Re: Right Alt/Meta keys on Windows systems

[Paul Pogonyshev]

Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> > > > I think it is related to the issue I raised under topic `wish: right 
> > > > alt/meta
> > > > to switch keyboard layout while pressed'.  I.e. right Alt acts as a 
> > > > temporary
> > > > layout switcher and so it does not look as Alt to applications.
> > > 
> > > Sorry, I'm not following: are you talking about keyboard language
> > > switch invoked on MS-Windows with the Alt-SPC combination?  If so,
> > > then the keyboard switch works for me as I'd expect (i.e., the same as
> > > it does in other Windows applications), and it doesn't affect the
> > > right Alt to META mapping in any way.
> > 
> > Well, you should have probably re-read that thread's opening message.
> 
> You must be kidding: I replied to that opening message.  It says:
> 
>     I currently find myself having to use Windows/XP for a short while.
>     ...
> 
> There's nothing here about language switching, just about rge right
> Alt key.

Yeah, but I said _that_ thread, not _this_ one.  I.e. I meant the thread
titled `wish: right alt/meta to switch keyboard layout while pressed'.

> > I'm talking about a common function of right Alt key: it temporary
> > (while pressed) disables the current layout and switches to English
> > layout.
> 
> I don't see this on MS-Windows.  Is this supposed to work on Windows?
> Note that the opening message clearly talks about Windows-related
> issues.

I have no idea how it works in Windows.  I just guessed that it might
work the same as it can be configured to work in X.  I certainly do
remember some very old MS-DOS cyrillic keyboard driver work like that
(temporary switching from Russian layout to English when the right Alt
is hold pressed.)

> > I guess _that's_ why right Alt doesn't work as Alt in Emacs for
> > Lennart Borgman.
> 
> The opening message wasn't from Lennart, it was from Paul Michael
> Reilly.

OK, sorry.

> > > Are we still talking about the MS-Windows port of Emacs?  Or are we
> > > talking about Emacs on GNU/Linux?  The OP raised the issue for
> > > Windows.
> > 
> > Now I'm talking about GNU/Linux, where Emacs is working incosistently with
> > the rest of the system.  It disregards Mode_switch (i.e. right Alt when
> > working in the layout-disabling mode I described above) when working with
> > LEIM.
> 
> That's another issue altogether, let's not add to confusion.

No it's not.  If someone proposes to override system differentiation
of the two Alt keys and treat them the same, while I propose to fully
honor the system differentiation of the Alt keys (if they are considered
different by the system to begin with), that's not another issue.  Those
are two opposing views on the same issue.

Paul