Caps lock
Encyclopedia
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
s. Pressing it sets an input mode in which typed letters are uppercase by default. The keyboard remains in caps lock mode until the key is pressed again. On some computers, holding down the shift key
Shift key
The shift key is a modifier key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper" characters. There are typically two shift keys, on the left and right sides of the row below the home row...
while caps lock is on temporarily switches to lowercase.
User interfaces
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
to indicate that caps lock is active—either on the key itself, or in a row with scroll lock
Scroll lock
Scroll lock is a keyboard button on some computer keyboards. The key is not frequently used and therefore some keyboards lack Scroll Lock altogether....
and num lock
Num lock
Num Lock is a key on the numeric keypad of most computer keyboards. It is a toggle key, like Caps Lock and Scroll Lock. Its state is commonly represented by an LED light built into the keyboard....
indicators. However, some new laptop and wireless desktop keyboards lack the LED, instead providing software that gives an on-screen indicator.
People typing case-sensitive
Case sensitivity
Text sometimes exhibits case sensitivity; that is, words can differ in meaning based on differing use of uppercase and lowercase letters. Words with capital letters do not always have the same meaning when written with lowercase letters....
passwords that are not displayed verbatim on the screen may not realize that caps lock is on, causing errors. Help guides, tech support materials, and sometimes the interface itself may include advice on checking caps lock before typing a password. In Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
login screens, a warning that caps lock is on is shown in a balloon near the field. In Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, when caps lock is on, a caps lock symbol (⇪) is displayed inside a password field. Operating systems may also provide audible notifications when caps-lock, num-lock, or scroll-lock buttons are toggled.
Some manufacturers include an option in the controller software to deactivate the caps lock key. This behaviour allows users to decide themselves whether they want to use the key, or to disable it to prevent accidental activation.
History
The keyboards of many early computer terminalComputer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system...
s, including the Teletype
Teletype Corporation
The Teletype Corporation, a part of American Telephone and Telegraph Company's Western Electric manufacturing arm since 1930, came into being in 1928 when the Morkrum-Kleinschmidt Company changed its name to the name of its trademark equipment...
Model 33 ASR and Lear-Siegler ADM-3A
ADM-3A
The ADM-3A was one of the first computer terminals manufactured by Lear Siegler, first produced in 1975. It had a 12 inch screen displaying 12 or 24 lines of 80 characters.- Details :Originally priced at $1195, a DIY kit later sold for $995...
, and early models of the IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
, positioned the Ctrl key where caps lock resides on modern keyboards.
The undesirable attributes of caps lock have led some power users to swap the positions of the two keys using aftermarket modifications; in the same vein, the One Laptop Per Child computers opt to place Ctrl in the caps lock position and discard caps lock entirely. In a similar vein, the Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
Cr-48 netbook replaces caps lock with a dedicated "Search" key.
Shift lock
The shift lock key could be considered the ancestor of the caps lock, as it appeared on the keyboards of many mechanical typewriters. It is not the same thing as a caps lock key, but it is nowadays rare for a computer to have both. For instance, the Commodore 64Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
had a shift lock but no caps lock: by depressing the key labeled "Shift Lock", it latched and stayed that way until unlatched, and brought up again. With the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, there was no scan code associated with the shift lock key because it served only one purpose—grounding all of the keyscan lines as though the shift key were being pressed.
Some operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s and window manager
Window manager
A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment...
s allow caps lock to be used for a similar function. This behaviour of the caps lock survives, however, in German and Austrian keyboards.
On modern QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
keyboards, though the caps lock mode capitalises letters, it does not affect other keys, such as numbers or punctuation, in the way that the shift key does. (This is the main difference between a caps lock key and a shift lock key.) A version of caps lock that behaves like a shift lock, affecting all keys as though a shift key were depressed, does exist on certain layouts such as the French AZERTY and those of some older computers. The origin of the function is found on mechanical typewriters, where the shift key causes the entire type apparatus to elevate upwards, physically shifting to produce capitals and secondary characters.
Some electronic typewriters treat Caps Lock as Shift Lock.
International Caps Lock Day
28 June and 22 October are annually marked as International Caps Lock Days as a parody holiday first noted in 2000.Rivaling Caps Lock Days have been since set up, such as 22 August.
External links
- Wiki:CapsLockOff—describes how to remap the caps lock key for other purposes.
- CAPSoff Official Website
- Caps lock day official site.