Re: Proposal: merge [S-tab] and [backtab]

[Chad Brown <yandros@MIT.EDU>]

On Aug 2, 2010, at 1:11 PM, Stefan Monnier wrote:

>> I think I was the one who mentioned S-iso-tab (in the bug thread).
>> But I meant `S-iso-lefttab'.
> 
> BTW, could someone explain to me what is the iso-lefttab key?
> What does it look like, where is it "typically" located?

I believe it stems from the practice on some (older?) keyboards of
printing a pair of arrows on the `tab key', one pointing each
direction, mimicking the placement of (for example) `!' over `1' on
the US-qwerty keyboard.

A little web searching suggests that it originated in the early days
of X:

	There is no universal standard for "backward tab" in the X
	Window System. On some systems shift+tab gives the keysym "ISO
	Left Tab", on others it gives a private "BackTab" keysym and
	on others it gives "Tab" and applications tell from the shift
	state that it means backward-tab rather than forward-tab. In
	the RFB protocol the latter approach is preferred. Viewers
	should generate a shifted Tab rather than ISO Left
	Tab. However, to be backwards-compatible with existing
	viewers, servers should also recognise ISO Left Tab as meaning
	a shifted Tab.

That same web searching also suggests that Emacs customization is the
most common source of `caring' about iso-lefttab in the present.

Hope this helps,
*Chad