Apple II
Technical Notes
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                                                  Developer Technical Support


Apple IIc
#4:    Dvorak Keyboard Layout

Revised by:    Matt Deatherage                                  November 1988
Revised by:    Cameron Birse                                    February 1986

This Technical Note discusses the Dvorak keyboard layout on the Apple IIc.
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The old, red version of the Apple IIc Reference Manual incorrectly illustrated 
the Dvorak keyboard layout, however, the current Apple IIc Technical Reference 
Manual contains a corrected diagram on page 370.

The diagram in the current manual shows the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (DSK) 
as it appears and functions on the Apple IIc today.  This layout is the ANSI 
standard for the Dvorak keyboard layout, which was not available when the 
original IIc keyboard ROM was created.  Previous IIc computers had a DSK 
layout as follows:
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  |    | !  | @  | #  | $  | %  | ^  | &  | *  | (  | )  | {  | }  |      |
  |esc | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | 9  | 0  | [  | ]  |delete|
  _________________________________________________________________________
  |      | ?  | <  | >  | P  | Y  | F  | G  | C  | R  | L  | :  | +  | |  |
  |tab   | /  | ,  | .  | p  | y  | f  | g  | c  | r  | l  | ;  | =  | \  |
  _________________________________________________________________________
  |        | A  | O  | E  | U  | I  | D  | H  | T  | N  | S  | _  |       |
  |control | a  | o  | e  | u  | i  | d  | h  | t  | n  | s  | -  |return |
  _________________________________________________________________________
  |          | "  | Q  | J  | K  | X  | B  | N  | W  | V  | Z  |          |
  |shift     | '  | q  | j  | k  | x  | b  | n  | w  | v  | z  |shift     |
  _________________________________________________________________________
  |caps| ~  |  |    |                            |    |    |    |||  |/\  |
  |lock| `  |  | OA |          space bar         | CA |<== |==> |\/  |||  |
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              Figure 1-Dvorak DSK Layout on Early IIc Computers

Due to service part changes and other manufacturing considerations, it is not 
possible to identify which IIc units have which keyboard ROM by looking at 
identification bytes.  If a program requires knowledge of this information 
(i.e., a typing program which draws the Dvorak keyboard), it must ask the user 
for input.

One possible way to accomplish this would be for a program to draw a blank 
keyboard layout (except for shift, tab, control, and other keys which do not 
move between Dvorak and Sholes layouts) and ask the user to press the key to 
the right of the left shift key, while the drawing on screen highlights the 
correct key to press.  If the key is a Z, the layout is a standard Sholes 
layout.  If the key is an apostrophe or quotation mark, the layout is the DSK 
layout shown above.  If the key is a semicolon or colon, the layout is the 
ANSI DSK layout on new IIc models.  Since such a program must already ask the 
user if the keyboard switch is depressed (indicating a Dvorak layout), making 
this type of inquiry instead will do the trick.

The IIc manual has another DSK diagram in the front, on page 7.  This diagram 
correctly shades those symbols which are in different places in the two DSK 
layouts.


Further Reference
o    Apple IIc Technical Reference Manual

