Proper use of peripherals that are surrounded by any computer or laptop is impossible without knowledge of what a keyboard layout is. A full understanding of what this category represents will allow the user to significantly expand their professional capabilities.
What is a keyboard layout
The layout generally means the arrangement of the icons and symbols of the selected alphabet (Latin or Russian) at certain positions of the keyboard field. Simply put, if the Russian set of characters is selected, then in any case, in the middle row, for example, the letters from "f" to "e" will be located. In general, when operating by default, the keyboard field will look like the one shown in the figure below.
If a Latin set of icons is selected in a specific situation, when you click on a particular key, English letters or special characters are typed that correspond to this option.
Important! Thus, simultaneously with the concept of “layout”, the term “input language” is introduced, which indicates which of the language packs stored in the OS is currently selected.
What are the keyboard layouts
The Russian set and Latin described above relate exclusively to the “software” layout, which is such in the generally accepted sense of the word. In addition, for each individual language several options can be selected. For the Russian set, in particular, the usual scheme is introduced - YTsUKEN and its phonetic version (YAVERTA).
For the Latin alphabet, three modifications are provided, namely:
- typical QWERTY;
- scheme "Dvorak";
- layout "Colemak".
Please note: The same type is often applied to several languages at once.
So, the QWERTY Latin, in a particular case, can be used to enter and display five foreign languages. Their set in different Windows operating systems can vary significantly.
In addition to the program input method, other types of it are possible, establishing compliance not according to the linguistic principle. According to the accepted classification, they are divided into the following types:
- Mechanical setting the shape, size and relative position of the buttons.
- Visual used to label individual keys.
- A special "functional" layout introduced by group or single click:
- Hardware that establishes the necessary correspondence of icons and symbols.
The latter type is persistent for most keyboards.
Why are the letters so
The most famous of the layouts (English QWERTY) for the most part was chosen randomly. In the era of typewriters, incompletely typed dialing mechanisms were used, which is why adjacent levers clung and pressed simultaneously. Therefore, the designers decided to spread the frequently used characters along the edges of the printing field. True, I had to sacrifice the speed of typing, but on the other hand, the number of damaged documentation sheets decreased markedly.
Additional Information! In addition, letters were spaced that in standard combinations (in frequently occurring words) followed one after another in a row. This technique has improved the speed of printing in two hands.
In addition, the version is quite plausible, according to which the combination of QWERTY allowed sellers to type the keyword "Typewriter" ("type writer"), using only the top row. The complete dominance of this layout and its transformation into a standard became possible only in 1888. Since that time, fast typing courses for people with visual impairments have become widespread. They decided to use exactly QWERTY.
After that, the network effect mechanism worked when it was profitable to sell machine models for which operators who had mastered this layout were already prepared. On the other hand, users tried to purchase exactly those models on which the already mastered scheme was used. As a result, it was transferred to one by one on the keyboard of the first calculators (progenitors of modern computers).
Keyboard Layouts
One of the known layout layout schemes takes into account the languages related to Russian (Ukrainian alphabet and Belarusian). Her large appearance with characteristic icons is given below.
Ukrainian and Belarusian
The green color in this diagram shows the main differences in comparison with the Belarusian one, and the blue color - with the expanded Ukrainian one. The AltGr key is only possible in the Ukrainian version; it is used to enter the letter "Ґ" marked in red.
Note! The last layout scheme is possible only on OS versions, starting from Windows Vista and following it.
Uppercase letters "b" and "s" can be typed here, but only with "Caps Lock" turned on. The capital letter "Ѝ" is also present in this scheme (a separate key is used to enter it). In its absence, this icon is typed in the same way as "Y" (that is, "Caps Lock" while holding down "Shift").
Another diagram is presented by the so-called "typographic" layout of Ilya Birman (a close-up of the layout is located in the picture below).
It offers an optimal way to recruit different types of typographic quotes.
Latin
Among the schemes of this class, the main ones are standard American and French layouts (the first is shown in the figure below in the text). On the Android phone, the same layout.
To write some French letters, the symbol "~" and "'" can be entered if you press the so-called "dead key", and immediately after that - on the space bar, or rather:
"Alt Gr" + "é", "space" → "~" and "Alt Gr" + "è", "space" → "'".
How to add and switch language
To switch the language scheme of any keyboard (as well as to add a new language), the functionality of each version of Windows has its own service. You can go to XP in it, for example, in the standard way - through the "Control Panel", in which you should find the column "Language and Regional Standards". After that, select the tab "Languages" and in the window that opens, find "Details".
Following this, a new window will appear in which you need to indicate the main keyboard layout (Russian, for example).
Additional Information! Formerly the main English language will need to be removed.
Next, you will need to click "Add" and select an additional layout (in this case, English).
To switch the language during the work, click on the tab "Language bar", after which its shape will appear in the tray for about hours. After that, it remains to put a checkmark against the desired position (Rus / Eng). You can achieve the same result if you press the Alt + Shift key combination.
In Windows 7, you will have to do the following operations:
- Call the context menu in the language bar and select "Parameters" in the list that appears.
- Once selected, the "Languages and Text Input Services" dialog box appears.
- It should go to the tab "General", in which the removal and addition of languages is carried out similar to the case already considered.
- To select a method of switching from one layout to another, you need to select a tab called "Switch keyboard".
In the window that opens for the dialogue, an intuitive way to change the language will be offered (if you click on "Change keyboard shortcuts"). After that, you can do this by pressing the combination of buttons that were selected by the previous action.
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