Method, system, and apparatus for keystroke entry without a keyboard input device

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

• display, by a setup utility provided by a basic input output system (BIOS) executing on a computer, a grid comprising one or more alpha-numeric characters, each of the alpha-numeric characters being displayed with a blank space on either side;
• receive a selection at a location within the grid;
• in response to receiving the selection, determining if the selected location within the grid contains an alpha-numeric character;
• if the selected location within the grid contains an alpha-numeric character, determine whether a blank space is located on both sides of the selected location;
• in response to determining that a space is located on both sides of the selected location, enter the character at the selected location into a keyboard buffer as if a keyboard had been utilized to type the character.

A method for receiving alpha-numeric data entry without the use of a keyboard input device, the method comprising:

• displaying a grid using text mode characters wherein substantially all of the locations within the grid include an alpha-numeric character, each of the alpha-numeric characters being displayed with a blank space on either side;
• receiving a selection from a non-keyboard input device at a location within the grid, by way of the processor;
• in response to receiving the selection, determining by way of the processor if the selected location within the grid contains an alpha-numeric character;
• if the selected location within the grid contains an alpha-numeric character, determining by way of the processor whether a blank space is located on both sides of the selected location;
• in response to determining that a blank space is located on both sides of the selected location, entering the character at the selected location into a keyboard buffer by way of the processor as if a keyboard had been utilized to type the character;
• in response to determining that a space is not located on both sides of the selected location, determining by way of the processor whether the alpha-numeric character at the selected location is part of a recognizable string of characters corresponding to a non-alphanumeric keystroke;
• in response to determining that the alpha-numeric character at the selected location is part of a recognizable string, entering the non-alphanumeric keystroke into the keyboard buffer by way of the processor such that the keystroke appears to have been typed on a keyboard;
• if the selected location within the grid does not contain an alpha-numeric character, determining by way of the processor whether the selected location contains a blank space;
• in response to determining that the selected location contains a blank space, determining by way of the processor whether an alpha-numeric character is adjacent to the selected location;
• and
• in response to determining that an alpha-numeric character is adjacent to the selected location, entering the alpha-numeric character that is adjacent to the selected location into a keyboard buffer by way of the processor as if a keyboard had been utilized to type the character.