# Using the keyboard, mouse, screen, and sound

## Contents

- Overview
- Using the PC keyboard
- Other special hardware features
- Using the screen and mouse
- Using sound

## Overview

The Emulator allows users to use the PC’s keyboard, mouse, screen, and sound facilities as if they were the real input and output devices of a target machine. This section describes these facilities.

## Using the PC keyboard

The keyboard on your PC is similar to, but not the same as, that used on keyboard-equipped EPOC devices. The following table shows some special extra key assignments implemented by the Emulator:

PC key | Device function
Shift | shift on device keyboard
Ctrl | ctrl on device keyboard
Alt | fn on device keyboard
F1 | menu key: press to obtain the menu from an EPOC application
Alt+F2 | help key: press this to obtain general help on EPOC applications

SHIFT, CTRL and Fn are the EPOC modifier keys. Because target machines will almost always have fewer keys than a PC keyboard, EPOC programs should not rely on combinations such as Fn+PgUp, since PgUp may itself be implemented using Fn+Up.

The Menu key is not a modifier.

Note that the Windows locale keyboard setting will be translated by the Emulator into the equivalent EPOC locale.

## Other special hardware features

Special features typical of EPOC devices are also available when developing using the EPOC Emulator, through special key assignments.

Removable media support is simulated by two files in the PC’s temp directory, each representing one PC-Card device. Pressing F5 simulates opening the door, and pressing F4 while the door is open switches between the two simulated devices. When the Emulator is started, each device is equivalent to an empty, unformatted, volume. An F32 client under WINS may access the removable media using the EPOC y: drive.

Additionally, the Emulator is able to mimic the three external dictating machine buttons found on the underside of Psion Series 5 devices using special key assignments.

F6 | Play button
F7 | Rewind button
F8 | Record button
F9 | Power off: this minimises the EPOC Emulator window; you can power-on again by restoring the window
F10 | Emergency shutdown: this occurs on target machines when battery voltages fall below a certain level — the machine hasn't enough power to function normally, so it falls into a state in which data on the machine is preserved while there is still power in the main and backup batteries but no user operations are allowed
F11 | Case close toggle: adds the text "CASE CLOSED" to the Emulator window's title bar, and the keyboard and screen become inactive. Press the key again to simulate the case being reopened.

Automatic power-off — for example after a set time — is also simulated. The Emulator application minimises itself; restoring the application causes an EPOC power-on to be simulated.

## Using the screen and mouse

The Emulator window shows the screen on an EPOC device, with a sidebar to the left-hand-side, and a taskbar below.

EPOC devices often have touch-sensitive screens. To simulate a tap on the EPOC screen, use the PC mouse. Only the left button is supported.

The touch-sensitive area is extended beyond the LCD area of the screen, to include a sidebar and a taskbar. Use the sidebar to invoke the menu, edit, infrared or zooming functions; use the taskbar to launch or switch between applications:

- the System icon brings you to the permanently-running System shell, which allows you to navigate around EPOC’s folders and files, and to launch a file by pressing enter, or tapping, on a selected file; also, the System application includes a control panel which can be used to inspect and change various system settings
- the Word, Sheet, Data, Agenda, Time, Calc and Sketch icons allow you to either launch the corresponding application if it is not already running, or switch to the application if it is already open but you are in a different application, or to switch between instances of the application if multiple instances are open
- the Extras icon causes other application icons to slide up onto the screen, where they can be selected as if they were part of the permanent, off-screen, taskbar
- press Ctrl while tapping on System, to see a list of currently-running programs

## Using sound

The Emulator can drive the PC’s sound facilities to emulate sound functionality on a target machine. The PC setup should be as follows:

- a sound card supporting 16-bit PCM with the appropriate driver installed
- the Microsoft CCITT G.711 Audio CODEC installed in the `Audio Compression Codecs` section of the `Devices` page on the `Multimedia` `Control Panel` applet