Why There is 12 Function key on Key board? [modified]

[RC_Sebastien_C]

Design flaw, it should be 42 :)

[Ali Taghvajou]

I've read it completely twice! No exact and scientific reason!

[Ali Taghvajou]

yes, 24 function key.

[NormDroid]

VT220 had 20 Fn keys.

Software Kinetics - The home of good software

[CPallini]

Because the function key design chief engineer at IBM had previous experiences in egg-packing companies. :rolleyes:

If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]

[Ali Taghvajou]

U joking or it is real?? any doc if real?

[Ian Shlasko]

Ali Taghvajou wrote:

Do any one know the philosophy of existing 12 function key F1-F12 on key board?
why it is not 14 or 10?

Because it's 12. It's 12 because enough computer manufacturers used 12 that it became standard. In the old days, different computers had different numbers of function keys. Now, it's pretty standard... ...but System.Windows.Input.Keys still has enum values up to F24.

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

[Mike Hankey]

12 is used to confuse Rednecks since we count with our fingers.

Semper Fi http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^]
www.jaxcoder.com[^] WinHeist

[CPallini]

Well, he wrote the documentation on old newspapers sheets (i.e. the former 'devices' for egg-packing tasks) and I don't know if it survived... :-\

If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]

[Wayne Gaylard]

What do you use the Compose key for now then ?

...and I have extensive experience writing computer code, including OIC, BTW, BRB, IMHO, LMAO, ROFL, TTYL.....

[realJSOP]

I personally think the keys should start at F0 instead of F1.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997

[Lost User]

I've often wished I had access to an Eff Oh key.

Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends.

[Luc Pattyn]

I doubt that. Picture here[^]. :)

Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles] Nil Volentibus Arduum

Please use <PRE> tags for code snippets, they preserve indentation, improve readability, and make me actually look at the code.

[NormDroid]

Oh like this? VT320/VT220[^] and this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LK201[^] ;P

Software Kinetics - The home of good software

[Ian Shlasko]

Maybe we should go back to 24 keys, but use letters instead of numbers... FA, FB, FC, FD... And the-key-formerly-known-as-F21 should be a shortcut for Kill Process.

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

[Dave Parker]

*shrugs* dunno. My first computer was a C64 with 8 function keys though. After that I had an Amiga which had 10 (though it did have separate dedicated keys for "Help" and maybe a few other things). My latest keyboard (which I can't currently use due to driver issues and think I need to reinstall windows to get the damn thing working) has 24 - F1 to F12 and G1 to G12. Though the G keys are programmable macro ones which I've never really found a use for.

[realJSOP]

On the keyboard I'm using, there is room over the backspace key for a 13th F key, even with the little gap that separates every fourth key.

".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997

[Gregory Gadow]

On the earliest computer keyboards, there were no dedicated function keys. Instead, you had a Fn button which, when used with the number row keys, had special meaning. Some laptop computers continue to use this arrangement today. The next step was to expand the keyboards to eliminate the Fn key and add dedicated function buttons. Because of their being ten numbers, there were ten function keys. In later designs, keyboards typically had 14 keys in the top row: the backtick, one through zero, bottom dash, equals, and backspace. Briefly, keyboards had 14 function keys, one above each of the keys in the regular top row. Having the Esc key in the top left became common and eventually the standard, replacing the left-most function key. Rather than have 13 function keys and scaring off a lot of superstitious ninnies, the number was reduced to 12. This also added a bit of space to offset the function keys, making them a bit easier to use quickly.

[Gregory Gadow]

Originally, there were no function keys, just a special button (Fn) similar to Ctrl or Alt. Fn was used with the number keys, which have always been layed out 1 to 0. So when dedicated function keys were added to keyboards, they kept the same arrangement with F1 on the left, then F2, F3 and so on. Having F0 as the right most looked funny, so it came to be labeled as F10.

[leppie]

Ali Taghvajou wrote:

Any Story or Reason?

CPU architecture proved that RISC is superior to CISC.

((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x)))