[GreenKeys] ENTER

[Nick England]

026 Keypunch is here with keyboard layout and a nice explanation of the
card release/feed procedure (analogous to CR/LF)
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/026.html
029 info is here.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/029.html

Yeah that brings back memories.....


On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 11:12 AM, David Christ <radioham at mchsi.com> wrote:

> An interesting question.  I started with computers in 1960 and to
> this day it is return for me.  I don't recall keypunches having enter
> keys but the 3270 terminals did have an entry key.  It has been many
> years now since i have used this equipment so I may get some details
> wrong but here are my recollections.  The 3270 system was built
> before high speed communications were available.  I used the 3278
> monochrome and 3279 color models.  The terminal would display a full
> page of information. Either 80 or 132 characters wide and 24 or 27
> lines long.  This information was held in memory.  The unit could be
> formatted as an entry form so there would be places on the screen to
> fill in the information.  You could tab or new line (this key is
> where the return key is normally located) from field to field.  When
> you had everything entered you would press the enter key (to the
> right of the space bar) and only the entry fields would be sent to
> the mainframe.   This minimized the amount of data transmitted and as
> it was sent in bursts several terminals could use the same port into
> the mainframe.
>
> The PC was used in many business as a replacement for 3270 access to
> the mainframe as well as for spread sheet and word processing.  The
> IBM PC keyboard inherited much from the 3270 system.  The "CR" key
> was labeled both with the word enter and the down and left pointing
> arrow from the 3270 new line key.
>
> I personally believe the enter label is a hangover from IBM.
>
> Carriage return has not disappeared.  Current Macintosh keyboards use
> the word Return.  However they also have the label enter in smaller
> type because so many program instructions use the word entry.
>
> This makes me feel so old.
>
> David K0LUM
>
> >
> >I was wondering if the origin of the ENTER key (as opposed to CR) was
> >also in teletype chat?
> >
> >Or did manual keypunches have an enter key?
> >
> >Or did it really only evolve with IBM?
> >
> >With kind regards, David
> ______________________________________________________________
>
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