HP-UX Reference (11i v3 07/02) - 7 Device (Special) Files, 9 General Information, Index (vol 10)
h
hilkbd(7) hilkbd(7)
NAME
hilkbd - HP-HIL mapped keyboard driver
DESCRIPTION
HP-HIL, the Hewlett-Packard Human Interface Link, is the Hewlett-Packard standard for interfacing a
personal computer, terminal, or workstation to its input devices.
hilkbd supplies input from all mapped
keyboards on a specified HP-HIL link.
hilkbd returns mapped keycodes, not ASCII characters. "Raw" keycodes are the individual key down-
strokes and upstrokes, and are different for each type of keyboard.
hilkbd maps the raw input into the
keycodes and protocol expected by the HP-UX, Pascal Workstation, and BASIC/UX operating systems. The
hil driver can usurp a keyboard from hilkbd
by changing it from mapped mode to raw mode.
System Calls
open() gives exclusive access to the keyboard. If there is an ITE (internal terminal emulator) associated
with the keyboard, the ITE loses input from the keyboard until the keyboard device is closed. Any previous
queued input for the keyboard device is flushed from the input queue.
close() returns control of the keyboard to the ITE, if present. Any unread input is discarded at that
time.
read() returns data from the keyboard in time-stamped packets:
unsigned char time_stamp [4];
unsigned char
status;
unsigned char
data;
time_stamp, when repacked into an integer data type of four or more bytes, specifies the time since an arbi-
trary point in the past (for example, system start-up time). This point does not change between packets,
but time during a power failure may or may not be counted. The time is in units of tens of milliseconds.
The status byte encodes the state of the keyboard
Shift and Ctrl keys:
0x8X shift and control
0x9X control only
0xAX shift only
0xBX no shift or control
The data byte contains the actual keystroke.
If the file status flag O_NDELAY is set,
read() returns 0 instead of blocking, when no data is available.
The
read() system call on an HP-HIL keyboard is considered "slow"; that is, it can be interrupted by
caught signals (see signal(2)).
write() is not supported by hilkbd.
select() can be used to poll for input to read from hilkbd devices. select() for write or for excep-
tional conditions always returns a false indication in the bit masks.
ioctl() is used to perform special operations on the device. ioctl() system calls have the form:
int ioctl(int fildes, int request, char ∗arg);
The following hilkbd request codes are defined in <sys/hilioctl.h>:
KBD_READ_CONFIG
Read the configuration code.
This request returns a one-byte configuration code in the char variable to which arg
points. This contains a field, defined by KBD_IDCODE_MASK, which specifies the key-
board identification code. The possible values of this field are defined in the header file, and
this identification code affects interpretation of the language code. All other fields in the
configuration code are currently undefined.
KBD_READ_LANGUAGE
Read the language code.
This request returns a one-byte language code, as read from the keyboard, in the char
variable to which arg points. If there is more than one keyboard, the language is taken
from the first keyboard on the link. Interpretation of the language code is affected by the
56 Hewlett-Packard Company − 1 − HP-UX 11i Version 3: February 2007