In article <8gn7ct$kor$1@duke.telepac.pt>, Jorge Canelhas wrote: > I have a apple file://e with numeric keyboard in clude (i think its the > extended apple 2e) there is a switch bellow the keyb in the front of the > comp wghats it for it doesnt seem to do anything :( > > thanks a lot for the awnsers you keep suplying me The switch is used to modify some of the keyboard settings. The modification depends on the additional characters required by particular national language sets. Here is what the Apple IIe International Supplemental Manual has to say (this is just the United Kingdom section but the other countries tend to be pretty similar). Phil **Introduction This supplement describes the differences among the various models of the Apple 11 computer. This supplement will help you use manuals written for any of the other Apple 11 models, whether earlier models like the Apple 11 or 11 Plus, or other countries' models‹ especially the USA Apple lie. This supplement contains three main sections: * The general differences between international models of the Apple lle and the USA model. * Specific differences, country by country, between each international model of the Apple lle and the USA model. * General differences between the Apple lle and earlier models (Apple 11 and Apple 11 Plus). Not all models of the Apple lle are available in any given country. Consult your local Apple dealer for further information. **International and USA Models All international models described in this supplement share the following characteristics. * They have dual character sets, selected using a switch under the right side of the keyboard. In its left position, the switch selects your country's local keyboard layout and character set. In its right position, the switch selects the USA keyboard and character set (recommended for programming activities). * Your country's characters are printed on the left half of each key. * The programming (that is, USA) keyboard characters, where different from the local characters, are printed on the right half of each key. * Most keys have smaller printing on them, to make room for the extra information required by the dual keyboard. * For each character you type, one code is stored in the computer. Some characters, such as the numbers, are common to both sides of the dual keyboard. With these characters, the setting of the keyboard switch makes no difference, except possibly for the keyboard positions of these characters. Their codes and screen appearance are the same. * Other characters are alternate representations of the same codes. (Table U-8 lists these characters for each country.) In this case, moving the keyboard switch changes the screen appearance of any such characters you may already have typed. The printed form of each code depends on the printer you use‹ but most likely any printer you purchase in your country will print at least your country's set of characters, and perhaps even a second set. Consult the manual that came with the printer. There are two versions of the physical keyboard layout: one of them, in common use in Europe, conforms to ISO (International Standards Organization) recommendations; the other has the layout most used in North America. Figure U-1 illustrates the North American version of the USA keyboard (the same as the keyboard shown in the Owner's Manual). Figure U-2 illustrates the ISO version of the USA keyboard. Note the differences. * Three keys have different shapes: the left SHIFT key, the RETURN key, and the CAPS LOCK key. * Two keys have changed positions: the key next to CAPS LOCK on the North American keyboard is next to the narrow part of the RETURN key on the ISO keyboard. The key at the right end of the second row on the North Americal keyboard is adjacent to the left SHIFT key on the ISO keyboard. * Four keys have words written differently on them, and five keys have symbols rather than words on them (Table U-3). All these differences affect the keyboard drawings and text descriptions you may find in documents describing the Apple lie. Besides these differences, there are also specific differences for each international model, as described in the next sections. **United Kingdom Apple lle The British keyboard (Figure B-1 ) is almost identical to the USA keyboard shown in Figure U-2. In fact, the only difference is that pressing SHIFT-3 displays the British pound sterling symbol (£) with the keyboard switch in the left position, and the USA number symbol (#) with the keyboard switch in the right position. As it happens, both symbols have the same code inside the machine. Moving the keyboard switch merely changes the dot pattern displayed on the screen from the pattern for one symbol to the pattern for the other. The printed form of this code depends on the printer you use‹but most likely any printer you purchase for use in the United Kingdom will print the symbol for pound sterling. If a manual directs you to type the "#" symbol, you can type SHIFT-3 no matter which position the keyboard switch is in. (This simple correspondence does not always work on other international keyboards.) The British Apple lle (and all other European models) has a switch inside the computer halfway back on the right side of the main circuit board. For text or black and white video display, position this switch toward the keyboard. For color graphics display, position this switch away from the keyboard.