Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

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ChrisGreaves
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Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by ChrisGreaves »

In MSWord2003 to type "café" I type c and then a and then f and then I use Ctrl+quote and then the e to make "café ", but in Notepad.exe I can't find such a means.
I can paste "café" from MSWord and the accented character carries across.

I can use the cumbersome Alt+three digits method, but like most writers, I am not inclined to remember a slew of digit combinations when the letter+quote type of mnemonic is so much better.

Is there an easy way, using the keyboard to assemble characters with accents in Notepad.exe?

I have been using an iPad where one holds down a letter, then selects an accented version from a pop-up menu which, to my mind, is much better, because the generation comes directly from the keyboard, rather than by a convention of each application.

Thanks, Chris
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HansV
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by HansV »

Notepad is a bare-bones text editor, it does not have the fancy features of Word.
Why don't you use Word? It's your favorite application and it can open, edit and save text files.
Alternatively, Wordpad has the same Ctrl+accent keyboard shortcuts as Word.
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Leif
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by Leif »

ChrisGreaves wrote:
15 Oct 2022, 11:44
Is there an easy way, using the keyboard to assemble characters with accents in Notepad.exe?
I would just memorise the appropriate (numeric keypad) code (0233) which sééms to work:
    
NumericalCafé.jpg
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John Gray
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by John Gray »

For é I use Alt+NumPad130...
For ½ I useAlt+NumPad171...

How many others do you need to use?
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by ChrisGreaves »

HansV wrote:
15 Oct 2022, 11:52
Notepad is a bare-bones text editor, it does not have the fancy features of Word.
Why don't you use Word? It's your favorite application and it can open, edit and save text files.
Alternatively, Wordpad has the same Ctrl+accent keyboard shortcuts as Word.
Thanks Hans.
I make much use of notepad.exe as a text filter - copy-paste from anywhere through Notepad and out again to rid myself of field codes, images, anything at all that is non-text. I like notepad specifically because it has no fancy features.
That said, I was fascinated to find that while i could past accented characters into Notepad, I could not generate them simply from the keyboard.

Truth is that two unrelated separate friends with ipads raised the question at the same time, so Bob Archell did some excellent research, and all four of us are now well-situated. In this morning's mail:-

Code: Select all

“Are you going to the café in Montréal or Québec to complete your résumé?”
“Does the café have a façade? Will garçon be long bringing the gä-ˈnäsh?”
Got it! Many thanks.
Having mastered the "hold down the letter-e key and choose an accented e" technique i was surprised to find that the technique is supported on my Android smartphone.
I hadn't known that!

Cheers, Chris
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Leif wrote:
15 Oct 2022, 13:13
I would just memorise the appropriate (numeric keypad) code (0233) which sééms to work:
Hi John. I would not " memorize the appropriate (numeric keypad) code" as a matter of principle. computers are supposed to be good at remembering complex data, such as 3 or 4-character strings.
I remember good old Character Map, with its myriad combinations.
I see (a) that 5/8 is "U+215D" which is a pain to remember and (b) that "37/489" is not featured in character map, so I wrote my own Word2003 macro "fractions"
fractions.png
And (c) that having to fire up a separate application to insert just one character seems like too much work.

It is indeed a puzzle that MSWindows has not adopted the nifty keyboard hold-and-slide technique to generate foreign characters, yes?

Cheers, Chris
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by ChrisGreaves »

John Gray wrote:
16 Oct 2022, 09:04
How many others do you need to use?
Hi John. Indeed, yes, if the only foreign writing I did centred around my time in the café, remembering the character code for é would be the way to go. However, since I dabble too in many accented characters in my limited French and even more limited Spanish, and my two friends (one in Bonavista and one in northern NSW(1)) both have broader ambitions, I sought knowledge.

Here's a thought: ¿If using 3- or 4-digit character codes is such a great mechanism, why are we using a special key called <shift> to generate "S", instead of using the <alt> key and a digit combination?

(1)Unless by now swept past Sydney and into northern Victoria

Cheers, Chris
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by HansV »

ChrisGreaves wrote:
16 Oct 2022, 11:24
It is indeed a puzzle that MSWindows has not adopted the nifty keyboard hold-and-slide technique to generate foreign characters, yes?
No. That technique works on devices that display a keyboard on their touch screen.
On a PC, holding down a key on a physical keyboard repeats that key: hold down a to type aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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John Gray
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by John Gray »

I think what Chris needs is a proper Unicode Keyboard, with one key for each of the Unicode characters. For Unicode version 15.0, that would be a mere 149,186 keys...
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by ChrisGreaves »

John Gray wrote:
16 Oct 2022, 13:09
I think what Chris needs is a proper Unicode Keyboard, with one key for each of the Unicode characters. For Unicode version 15.0, that would be a mere 149,186 keys...
Excellent point!
Such a keyboard would save me having to remember 149,186 multi-digit-combinations to go with an <Alt> key, too! :evilgrin:

Of course a space-saving approach would use just the letter keys on the original QWERTY keyboard ... :flee: :innocent:
Cheers, Chris
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by PJ_in_FL »

ChrisGreaves wrote:
16 Oct 2022, 14:23
John Gray wrote:
16 Oct 2022, 13:09
I think what Chris needs is a proper Unicode Keyboard, with one key for each of the Unicode characters. For Unicode version 15.0, that would be a mere 149,186 keys...
Excellent point!
Such a keyboard would save me having to remember 149,186 multi-digit-combinations to go with an <Alt> key, too! :evilgrin:

Of course a space-saving approach would use just the letter keys on the original QWERTY keyboard ... :flee: :innocent:
Cheers, Chris
QWERTY keyboard?

And I thought you were all for efficiency. :grin:

Why are you still using a speed-limited-by-design keyboard instead of an optimized keyboard like DVORAK? The QWERTY layout was designed to put the often-used keys in harder/slower to reach locations to keep touch-typists from out running the mechanical keyboards of the early typewriters. DVORAK chose a layout that put those keys in easier to reach locations instead.

I mean, how hard can it be to switch from a layout that you've used for, say 40-50 years? :evilgrin:
PJ in (usually sunny) FL

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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by ChrisGreaves »

PJ_in_FL wrote:
18 Oct 2022, 16:47
... slower to reach locations to keep touch-typists from out running the mechanical keyboards of the early typewriters.
Hello PJ. What is it you don't understand about the futility of a two-fingered typist trying to outun the speed of electricity in today's keyboards and computers?
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :rofl:
Cheers, Chris
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by LineLaline »

How about using PureText to quickly convert any formatted type into plain text? It has the option to click on its icon in the task bar or use a shortcut to paste as plain text. It is verrry old and no installation is required.
https://stevemiller.net/puretext/
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LineLaline
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Re: Notepad.exe - accented characters from keyboard

Post by LineLaline »

It may be old but is updated, by the way!
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