Editing Escape character (section)

===ASCII escape character===
The ASCII "escape" character ([[octal]]: {{code|\033}}, [[hexadecimal]]: {{code|\x1B}}, or, in decimal, {{code|27}}, also represented by the sequences {{code|^[}} or {{code|\e}}) is used in many output devices to start a series of characters called a control sequence or escape sequence. Typically, the escape character was sent first in such a sequence to alert the device that the following characters were to be interpreted as a control sequence rather than as plain characters, then one or more characters would follow to specify some detailed action, after which the device would go back to interpreting characters normally. For example, the sequence of {{code|^[}}, followed by the printable characters {{code|[2;10H}}, would cause a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) [[VT102]] terminal to move its [[cursor (computers)|cursor]] to the 10th cell of the 2nd line of the screen. This was later developed into [[ANSI escape codes]] covered by the ANSI X3.64 standard. The escape character also starts each command sequence in the Hewlett-Packard [[Printer Command Language]].

An early reference to the term "escape character" is found in [[Bob Bemer]]'s IBM technical publications, who is credited with inventing this mechanism during his work on the [[ASCII]] character set.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bobbemer.com/ESCAPE.HTM|title=How Bob Bemer Invented the ESCAPE Sequence and Key|first=Bob|last=Bemer|website=Bob Bemer |date=Oct 25, 2003 |access-date=22 March 2018|archive-date=4 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104163857/http://www.bobbemer.com/ESCAPE.HTM|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Escape key]] is usually found on standard PC keyboards. However, it is commonly absent from keyboards for PDAs and other devices not designed primarily for ASCII communications. The DEC [[VT220]] series was one of the few popular keyboards that did not have a dedicated Esc key, instead of using one of the keys above the main keypad. In [[user interface]]s of the 1970s–1980s it was not uncommon to use this key as an escape character, but in modern desktop computers, such use is dropped. Sometimes the key was identified with [[AltMode]] (for alternative mode). Even with no dedicated key, the escape character code could be generated by typing {{code|[}} while simultaneously holding down {{Key press|[[Control key|Ctrl]]}}.