The Shift keys on the Apple IIGS keyboard work just like the Shift keys on a typewriter. To get a capital letter, you hold down Shift while you type the letter you want capitalized. To get the upper character of two-character keys, you hold down the Shift while you type the two-character key. For example, to type a dollar sign, you hold down Shift while you press 4.

If you want everything you type to come out capitalized, you can press down Caps Lock. (You'll feel the key lock in place, and you'll notice that it has a lower profile than the surrounding keys.) When you want lowercase characters again, press Caps Lock a second time and the key will return to its upright position. The nice thing about Caps Lock is that it affects only the alphabet keys—it doesn't give you the upper character on two-character keys. To get an upper character, you still have to use Shift. Unlike the typewriter, this means you can get all capital letters interspersed with numbers without releasing Caps Lock.

Tab works like the Tab key on a typewriter, except that instead of the typewriter's print head moving to the right a preset number of spaces when you press Tab, the insertion point moves to the place you designate as the next tab marker. Setting tab markers and using Tab are handy when you're typing information in columns.

You set the tab marker (that is, you set the distance you want the insertion point to move) by using a command in the application. Not all applications use Tab this way, but most word processing applications do.

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Chapter 3: The Mouse and the Keyboard