Editing Cursor keys

[[File:Cursor keys.jpg|thumb|250px|Cursor keys on a Matias [[Matias Tactile Pro 3|Tactile Pro 3]]]]

The '''cursor keys''' or '''arrow keys''' are the keys labelled with arrows provided for interactive navigation on a computer system. They move the text cursor and scroll through content on the screen. The standard arrangement has been the '''inverse-T''' layout for many years now, but historically there have been many different arrangements.

==History==
As shown below, a significant number of arrangements have been tried over the decades. Most keyboards today use the inverse-T arrangement, which was popularised by the 1982 [[DEC LK201]] keyboard. While the LK201 is widely considered to have introduced this layout, the inverse-T arrangement long pre-dates the LK201. The ADDS Envoy 620 portable computer, introduced in 1972, used inverse-T cursor keys ten year earlier.<ref name="ADDS-Envoy-620" />

The modern tendency is for the cursor keys to be isolated as their own cluster. In the case of both the LK201 and the Envoy 620, the cursor keys were part of the navigation cluster. The [[IBM Enhanced Keyboard|IBM Model M]] most likely popularised the idea of separating them out from the rest of the navigation keys, and the Model M layout has remained the baseline standard from that day onwards.

==Cursor keys by system==
The following is not an exhaustive list, nor a guide to when specific designs were first used. It is simply an illustrative guide to the variety of layouts that were tried before the inverse-T arrangement become the de facto standard.

===Lear Siegler ADM-3A (1976)===
The ADM-3A added cursor keys to the ADM-3 terminal. The Vi/Vim editor uses the same cursor key as the author used an ADM-3A terminal.<ref name="Vi-wikipedia" />
:[[File:Cursor keys--ADM-3A.svg]]

===Commodore PET (1977)===
The Commodore PET (in both its chiclet and full-travel varieties), only had two cursor keys, one per axis. Unshifted, they produced Down and Right respectively.
The VIC-20 (1981) and [[Commodore 64|C64]] (1982) followed but with the keys located just right of the right Shift key, allowing three-finger use more like with an inverse-T layout.
:[[File:Cursor keys--Commodore PET.svg]]

===DEC VT100 (1978)===
:[[File:Cursor keys--VT100.svg]]

===Apple III (1980)===
The Apple III computer introduced the L-shaped arrangement of arrow keys seen on various keyboards throughout Apple's early product ranges. The keys had unusual [[double action]] key switches that repeated faster when pressed to the bottom <ref name="ytadrianblack"/>
:[[File:Cursor keys--Apple III.svg]]

===BBC Microcomputer (1981)===
:[[File:Cursor keys--BBC Micro.svg]]

===DEC LK201 (1982)===
The [[DEC LK201]] keyboard popularised the now standard inverse-T layout.
:[[File:Cursor keys--LK201.svg]]

===Apple //e (1983)===
The Apple //e introduced the linear arrangement used on later Apple II microcomputers, which was also found on early Macintosh computers before Apple started gradually switching to the inverse-T layout.
:[[File:Cursor keys--Apple IIe.svg]]

===Amstrad CPC464 (1984)===
The CPC464 keyboard was one of many that placed the arrow keys in a cross shape with a key in the centre between them. In this case it was the split-cursor text copy key, previously seen on the 1981 BBC Micro.
:[[File:Cursor keys--CPC464.svg]]

===BBC Master Series (1986)===
The Master Series range had an extended keyboard with a [[numeric keypad]], and the cursor keys were split out into their own group with an unusual narrow arrangement, seen previously on some terminal keyboards.
:[[File:Cursor keys--BBC Master Series.svg]]

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Turns out the L design was used in various keyboards; the remainder of the commentary is interesting, but there's nowhere at present to put it, so it can be commented out for later editors to deal with.

===Apple Keyboard II (1990)===
The [[ANSI]] Apple Keyboard II used the same linear arrangement of cursor keys as introduced by the Apple //e. [[ISO]] layouts however used the L layout. Apple introduced inverse-T cursor keys to the Macintosh keyboard line in 1987 with the [[Apple Extended Keyboard]], but it would not be until the 1994 AppleDesign Keyboard that their standard [[rubber dome]] range would receive inverse-T arrows. The ISO Keyboard II cursor arrangement was also used on the [[Apple Adjustable Keyboard]] due to layout constraints.
:[[File:Cursor keys--Apple Keyboard II ISO.svg]]
-->
===WASD===
The [[WASD]] keys are used as cursor keys in games to such an extent that numerous companies now manufacture custom keycaps for this group of keys. Some compact keyboards use these keys as the actual cursor keys when the [[function key]] is held. The specific letters vary depending on locale; for example, French keyboards use ZQSD instead.
:[[File:Cursor keys--WASD.svg]] &nbsp; [[File:Cursor_keys--ZQSD.svg]]

==References==
<references>
<ref name="ADDS-Envoy-620">Terminals — [http://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/ADDS_Envoy_620 ADDS Envoy 620]</ref>
<ref name="ytadrianblack">Youtube. Adrian Black — [https://youtu.be/5qMP6A_U75E?t=2m26s The Apple III: My mini review and repair]. Dated 2017-04-04. Viewed 2017-09-13.</ref>
<ref name="Vi-wikipedia">Wikipedia — [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi Vi editor]</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Keyboard keys]]
[[Category:Keyboard terms]]