This is the interface to the Hotkey System II. It allows you to define actions which are assigned to some key combinations <alt xxx>. The Hotkey System is a part of the OS. It is in fact a thing which is not shared. Therefore, all these routines have to hope that the Hotkey System is available. As per the recommendations of the authors, all routines try for approx. 2 seconds to use it. If this fails, ERR_NC is returned.
The hotkeys are referred to by the item name. The item name usually has a special meaning (e.g. the name of the job to wake, or the file to execute). If a one character string is given as item name, then the hotkey item which is activated by pressing <alt + that key> is referred to.
For executing a file or thing, the hotkey name contains the file or thing name. This can be followed by a semicolon and then the parameter string enclosed by braces. If there is a wake or job name different from the filename, this will be at the end of the item name, separated by an exclamation mark (wake name) or comma (job name).
When a hotkey item is created, a preprocessing routine can be specified. This routine is always called before anything else is done when te hotkey is activated.
Part of the Hotkey System is the stuffer buffer. It is a mechanism which remembers the last few lines which were stored in it (the exact number depends on the size of the stuffer buffer and the length of the lines - the size can be configured). These lines can normally be put in the input channel by pressing <alt space> (last line) and <alt shift space> (previous line). When the previous line is asked for more than once, the line further back in memory is given.