Due to the history of MsgEd TE, it heavily depends on typical PC keyboard combinations like Alt-keys, combinations of Ctrl with cursor keys, and so on. Not all of them are easy to reflect on a Unix console or in an xterm.
As for the Alt keys (Alt-X and so on): MsgEd TE tries to recognize all sorts of ways in which clients reflect Alt or Meta key combinations. If that still does not work on your console, besides contacting me so that I can fix it, you can emulate an Alt key with the Esc key: If you press and release the Esc key and then press a letter, MsgEd TE will treat this as if you pressed Alt and that letter. However, you have to do this fast, because if no key is pressed after the Esc for more than 0.2 seconds, MsgEd TE will assume that you really meant to press a single Esc key, which is also frequently used in MsgEd TE.
Some other key combinations, like Ctrl-Left and so on, are not reproducable in an xterm or on a Unix console at all. Therefore, the sample configuration file `sample.cfg' contains a bunch of settings that bind those functions that are by default bound to key combinations that cannot be keyed on Unix to other key combinations.
A nasty little problem might occur with the backspace key. If, on your
system, the backspace key deletes the character under the cursor
rather than the character on the left hand side of the cursor, you might have
to turn the BS127 switch on by adding Switch BS127 On to your
configuration file. The sample configuration file already contains correct
settings of the BS127 switch for some widespread Unix consoles.
Entering national special characters like the German a dieresis, or the
french accented characters, is always a problem on Unix. If you want to do
that with MsgEd TE, refer to the sample configuration file and the
documentation on the EnableSC keyword (see section 6.2.13 EnableSC).
If all this sounds very clumsy to you, perhaps you might volunteer to create a more Unix-friendly keyboard layout for MsgEd TE. MsgEd TE allows to freely redefine the keyboard layout. See section 5.4 Redefining the Keyboard Bindings, for more information on this. The first person that provides me with a really Unix-friendly set of `ReadKey' and `EditKey' configuration statements will receive special honour in this manual ...
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