US-international keyboard, stop "dead key" ?

[scott moore]

Hi,

Does anyone know the following:

In the US-international keyboard mode, there are what Microsoft
calls "dead keys", which are the quote and tilde keys. These keys
are typed in combination with other keys to produce new characters.
For example, é (Accented e) is produced by typing single quote, then e.

This is not the only way to get such characters. In fact, you get the
same character by hitting left-alt, then the e key.

What I want to do is turn off dead keys, but leave international mode
on.

Why? Because I want to simply leave my keyboard in international mode.
I use it to occasionally place foreign language words in documents, and
get access to characters not normally available, like ©, £, ³, etc.

All of the "dead key" sequences have alt sequences. The dead keys are
a mild pain to have on all of the time, because anytime you type a
quote, nothing happens until you hit another key. Also, there can be
times where you mean to type a sequence that dead keys misinterpret,
like "Ebola certainly is bad", which misinterprets the leading quote
followed by e. You can get around it by hitting space, but that has
issues as well (you have to hit space twice if you really mean quote
followed by space).

In short, the dead key mode is not really necessary, and without it,
I could just leave international mode enabled all the time and have
it make no difference at all for English text. What I (and others)
have to do is flip back and forth between US and US-International modes.

I see no way in the internationalization dialog to turn dead keying off.
Is there another way, like a registry key or something?

Thanks.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi,

Does anyone know the following:

In the US-international keyboard mode, there are what Microsoft
calls "dead keys", which are the quote and tilde keys. These keys
are typed in combination with other keys to produce new characters.
For example, é (Accented e) is produced by typing single quote, then
e.
This is not the only way to get such characters. In fact, you get the
same character by hitting left-alt, then the e key.

What I want to do is turn off dead keys, but leave international mode
on.

Why? Because I want to simply leave my keyboard in international mode.
I use it to occasionally place foreign language words in documents,
and get access to characters not normally available, like ©, £, ³,
etc.
All of the "dead key" sequences have alt sequences. The dead keys are
a mild pain to have on all of the time, because anytime you type a
quote, nothing happens until you hit another key.

This is precisely the reason why I don't like the international keyboard and
don't use it. Instead I use a little freeware background program called
AllChars. This lets me (in all applications, not just OE) type many common
special characters (many of these are used in other languages) by pressing
the ctrl key followed by a two character mnemonic combination.

For example, for ñ the two characters are ~ and n. For ç it's c and , For ü
it's u and "

Go to http://allchars.zwolnet.com/ and give it a try.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


Also, there can be

 

[scott moore]

This is precisely the reason why I don't like the international keyboard and
don't use it. Instead I use a little freeware background program called
AllChars. This lets me (in all applications, not just OE) type many common
special characters (many of these are used in other languages) by pressing
the ctrl key followed by a two character mnemonic combination.

For example, for ñ the two characters are ~ and n. For ç it's c and , For ü
it's u and "

Go to http://allchars.zwolnet.com/ and give it a try.

Thank you for the help, I was able to solve the issue with the Microsoft
MSKLC utility, which can define a custom keyboard layout.

The reason I wished to do it that way is because I bought a set of
keytop labels with the US-international keys on them, so that the keys
were labeled with 8859-1 compatible characters.

Regards,
Scott Moore

 

[scott moore]

Thank you for the help, I was able to solve the issue with the Microsoft
MSKLC utility, which can define a custom keyboard layout.

The reason I wished to do it that way is because I bought a set of
keytop labels with the US-international keys on them, so that the keys
were labeled with 8859-1 compatible characters.

Regards,
Scott Moore

Well, I should add a footnote for anyone who tries this. Getting rid of
the dead key does get rid of a few characters. What I said in the
original message above was naive. You lose access to è, ë, ê, ò, ô, ý,
and ÿ, which don't have alt equivalences. However, I was able to enable
both my modified keyboard map, and the US-International keyboard map
that comes standard with windows. Then you get the ability to toggle the
dead key sequences on and off, and you can still get access to all of
the other characters with the dead key off, like áß©, etc.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well, I should add a footnote for anyone who tries this. Getting rid
of the dead key does get rid of a few characters. What I said in the
original message above was naive. You lose access to è, ë, ê, ò, ô, ý,
and ÿ, which don't have alt equivalences. However, I was able to
enable both my modified keyboard map, and the US-International
keyboard map that comes standard with windows. Then you get the
ability to toggle the dead key sequences on and off, and you can
still get access to all of the other characters with the dead key
off, like áß©, etc.

