Chip: Special Tips & Tricks for Windows 95

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Accent Version 4.0 The Diacritic Key Translator 32 Bit Release ___________________________________________________________________ USER'S MANUAL ___________________________________________________________________ Overview Accent is a Windows application that enables you to input special characters that are not normally found on a regular keyboard. These characters include accented characters, called diacritics, and other special symbols such as the copyright sign "⌐" or the trademark sign "«". Although Windows supports diacritic characters and extended symbols through the use of foreign keyboards, only one of these can be installed at a time and keys assigned to the diacritic characters or extended symbols cannot be used to display the standard character they normally represent. In order to display these characters, you must switch back to the standard keyboard by using the Control Panel International application and select the US keyboard. Even when implemented with macros, this process takes time and is not as transparent as it could be. One other drawback is that there is no established standard among keyboard manufacturers; the key assignment on your keyboard may differ from what is supported by the Windows keyboard DLL. In such cases, the label of a key will differ from the symbol that is displayed. You then have to either change the key on your keyboard on stick one of those specialized keycap label on it. The alternative to using a non standard keyboard is to have an ANSI character set chart handy to look-up the value of the special symbol and enter it with the Alt-0 code sequence. Accent, when installed and set up properly, will allow you to virtually enter all the special ANSI symbols directly from your standard keyboard by using a two-key combination. Since Accent can be customized, it will also allow you to make key assignments that are consistent with the layout of your keyboard. The effects of Accent propagate throughout the system and are available in all Windows applications. Installation To run Accent, you need Windows NT 3.x or Windows 95. Use the Program Manager, the File Manager or your preferred Shell to run the SETUP program. To do this, use the Run command and type: x:SETUP where x stands for the drive letter of the Accent diskette. SETUP will copy all the required files to the path you have specified and create a Program Manager's group for Accent 4.0. Setting up Accent Hot Key Switching the translation mode of Accent to ON or OFF is done through the use of a Hot Key. The translation mode is reflected by the Icon, which displays the accented letter "Γ" when ON. Mode switching occurs as soon as you hit the Hot Key combination (no macro execution to perform and slow you down) and is available in all Windows applications. The Hot Key is a combination of the Ctrl key (the use of Alt and Shift key is optional) with any key in the range A-Z typed simultaneously. You can choose the Hot Key you want from the drop down list box of the Setup menu. The default Hot Key is Ctrl-T. If you have defined Accelerator Keys for keyboards, you can set the Hot Key to none and use the Accelerator Keys to switch keyboard definitions. In this case, you must make sure that the Translation mode is always on. Translation mode The translation mode check box can be used to switch Accent's operation. It also sets the mode Accent is in when first started. Beeps The Beeps check box will instruct Accent to beep you PC speaker when the translation mode is switched: two beeps will sound for OFF mode, and three beeps for ON mode. This is very handy and allows you to know in which mode Accent is in when you are working on a full screen document and Accent's Icon is not visible. Diacritic Keys Accent can translate all the diacritic symbols that are found in the ANSI character set. In order to do this, you select one of your keyboard keys to act as a dead key representing the accent you want. You then type this key followed by the character you want as a diacritic. The Setup menu has four edit fields per diacritic key. The first two edit fields, labeled "Char" allow you to enter the shifted and un-shifted character of the key so that the key will act as a dead key in both shifted or un-shifted state. If you have an enhanced keyboard, you can use the next two edit fields labeled "Alt Char" to specify the accent. In this mode, you need to press the key labeled Alt-Char on your keyboard (or the right-hand Alt key) together with the key you dedicated as a dead key for the accent in order to display the diacritic. Here also you can enter the shifted and un-shifted character for the key to act as a dead key in both states. The requirement of using shifted and un-shifted keys is optional. If only one character is specified in either the "Char" or "Alt Char" entries, then only that character will act as a dead key. As an example, if you have assigned the key representing the "/" and "?" as "Char" characters to act as the dead key for the acute accent , then typing "/" or "?" followed by the uppercase letter "E" will give you the "╔" symbol. If you have assigned these characters in the "Alt Char" entries, then typing the right-hand Alt key simultaneously with either "/" or "?" then typing the uppercase letter "E" will give you "╔". The symbol of a key assigned as a dead key is still available however, either by typing the key twice in succession or, if the character is not an "Alt Char" character, by using the Hot Key to disable the translation mode of Accent. The following table shows the diacritic symbols Accent can generate: Characters Accent 1-Acute: ß Θ φ ≤ · ² ┴ ╔ ═ ╙ ┌ ▌ 2-Grave: α Φ ∞ ≥ ∙ └ ╚ ╠ ╥ ┘ 3-Circumflex: Γ Ω ε ⌠ √ ┬ ╩ ╬ ╘ █ 4-Umlaut: Σ δ ∩ ÷ ⁿ ─ ╦ ╧ ╓ ▄ 5-Tilde: π ⌡ ├ ╒ ± ╤ 6-A ring: σ ┼ 7-Cedilla: τ ╟ Aliases Accent can also translate special symbols by remapping standard keyboard keys. You tell Accent which character you want translated by using the Aliases table. The table can support 264 entries and is displayed in groups of 24 entries in two columns. Each entry consist of a double edit field. You use the first edit field to identify the key you want to remap, the second edit field tells Accent what symbol to display. At the bottom of the Aliases table are two directional push buttons that allow you to scan the table. Each push of a button will shift the table 6 entries in the direction of the button. The button will beep if your are at the beginning or the logical end of the table. The logical end of the table is defined as the end of entries you have made, not the 264th entry, but otherwise will always display the next 6 free entries so