PCW: Entering apostrophe in UK game with USA keyboard? (The Pawn)

[Starglider]

Weird issue here. I have The Pawn adventure game by Magnetic Scrolls, which must be the UK version. I am using it in a rare USA PCW 8256 with USA keyboard that has a

• key where the UK [ ' ] key would be.
  
  I got quite far in the game, then the copyright protection asked me for a word from my manual. That word was, of course, "don't", requiring an apostrophe.
  
  No matter what key I tried, be it the # or the ' or any other likely suspect, I couldn't get an apostrophe to appear. The [Shift] +
• key combo actually was the only key that didn't produce a character on screen. (The key itself works fine in Locoscript or CPM.)
  
  I was then kicked out of the game.
  
  Not the end of the world, but the end of my adventure. Any ideas?

[GeoffB17]

Greetings,


Don't know.


However, according to my manuals, the apostrophe key is NOT one of the keys affected by the UK/US char set variance.


The apost should be chr(39) &H27.   However it displays.   Have you checked what ASCII code is returned when you press that key (the 6 key shifted).   I trust you've remembered that WHATEVER it shows as, the prog is looking for chr(39).


Create a little .TXT file, type in all the possible key strokes you can, save the file, then use DUMP to view the contents.   Look for a 27 in the hex data.   That's the key you need to use, whatever it looks like, and whatever is on the key.


Any help??


Geoff

[FloppySoftware]

It's a CP/M game?

If it's the case, you can use the SETKEYS command to assign the needed character to any key you want.

[Starglider]

Thanks guys, will try all that. Geoff, what's the syntax for SETKEYS please?

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[GeoffB17]

Hello,


Re SETKEYS, firstly, if you've got the system disks, there is an example setkeys file on Side 4, called KEYS.WP or KEYS.DRL (I assume dep on version ?)


The prog would be run as SETKEYS filespec where filespec is a text file containing one or more lines of key spec.


The syntax for each line is:


key-no (shift state) "char" (comment)


The key you may initially would be key 48, which is the 6 key that would normally have the apost on.


There is a chart of the key numbers in the CP/M manual p 109 (but you may not have that??).


This key would be shifted for the apost.


If you can't do an apost, you'll need to show the nex value for 'char'.


Hence, to do JUST the apost, your file will need to have:


48 S "^'039' "


where the ^ represents the up-arrow key on the PCW.   The catch - I see - is that entering this will need the apostrophe key to go either side of the 039, and if you can't do that???


Maybe you can work something by EDITING the KEYS.WP file, but it would be interesting to know what you SEE when you edit the file within CP/M.


BUT, the above will work ONLY if your system does actually allow a chr(39), which takes us back to the questions I was asking in my original message.


When you suggested that something worked OK within Loco and CP/M, what EXACTLY happens there when you press the 6 key shifted?

Just in case, I've prepared a file on my PCW, called APOST.TXT, and I attach it hereto.

Geoff

[Starglider]

Thanks. I think the solution is too complex for the need. That's not your fault of course. But I'll just play The Pawn again and hope for a different anti piracy word without the apostrophe.

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