Talk:Delete key

ASCII value of the delete key

"The ASCII value of the delete key is 0xff (0377), "

What? First of all 0xff is not an ASCII value (ASCII is defined by 7 bits). I have never heard of 0xff being defined as any character and certainly not Delete. Delete as a character has and will always be 0x7f.

/rob — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.80.2.66 (talk • contribs) 2 February 2007

There is a severe edit war on this page and who will win? — Preceding unsigned comment added by MoIoaIm (talk • contribs) 22:54, 12 December 2009

The war started at feburary 6th. Don't protect this page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gjhasdghglhjvvhg (talk • contribs) 04:11, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

This page will be vandalized right after protection expires. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Adnimisratar (talk • contribs) 16:13, 10 June 2010

Move protect in advance.

This article was indicated to be prone to sockpuppet edit vandalism, so I suggest it be move protected indefinitely to prevent vandal moves. I'm not yet posting this to RFPP as it's a brand new request. mechamind90 03:25, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Suggest using different verb form than "stricken"

The opening line currently (09 Oct 2010) has the phrase "...performs a function when stricken on a computer keyboard...". [Italics mine.]
While reviewing some Sockpuppet instances, I noticed that earlier revisions originally said "when stuck" [sic] —obviously intending "struck"— so "struck" would be a better past participle form to use than the current phrase wording.
"Stricken" is usually meant to convey "afflicted with". One strikes keys, hence the related term keystrokes. Being an irregular verb, the proper past participle form is struck.
An alternative choice of phrase would be "when pressed" (as in keypress).
This is my first encounter with a protected page, so I didn't wish to attempt a direct edit. — DennisDallas (talk) 20:42, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

It's only protected because a bunch of trolls think it's funny to blank the entire page. It's not because there's any controversial content. You can make the edit yourself, don't worry. —Soap— 20:53, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

 Done — DennisDallas (talk) 22:52, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

Delete key and ASCII control codes

A redirect from delete character to this article was a long lasting misconception in enWP happily ended in August 2010. Of course, we will get seldom edits like [1] from users who do not distinguish concepts of key and character or misguided by bad inbound links pointing here instead of [[delete character]], but these can be quickly reverted. It is unlikely that Kernighan&Pike UNIX book of 1984 discussed PC Delete key. Apparently, some bad things remained in the article from its past, like this:

Sometimes this desired effect is replaced by inserting "^H" (or, less frequently, "^?") instead.

Although I am almost sure that referring to BS and DEL characters in the context of Delete key is nothing but a product of editors' weak attention, there is a possibility that some exotic systems generated DELs or BSs on this key. So, the question:

what computer systems taking input from PC-like keyboards really treated this key in a manner like backward delete or rubout, not as (usually) forward delete?

I spotted several pathological Linux keyboard maps in /usr/share/keymaps/i386/qwerty/ which give DEL on Delete, but mainstream Linux in most part of our planet do not, nor DOS–Windows. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 20:59, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Changes in the lead

Moved from user talk:Incnis Mrsi § Delete key edits

 – Incnis Mrsi (talk) 19:30, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

Hello Incnis- I saw your edits to the Delete key article, partially reverting my previous ones, and wanted to let you know that the way I changed the lead sentence did in fact retain the article title as its subject. The construction "performs a function...which is to discard" is quite awkward English, which is why I changed it. In addition, I believe it is preferred practice on WP to use italics in lieu of double quotes for presenting terms the way del and delete were in the last sentence. I don't want you to think I made my edits without considering well what I was doing. I think your addition of the delete key "x" symbol is an improvement, though this imageis more representative, I believe. I hope if you consider what I've written, you will agree that my edits were improvements to the article intro. Regards, Eric ^talk 23:03, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Subject is a grammagical notion. I do not object to Eric's variant except it deviates from the recommended grammar. Italics is a preferred way to emphasize foreign and uncommon terms, which is not the case here. Moreover, the use if italics creates an ambiguity, possibly suggesting italicized appearence of that word in a keyboard, a confusion which quotation marks unlikely could cause.

I removed several pieces of wording about Macs, replacing it with a HTML picture. This is not a manifestation of any preference about images, but I think that Mac's delete should not be overly represented in the lead section. Lengthy descriptions definitely have to be expelled. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 19:30, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

I do a lot of cleanup work on Wikipedia, and I've got a good grasp of both English grammar and Wikipedia preferred style. I'm not crazy about the grammar of either version. This is under dispute, so I'm not going to step in and fix anything unless it's OK with both parties that I do so, but I'll point out what I see:

• "When struck on a computer keyboard during text or command editing..." - Don't lead a sentence that way, least of all the introductory sentence of an article. It delays getting to the point and has a weak effect when you lead up to the subject with an introductory phrase like that. However, don't just revert that sentence, because it's true that its replacement was wordy and awkward. Completely rewrite the sentence, beginning from "The delete key...".
• What does the delete key do? It "discards... and moving". What?! It "discards.... and moves", and there's no comma required after "position".
• Parentheses are distracting. Always find a way to make that material fit into a sentence instead of setting it off in parentheses.
• "Mac" is too informal. Use "Macintosh".
• The Wikipedia: Manual of Style gives some justification for italics. It says to "Use italics when introducing terms", and to "Use italics when writing about words as words", which is the case here. The point that a reader may think that the key literally appears italicized is a good one, so quotation marks are probably preferable.
• If the "dubious" tag is based on the below topic, I think it can be removed. To erase doubt, try to dig up a reference on the origin of that symbol's adoption, maybe an Apple history. I just happened to have an old Macs for Dummies next to me, but it doesn't mention that key at all.
• There should be a reference for the statement that Macintoshes use delete for the"Backspace" key, which BTW predates computers and was present on typewriter keyboards. This sentence and the one before should probably be moved into the article body, because the lead is supposed to summarize the article, and shouldn't contain this level of detail. Dementia13 (talk) 16:33, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

  I do not agree that is is the case of "writing about words as words". It is a graphical imitation of an entire inscription, not of a written language. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 19:47, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

It's overly literal to take that as a discussion of written language. The topic is the proper way to represent the term, and that's discussion of words, as opposed to discussion of things like the delete key's function, history, etc. Dementia13 (talk) 20:14, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Pictogram on Mac's keyboard

	×
The letter X	(Multiplication) cross

What evidences corroborate a theory about the X letter? Of course, an oblique cross is perceived as "x" by a user which does not know anything but alphabet, numerals, currency sign, and several symbols from browser's window, but is it really "x" which was designed? The "x" letter either has serifs or its strokes are trimmed horizontally. Apple's designers were certainly not semi-literate Internet folks. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 06:05, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Your question is not clear. Is there a controversy? Macintoshes predate the Internet as we know it, so I don't understand why you bring that up. It's a common editing action to delete written material by drawing an "x" over it. The letter "x" on the key symbolizes its purpose. Dementia13 (talk) 15:35, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

If you have such keyboard, then just answer please, which symbol has the "delete" button. X? Or ×? Incnis Mrsi (talk) 16:22, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

It's a letter "x". There's no context to indicate whether it's upper- or lower-case. What is your point? Dementia13 (talk) 19:21, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, on this image I see a letter X – it is definitely not a multiplication cross because it is skewed. But this needs reliable sources, though. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 19:47, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

That's the key issue. You two don't need a mediator, you need references. Dementia13 (talk) 20:06, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

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