you can enter new data. As an example, if you need to represent amounts of money in Japanese yen, you could assign the "$" symbol to be translated to "Ñ". Whenever you type a "$" with Accent translation enabled, a "Ñ" will be displayed. If you need to display the actual dollar sign, toggle Accent translation mode to OFF with the Hot Key. One other way of generating special symbols is to assign an alias to an unused diacritic symbol. Assuming you have setup Accent to generate umlaut diacritic symbols and that you don't require all of them, you might use one that is not needed to be translated to something else. In the above example, you could have requested the diacritic " " to have "Ñ" as an alias. This is done by typing the dead key assigned for the umlaut and then the lowercase letter "y". Accent will generate the diacritic " " and replace it with the alias "Ñ". Alternates If you have an enhanced keyboard, you can use the Alternates table to generate special symbols. The Alternates table works with the extended Alt key (the right- hand Alt key) but otherwise has the same functionality as the Aliases table. The table can support up to 264 entries and can be scanned with the two directional buttons at the bottom in exactly the same way you do with the Aliases table. For instance, if you decide to set the alternate to the lowercase letter "c" be the copyright symbol "⌐", then by typing the right- hand Alt key together with the letter "c" will generate the "⌐" symbol. Here also you can redirect unused diacritics to have alternates as you can with the Aliases table. The only requirement is that the diacritics be defined in the "Alt Char" entries of the Diacritic Keys table. The functionality of the Alt key for Windows operation (menu selection and accelerators) is still available by using the left-hand Alt key. The Extended Alt key is captured by Accent when translation mode is ON, but is otherwise available to Windows. Num Keypad Accent normally remaps keys from the main keyboard. You can use the Num Keypad table to remap keys from the numeric keypad. The extended Alt key does not apply to the Num Keypad table since it is reserved to enter the Alt-0 code sequence. Character Map The character map displays all available ANSI characters in the specified output font and color. The scroll bar lets you scan the map. Use the Drag & Drop capability of Accent to enter symbols in the various translation edit fields of the Setup window. The Character Zoom feature, available by clicking the right mouse button, shows an enlarge view of the character. OK button The OK button is used to exit the Setup menu. Save button The Save button is used to save your Setup. The Setup is saved in the WIN.INI file. This is the Setup that will be used the next time you start Accent. Keyboard button You can use the Keyboard button to load one of the pre-defined keyboards supported by Accent and to save or delete keyboard definitions. Clicking this button will bring up a dialog box with the following controls: Keyboard list: displays the list of supported keyboards. Load Keyboard: sets the Setup to the keyboard selected from the Keyboard list. Erase Setup: erases the Setup. Undo: resets the Setup to the one recorded in the WIN.INI file. This button is disabled if the Setup has not been modified. Done: ends the Keyboard dialog. Add Setup to Keyboard list: use this button if you want to save the current Setup under a new name or to one of the existing keyboard definitions; in this latter case, the name you give must be identical to the one in the Keyboard list but is otherwise case insensitive. Remove Keyboard form Keyboard list: use this button to delete a keyboard definition. You will be prompted to confirm the deletion of the definition file. Set Keyboard Accelerator: you can attach a keyboard Accelerator Key to any keyboard from the Keyboard list. Follow the instructions in the dialog box to enter the desired Accelerator. Once an Accelerator is defined for a keyboard, that keyboard can be enabled by typing in this Accelerator. This is identical to using the Load Keyboard button but is much faster and the Accelerator is available in all Windows applications. Help button The help button will provide on-line help on the use of Accent. Fonts button The Fonts button allows you to use color coded fonts to display input/output characters in the Setup window. You can thus see exactly what symbols will be displayed when you use these fonts in your applications. Test button The Test button displays the Accent Test window. You can use this window to enter characters from the keyboard and see how these are translated by Accent. The Hot Key and Accelerator keys are enabled when the Test window is active: this allows you to test the various configurations defined in the Setup. Distribution Accent is distributed as SHAREWARE. You may make copies of the software and give it to whomever you wish as long as you do not alter it in any way and that you copy all the files, including this manual. The program is provided "as is" with no warranty of any kind. It is your responsibility to decide if this software is suitable for your use. Registration If you use the program on a regular basis, you must register with pro++ Software. Registration entitles you to receive the latest version of Accent on disk and grants you a non-exclusive license to use Accent on one machine. It will also enable pro++ Software to notify you of future updates and enhancements. To register, send $25.00 US (S & H included) or equivalent CDN funds in cheque or money order to: pro++ Software 8045 Saguenay Brossard, Qc J4X 1N2 CANADA Please make cheque or money order payable to pro++ Software. Allow 3 weeks for personal cheque to clear the bank. CompuServe users can register through the CIS Registration Database by typing GO SWREG at the menu prompt and quoting registration id 2307. You can also register with Public (software) Library with your MC, Visa, AmEx or Discover card by calling 800-242-4PsL (from overseas: 713-524-6394) or by FAX to 713-524-6398 or by CompuServe to 71355,470. Please quote item #10613 for faster processing. THESE NUMBERS ARE FOR REGISTERING ONLY. pro++ Software cannot be reached at those numbers. To contact pro++ Software for information about dealer pricing, volume discounts, site licensing, the status of shipment of the product, the latest version number or for technical information, call 514- 465-9306 or write to the above address. Comments and suggestions are welcome and can be mailed to the above address or forwarded via Compuserve at 72571,724. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright ⌐ 1992-1996, pro++ Software. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.