3 ms·

What this does is first send a BS to move the cursor back by one, then send a space to rub out the previous character on screen and then send another BS to get

What this does is first send a BS to move the cursor back by one, then send a space to rub out the previous character on screen and then send another BS to get to the previous cursor position. Fortunately, my terminal lives in a world where doing this is instantaneous. So much knowledge has been forgotten. This is exactly what DEL did in it's original incarnation. on early VT terminals it was effectively a macro that triggered BS+SPACE+BS. Depending on the VT configuration you specified, hitting the Delete key (the one up there above your Enter key) would either send a basic BS(8), or DEL(127). This behaviour also existed in many early terminal apps for BBS type dial-up.

digi_owl 9y ago
> the Delete key (the one up there above your Enter key) I would have said "to the right of", but then i am one of those dinosaurs that still use a desktop computer with a full width keyboard.
- praseodym 9y ago
  That’s a different button: I think OP means the button that many people call ‘Backspace’ (it is labelled ‘delete’ on Apple keyboards though).
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    As if Apple was not confusing enough already...
    - xxpor 9y ago
      My HHKB2 actually has it as a Delete key also. I had to flip a dip switch to change it to BS.
      - digi_owl 9y ago
        And Japan can rival USA in being fanatic about Apple computers...
    - thisacctforreal 9y ago
      On the flip side; if you had babyduck'd to Apple instead, then Windows would be the odd one out of the modern operating systems. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_duck_syndrome https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_duck_syndrome
      - digi_owl 9y ago
        I can see why you qualified that with "modern" as going back just a bit, i am hard pressed to find any computer other than Apple that labeled that key with Delete. Amiga 500 use the left pointing arrow. Atari ST actually labeled it Backspace.
  - Jaruzel 9y ago
    > hitting the Delete key (the one up there above your Enter key) Yup I meant the 'Backspace' key that looks like this: <--- Not the 'Delete' key that says 'Delete' and is clustered with End/Home/Insert etc. Interestingly, on Windows machines, The backspace key sends ASCII 8, but can send ASCII 127 if you press control+backspace.

digi_owl 9y ago

> the Delete key (the one up there above your Enter key) I would have said "to the right of", but then i am one of those dinosaurs that still use a desktop computer with a full width keyboard.

praseodym 9y ago
That’s a different button: I think OP means the button that many people call ‘Backspace’ (it is labelled ‘delete’ on Apple keyboards though).
- digi_owl 9y ago
  As if Apple was not confusing enough already...
  - xxpor 9y ago
    My HHKB2 actually has it as a Delete key also. I had to flip a dip switch to change it to BS.
    - digi_owl 9y ago
      And Japan can rival USA in being fanatic about Apple computers...
  - thisacctforreal 9y ago
    On the flip side; if you had babyduck'd to Apple instead, then Windows would be the odd one out of the modern operating systems. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_duck_syndrome https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_duck_syndrome
    - digi_owl 9y ago
      I can see why you qualified that with "modern" as going back just a bit, i am hard pressed to find any computer other than Apple that labeled that key with Delete. Amiga 500 use the left pointing arrow. Atari ST actually labeled it Backspace.
- Jaruzel 9y ago
  > hitting the Delete key (the one up there above your Enter key) Yup I meant the 'Backspace' key that looks like this: <--- Not the 'Delete' key that says 'Delete' and is clustered with End/Home/Insert etc. Interestingly, on Windows machines, The backspace key sends ASCII 8, but can send ASCII 127 if you press control+backspace.