Description of keystrokes
The description of keyboard entries is regulated in an informative appendix to DIN 5008 .
According to this, characters that are displayed on the keyboard should be displayed directly in the text, for example by framing with rounded rectangles, which then symbolize keys. Alternatively, characters can be shown enclosed in square brackets, punctuation marks and special characters (especially brackets) also enclosed in quotation marks . For function keys , the name of which is shown on the key, this name should be used in the manner described, for other function keys their symbol or their common name in the literature.
Key combinations (keys to be pressed simultaneously) must be combined with plus signs , for example " Alt Gr+ e" or "[Alt Gr] + [e]" for entering a euro symbol on a standard German keyboard layout .
Key sequences (keys or key combinations to be pressed one after the other) must be combined with a long line framed by spaces , for example:
- " ^- u" or "[^] - [u]" for a "û" (u with circumflex ), or:
- " Alt Gr+ j- c" or "[Alt Gr] + [j] - [c]" on the keyboard layout E1 for a "ç" (c with cedilla ).
For the plus sign, DIN 5008 in the section "arithmetic symbols" regulates that it is written as an addition sign with a space before and after it. Accordingly, it is also written in the standard text in examples and tables for keyboard input so that the last example mentioned above looks like “ Alt Gr+ j- c” or “[Alt Gr] + [j] - [c]”. In the section on the description of keyboard entries, on the other hand, spaces are only expressly required for key sequences for the long stroke, but not for the description of key combinations for the plus sign.