Once again, I recommend that you at least give Allchars a try. The price is
right (free), it's a tiny download, and if you don't like it, it's easy to
get rid of. If I were you, I wouldn't let the keyboard labels dictate what
you should do.

 

[Stan Brown]

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:08:14 -0700 from Ken Blake, MVP

This is precisely the reason why I don't like the international keyboard and
don't use it. Instead I use a little freeware background program called
AllChars. This lets me (in all applications, not just OE) type many common
special characters (many of these are used in other languages) by pressing
the ctrl key followed by a two character mnemonic combination.

For example, for ñ the two characters are ~ and n. For ç it's c and , For ü
it's u and "

Go to http://allchars.zwolnet.com/ and give it a try.

For ages I've been quite happy typing Alt-0nnn combinations, but
lately I find I need a many more different characters than I had
previously memorized. I downloaded Allchars yesterday and tried it,
and I second Ken's recommendation. Now we'll see how long it takes me
to forget that é is 0233 and ° is 0176.

One warning: Allchars is limited to 8-bit characters, no Unicode.

 

[Stan Brown]

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 23:51:26 -0800 from scott moore

Well, I should add a footnote for anyone who tries this. Getting rid of
the dead key does get rid of a few characters. What I said in the
original message above was naive. You lose access to è, ë, ê, ò, ô, ý,
and ÿ, which don't have alt equivalences.

Huh? è is Alt-0232, ê is Alt-0234, etc. -- AFAIK that's true for
every Western character set. You don't say which one you're using but
you post in ISO-8859-1, which certainly_ has those characters at
those positions.

 

[Stan Brown]

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 08:27:53 -0700 from Ken Blake, MVP

Once again, I recommend that you at least give Allchars a try. The price is
right (free), it's a tiny download, and if you don't like it, it's easy to
get rid of.

In fact, you can run it without even installing it -- the author
appears to be a man after my own heart.

http://allchars.zwolnet.com/

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:08:14 -0700 from Ken Blake, MVP


For ages I've been quite happy typing Alt-0nnn combinations, but
lately I find I need a many more different characters than I had
previously memorized. I downloaded Allchars yesterday and tried it,
and I second Ken's recommendation.

Great. Glad you like it. I don't use it every day, but I find it very
convenient when I need it.

Now we'll see how long it takes me
to forget that é is 0233 and ° is 0176.

LOL! Probably the reason I could never remember alt-key combinations, even
before I used AllChars. is that I needed them seldom

 

[P D Sterling]

Attn: Stan Brown
Hope you are Dry up there in Dryden; we are flooded out in Dallas - a great
thing after we had drought.

To this subject, I have a special characters fetish, and wanted to know, is
there a way to print a table of alt characters, so that I can make a cheat
sheet for the side of my monitor? I just got finished memorizing [alt]+130
for é and now we have [alt] + 4 digits!!! but I am happy there are more
special characters.

Any advice will be gratefully appreciated.
--
Regards,

P D Sterling
www.pdsterling.com
214/520-6655 voice
214/550-2618 FAX

 

[Phil Weldon]

'P D Sterling' wrote:
| To this subject, I have a special characters fetish, and wanted to know,
is
| there a way to print a table of alt characters, so that I can make a cheat
| sheet for the side of my monitor? I just got finished memorizing [alt]+130
| for é and now we have [alt] + 4 digits!!! but I am happy there are more
| special characters.
_____

Try the program 'charmap.exe'. It an included Windows applet. Its icon is
a keyboard keycap, the icon name is 'Character Map'. It allows you to copy
any characters from an font: SÞ? , for example. It also gives the
keystrokes for the characters.

