HCESAR ([ɐˈɣaˈsɛzaɾ]) is a Portuguesetypewriterkeyboard layout that takes its name from the first sixletters on the first row of alphabetical keys:HCESAR. Created by decree of theEstado Novo regime[1] on July 17, 1937, the layout placed the most frequently usedkeys in Portuguese in the center of the layout. The keys for vowels are positioned according to an invertedvowel diagram.
It was common for the0 numeral to be omitted (in favour of using the uppercaseO letter), and there were also some typewriters without the1 numeral (with the lowercaseL being used to replace it). Also missing were symbols such as theexclamation mark (achieved by typing anapostrophe and overwriting it with aperiod using the backspace key), theasterisk (achieved in a similar way, with lowercaseX and the plus or minus sign — for eight- or six-pointed asterisks, respectively), thenumber sign (which was achieved by some through intricate methods involving partial strokes of thebackspace key to overwrite theequals sign with twoslashes), and theinequality sign (typing an equals sign and overwriting it with a single slash).
This keyboard layout was the official layout of typewriters in public administration and in most private companies until the mid-70s, when it began to be replaced by theAZERTY layout.
When both layouts were in use, HCESAR was calledteclado nacional (national keyboard) and AZERTYteclado internacional (international keyboard).
In the early 1980s, when the Portuguese public administration started to replace its old machines with multiuser terminal-based computers, mainly with theUnix OS, both HCESAR andAZERTY were slowly replaced by theQWERTY layout adapted to their language.
Vintage HCESAR machines have subsequently become rarecollectables.
