaylor
Wired	Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600	D.W.Scott

Keyboard Shortcuts (Hardware)

Key combo	Description
ESC	Equivalent of pressing CTRL-C, for example used to stop a BASIC program
CTRL+ESC	Reset the Aquarius+ (Z80 bus reset)
CTRL+SHIFT+ESC	Reset the ESP32 + FPGA + Z80, somewhat equivalent to turning the system off and on again
ScrollLock	When scroll lock (LED) is on, the cursor keys and F1-F6 will function as a hand controller connected to port 1.
NumLock	When num lock (LED) is on, the numbers of the keypad will type numbers on your Aquarius+.
PrintScreen	Take screenshot (text mode only). Saved as screenshot01.scr. Filename will increment every time the key is pressed, but will revert to 1 when the ESP32 is rebooted.
GUI+F10	Enable bordered (original Aquarius) mode [704 x 480]
GUI+F11	Enable borderless mode... better for 80 column mode on panel displays [640 x 480]
GUI+F12	Dump the contents of a cartridge connected to the cartridge port to a file called dumpfile.rom

The GUI key is the same as the Windows logo key on most PC keyboards or the Apple icon on Mac keyboards.

While these are shortcuts for HARDWARE, most of this functionality is available as menu options within the emulator.

plusBASIC Control Keys

The use of modern, international USB keyboards on the Aquarius⁺, combined with the need to rework and expand the full command set within plusBASIC led to the removal of the legacy CTRL key "quick type" commands from the original Aquarius. These shortcuts were only marginally useful, and few people used them in entering BASIC programs. By abandoning and removing these old shortcuts, a set of new, more useful system shortcuts has been added.

Ctrl-Key combo	Description
CTRL+C	Breaks out of running program, DIR, or LIST, cancels line entry in Direct Mode
CTRL+D	Disables turbo mode (while a program is running)
CTRL+F	Enables turbo mode (while a program is running)
CTRL+G	Causes a beep to sound (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+H	Same as the Backspace key
CTRL+J	Turns key repeat on (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+K	Turns key repeat off (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+M	Same as the ENTER key
CTRL+N	Enable the "New" (Latin-1) character set (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+O	Enable the "Old/Original" Aquarius character set (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+P	Enable previously loaded Custom character set (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+R	Retypes current line (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+S	Pauses running program, DIR, or LIST, cancels line entry in Direct Mode
CTRL+T	Switches to the primary 40 column text screen (in Direct Mode)
CTRL+U	Clears input buffer and starts over (Direct Mode and INPUT) Enables unlimited turbo mode (while a program is running)
CTRL+W	Switches to the 80 column text screen (in Direct Mode)
CTRL+X	Clears input buffer and starts over (Direct Mode and INPUT)
CTRL+Y	Switches to the secondary 40 column text screen (in Direct Mode)

Key Repeat

With the introduction of Release V0.18a, the keyboard now repeats typing the letter when a key is held down in Direct Mode. Key repeat is turned OFF by default when a plusBASIC program is running, as it is generally undesirable due to the way the KEY, GETKEY, GETKEY$, and INKEY$ commands scan for keys. Within a plusBASIC program, you can use the SET KEY 7 command to turn key repeat ON and SET KEY 3 to turn key repeat OFF.

Compose Keys

With the introduction of Release V0.18a, the Aquarius⁺ can support typing extended characters. For the characters to be visible, the user must first enable the Latin-1 character set by typing CTRL+N (the Aquarius character set can be re-enabled by typing CTRL+O).

For example, to type the copyright © character within a print statement like PRINT "Copyright © 1982" a user would have to type the following:

• Type in PRINT "Copyright (note a SPACE after 't' in Copyright).
• Hold down the LeftAlt key and press the o key and then the c key, then release the LeftAlt key.
• The © character should appear. If it looks like two pixel blocks, type CTRL+N to switch to the extended character set.
• Continue typing 1982 followed by the RETURN key (note SPACE before '1982').
• System should display Copyright © 1982 followed by Ok on the next line.

Char	LeftAlt		Char	LeftAlt		Char	LeftAlt		Char	LeftAlt
€	=c =C =E		°	oo		À	`A		à	`a
¡	!!		±	+-		Á	'A		á	'a
¢	|c c| c/ /c		²	^2		Â	^A		â	^a
£	L- -L		³	^3		Ã	~A		ã	~a
¤	ox xo		´	''		Ä	"A		ä	"a
¥	Y= =Y		µ	mu		Å	oA		å	oa
¦	!^		¶	p! P! PP		Æ	AE		æ	ae
§	so		·	..		È	`E		è	`e
§	os		¸	,spc spc,		É	'E		é	'e
©	oc oC		¹	^1		Ê	^E		ê	^e
ª	aa		º	^0		Ë	"E		ë	"e
«	<<		»	>>		Ì	`I		ì	`i
¬	,- -,		¼	14		Í	'I		í	'i
(-)	--		½	12		Î	^I		î	^i
®	or oR Or OR		¾	34		Ï	"I		ï	"i
¯	^-		¿	??		Ò	`O		ò	`o
×	xx		÷	:- -:		Ó	'O		ó	'o
Ç	,C		ç	,c		Ô	^O		ô	^o
Ð	DH		ð	dh		Õ	~O		õ	*~o
Ñ	~N		ñ	~n		Ö	"O		ö	*"o
Ý	'Y		ý	'y		Ø	/O		ø	/o
Þ	TH		þ	th		Ù	`U		ù	`u
ß	ss		ÿ	"y		Ú	'U		ú	'u
						Û	^U		û	^u
						Ü	"U		ü	"u