Phil Weldon

| Attn: Stan Brown
| Hope you are Dry up there in Dryden; we are flooded out in Dallas - a
great
| thing after we had drought.
|
| To this subject, I have a special characters fetish, and wanted to know,
is
| there a way to print a table of alt characters, so that I can make a cheat
| sheet for the side of my monitor? I just got finished memorizing [alt]+130
| for é and now we have [alt] + 4 digits!!! but I am happy there are more
| special characters.
|
| Any advice will be gratefully appreciated.
| --
| Regards,
|
| P D Sterling
| www.pdsterling.com
| 214/520-6655 voice
| 214/550-2618 FAX
| | > Stan Brown wrote:
| >
| >> Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:08:14 -0700 from Ken Blake, MVP
| >> <[email protected]>:
| >>> This is precisely the reason why I don't like the international
| >>> keyboard and don't use it. Instead I use a little freeware
| >>> background program called AllChars. This lets me (in all
| >>> applications, not just OE) type many common special characters (many
| >>> of these are used in other languages) by pressing the ctrl key
| >>> followed by a two character mnemonic combination.
| >>>
| >>> For example, for ñ the two characters are ~ and n. For ç it's c and
| >>> , For ü it's u and "
| >>>
| >>> Go to http://allchars.zwolnet.com/ and give it a try.
| >>
| >> For ages I've been quite happy typing Alt-0nnn combinations, but
| >> lately I find I need a many more different characters than I had
| >> previously memorized. I downloaded Allchars yesterday and tried it,
| >> and I second Ken's recommendation.
| >
| >
| > Great. Glad you like it. I don't use it every day, but I find it very
| > convenient when I need it.
| >
| >
| >> Now we'll see how long it takes me
| >> to forget that é is 0233 and ° is 0176.
| >
| >
| > LOL! Probably the reason I could never remember alt-key combinations,
even
| > before I used AllChars. is that I needed them seldom
| >
| > --
| > Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
| > Please reply to the newsgroup
| >
| >
| >
| >> One warning: Allchars is limited to 8-bit characters, no Unicode.
| >
| >
|
|

 

[Phil Weldon]

Uh, make that
SÞ?


Phil Weldon

|
| || Attn: Stan Brown
|| Hope you are Dry up there in Dryden; we are flooded out in Dallas - a
| great
|| thing after we had drought.
||
|| To this subject, I have a special characters fetish, and wanted to know,
| is
|| there a way to print a table of alt characters, so that I can make a
cheat
|| sheet for the side of my monitor? I just got finished memorizing
[alt]+130
|| for and now we have [alt] + 4 digits!!! but I am happy there are more
|| special characters.
||
|| Any advice will be gratefully appreciated.
|| --
|| Regards,
||
|| P D Sterling
|| www.pdsterling.com
|| 214/520-6655 voice
|| 214/550-2618 FAX
|| || > Stan Brown wrote:
|| >
|| >> Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:08:14 -0700 from Ken Blake, MVP
|| >> <[email protected]>:
|| >>> This is precisely the reason why I don't like the international
|| >>> keyboard and don't use it. Instead I use a little freeware
|| >>> background program called AllChars. This lets me (in all
|| >>> applications, not just OE) type many common special characters (many
|| >>> of these are used in other languages) by pressing the ctrl key
|| >>> followed by a two character mnemonic combination.
|| >>>
|| >>> For example, for the two characters are ~ and n. For it's c and
|| >>> , For it's u and "
|| >>>
|| >>> Go to http://allchars.zwolnet.com/ and give it a try.
|| >>
|| >> For ages I've been quite happy typing Alt-0nnn combinations, but
|| >> lately I find I need a many more different characters than I had
|| >> previously memorized. I downloaded Allchars yesterday and tried it,
|| >> and I second Ken's recommendation.
|| >
|| >
|| > Great. Glad you like it. I don't use it every day, but I find it very
|| > convenient when I need it.
|| >
|| >
|| >> Now we'll see how long it takes me
|| >> to forget that is 0233 and is 0176.
|| >
|| >
|| > LOL! Probably the reason I could never remember alt-key combinations,
| even
|| > before I used AllChars. is that I needed them seldom
|| >
|| > --
|| > Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
|| > Please reply to the newsgroup
|| >
|| >
|| >
|| >> One warning: Allchars is limited to 8-bit characters, no Unicode.
|| >
|| >
||
||
|
|