TITLE
    Extended Keyboard: Purpose of Num/Caps/Scroll Lock LEDs (10/94)
Article ID:
Created:
Modified: 		16217
9/7/94
10/10/94
TOPIC



    What are the num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock LED's for on my Extended Keyboard and Extended Keyboard II? I've seen the caps lock LED come on but not the other two.

DISCUSSION


    The three LED's are triggered by an application, or, in the case of the caps lock LED, the activation of the caps lock function. The scroll lock and num lock are illuminated in only a few applications under the Macintosh operating system.

    The num lock LED will illuminate to indicate that the numeric keypad is locked into a mode where only numerals will be recognized. Some DOS/Windows applications use the numeric keypad for functions other than entering numerals. The num lock is activated most frequently by spreadsheet applications in the Mac OS environment.

    The scroll lock is not implemented in many current Macintosh applications. Some spreadsheet applications take advantage of the scroll lock to move the spreadsheet data up or down in the window. Its original purpose was to pause data scrolling by on screen in terminal emulation applications. This allowed one screen worth of information to be read by the user.


    Article Change History:
    10 Oct 1994 - Clarified use of the num lock and scroll lock keys.

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Document Information
Product Area: Peripherals
Category: Keyboards
Sub Category: General Topics

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