Enter Key
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computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches. Replacing early punched cards and paper tape technology ...
s, the enter key and return key are two closely related keys with overlapping and distinct functions dependent on
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
and application.


Functions

The return key has its origins in two
typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...
functions:
carriage return A carriage return, sometimes known as a cartridge return and often shortened to CR, or return, is a control character or mechanism used to reset a device's position to the beginning of a line of text. It is closely associated with the line feed ...
, which would reset the carriage to the beginning of the line of text, and
line feed Newline (frequently called line ending, end of line (EOL), next line (NEL) or line break) is a control character or sequence of control characters in character encoding specifications such as ASCII, EBCDIC, Unicode, etc. This character, or a ...
, which would advance the paper one line downward. These were often combined into a single return key, a convention that continues in modern computer
word processing A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...
to insert a
paragraph break A paragraph () is a self-contained unit of discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. Though not required by the orthographic conventions of any language with a writing system, paragraphs are a conventional means of organizing e ...
(¶). The enter key is a computer innovation, which in most cases causes a
command line A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...
, window form, or
dialog box The dialog box (also called dialogue box (non-U.S. English), message box or simply dialog) is a graphical control element in the form of a small window that communicates information to the user and prompts them for a response. Dialog boxes ar ...
to operate its default function. This is typically to finish an "entry" and begin the desired process, and is usually an alternative to clicking an
OK button ''OK'' (spelling variations include ''okay'', ''O.K.'', ''ok'' and ''Ok'') is an English word (originating in American English) denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. ''OK'' is frequently ...
. Additionally, it can act as the ''equal to'' button in
calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...
programs. On modern computers both keys generally have all the functions of the other, allowing for either key to be used, or even for them to be combined into a single key, as is the case with most laptops.
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
makes no distinction between them whatsoever, and usually both keys are labelled as enter on Windows keyboards with the United States layout. Other operating systems, such as Apple's Darwin-based OSs, generally treat them equivalently while still maintaining the technical and descriptive distinction, allowing applications to treat the two keys differently if necessary.


Location

The enter key is typically located to the right of the and keys on the lower right of the
numeric keypad A numeric keypad, number pad, numpad, or ten key, is the palm-sized, usually-17-key section of a standard computer keyboard, usually on the far right. It provides calculator-style efficiency for entering numbers. The idea of a 10-key nu ...
, while the return key is situated on the right edge of the main alphanumeric portion of the keyboard. On
ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...
and JIS keyboards, return is a stepped double-height key spanning the second and third rows, below and above the right-hand . On
ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
keyboards it is wider but located on the third row only, as the
backslash The backslash is a typographical mark used mainly in computing and mathematics. It is the mirror image of the common slash . It is a relatively recent mark, first documented in the 1930s. History , efforts to identify either the origin of ...
key is located between it and . Some variants of the ANSI keyboard layout create a double-height return key by subsuming the backslash key into it. This alternate form is most popular in Asia, particularly
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. However, this requires the relocation of the backslash key and is relatively uncommon on modern keyboards elsewhere.


Keyboard symbols

The return key symbol is , an arrow pointing down and leftward; however, rendering of the symbol varies greatly by
typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...
, with it appearing hollow in some or with an additional initial rightward bar in others. For this reason, or are sometimes used instead. On most ISO and other keyboards worldwide the return key is labelled solely with the symbol across all platforms. Meanwhile, on ANSI US keyboards it is labelled as by Windows
OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
s (sometimes even without the return symbol) and as by Apple. For enter, exists in
Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...
for the ISO 9995-7 enter key symbol; however, it is infrequently used, one example being the French Canadian keyboard. Windows keyboards worldwide tend to simply label the key with the text , while Apple uses the symbol ( or ) on ISO and JIS keyboards and the text on ANSI US keyboards; this is acknowledged by an annotation "enter key" on U+2324 in the Unicode code chart.


History

On IBM's 3270 and 5250 line of terminals, the Enter key was located to the right of the space bar and was used to send the contents of the terminal's buffer to the host computer. The Return key was located in a more standard location and was used to generate a new line. Apple also took advantage of this situation to create an editable command line environment called a "Worksheet" in the
Macintosh Programmer's Workshop Macintosh Programmer's Workshop (MPW) is a software development environment for the Classic Mac OS operating system, written by Apple Computer. For Macintosh developers, it was one of the primary tools for building applications for System 7.x an ...
, where return was used strictly as a formatting key while enter was used to execute a shell command or series of commands in
direct mode In computing, direct or immediate mode in an interactive programming system is the immediate execution of commands, statements, or expressions. In many interactive systems, most of these can both be included in programs or executed directly in ...
. This strict dichotomy has since been relaxed, so that now there are very few situations within
macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
where enter and return are not equivalent. One example of this continued division of use is the type tool in
Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
, where the return key produces a new line while the enter key ends editing mode. Another is Mathematica, where the Return key creates a new line, while the Enter key (or Shift-Return) submits the current command for execution. Historically, many computer models did not have a separate keypad, and only had one button to function as Enter or Return. For example, the
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
(manufactured from 1982) had only the "Return" key. Most laptop computers continue in this combined tradition. Before computers, on electric typewriters the "Return" key was kept comparatively large. This is due to the frequency of usage (which also includes the space bar), and therefore, is kept large to reduce the likelihood of finger slips.


See also

*
Carriage return A carriage return, sometimes known as a cartridge return and often shortened to CR, or return, is a control character or mechanism used to reset a device's position to the beginning of a line of text. It is closely associated with the line feed ...
*
Numeric keypad A numeric keypad, number pad, numpad, or ten key, is the palm-sized, usually-17-key section of a standard computer keyboard, usually on the far right. It provides calculator-style efficiency for entering numbers. The idea of a 10-key nu ...


References

{{keyboard keys Computer keys da:Tastatur#Enter