Special Characters Map

chelloveck · 12-01-2004, 04:21 PM

In windows your have an utility called Character Map, which helps you find special characters and gives you the keystroke needed to create it. I know of option and type the letter u need for a special character on mac, but is there any list of characters and commands on apple osx?

staypuft · 12-01-2004, 04:36 PM

If you're running 10.2.x you can simply open KeyCaps (I believe it's in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder). If you're running 10.3.x you need to open System Preferences -> select International -> click the Input Menu tab -> check Character Palette, and/or Keyboard Viewer -> check "Show input menu in menu bar"

Then a little flag will appear in your menu bar. You can open the Keyboard Viewer from it... personally I much prefer KeyCaps, and hope Apple brings it back in 10.4

chelloveck · 12-01-2004, 04:43 PM

that is much more work than i was expecting but it should help... thanks a bunch dude

staypuft · 12-01-2004, 08:33 PM

I totally agree... KeyCaps was nice and easy to find and use, this new method is annoying(if you don't have/want the international keyboard flag up all the time).

I hope you find what you're looking for there.

falconbrad · 12-02-2004, 12:53 AM

The keyboard palette or whatever is woefully inadequate... How in the world did they REMOVE functionality that was already included in previous versions of the OS? And something so basic, too... I don't understand. I've been combing the web for a week looking for a program that provides basic charactermap functionality... And the offerings have been dismal at best. Hell, at this point a printout of keyboard shortcuts for characters would be wonderful, but I've been unable to find that as well...

Sorry, I just find it a little frustrating... Seems like such an obvious thing to me...

staypuft · 12-02-2004, 10:33 AM

Keyboard Viewer will show you what character are made... hold down option and other modifier keys to see what the selected font will make. I just prefered KeyCaps because it was easier to get to, and you could actually make the character in KeyCaps and then copy and paste it elsewhere.

What character(s) did you want to know how to make?

cradom · 12-02-2004, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by falconbrad


	Hell, at this point a printout of keyboard shortcuts for characters would be wonderful, but I've been unable to find that as well...

MacMerc used to have one on their site but I dont think it's there anymore. I have a copy of the pdf but wont post it on my site for copyright reasons. However, there's always e-mail - if someone else wants to mess with getting permission from them and putting it up.

staypuft · 12-02-2004, 10:44 AM

I just pulled Key Caps from my old Mac (10.2.8) and it runs fine on 10.3.6. So if you have access to a machine running Jaguar, grab Key Caps.

falconbrad · 12-02-2004, 01:17 PM

The Keyboard Palette isn't doing it for me. The fact that you have to start pressing keys and searching for your symbol is incredibly annoying. At least character palettes have the characters organized in a somewhat coherent and logical manner...

I wish I could grab the KeyCaps utility, but I don't have a machine running Jag close by... just my poor powerbook in a sea of windows machines... I'm hoping I can possibly find it online. Searching now...

staypuft · 12-02-2004, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by falconbrad


	The Keyboard Palette isn't doing it for me. The fact that you have to start pressing keys and searching for your symbol is incredibly annoying.

Then Key Caps probably is not what you want... it shows you a keyboard like Keyboard Viewer... it's just better in my opinion. But it sounds like you want a character palette with more functions...mainly a field showing the keyboard combination to get the character you want.

JDV · 12-02-2004, 01:57 PM

I recently purchased a Matias TactilePro keyboad repalcement keyboard for the Mac. I wasn't really at all happy with the touch of the normal Mac keyboard these days, and that was the primary incentive. To my delight, however, the keyboard actually has printed on each key the special character which that key can produce with the various key combinations (in most programs, at least). It isn't the cheapest solution, but if you want a good keyboard in all respects, you might check it out.

Joe VanZandt

staypuft · 12-02-2004, 02:07 PM

PopChar X looks like it may do what you want (if I understand what you're looking for)
http://www.macility.com/products/popcharx/
It looks like you can download it and try it out... it is shareware and they ask for $29 to register it. But from their demo movie it looks like it shows the keyboard combination to get the characters it shows...
give it a try and let us know.

falconbrad · 12-02-2004, 03:33 PM

I had actually tried PopCharX some time ago and did not like it for one reason or another. But now, I think it was the first thing I had tried (and at the time I had expected there to be tons of utilities capable of doing what I wanted), and I can't remember why I didn't like it. I'm downloading it again and installing it right now and I will give you my mini-review after I've used it for a little while.

One downside already: edu discounts are only available for quantities of 30 or more... The students are poor, guys, not the schools...

falconbrad · 12-04-2004, 11:42 PM

Alright, I've used PopCharX for a few days, as I said I would, and I think I'm going to keep it. To be honest with you, I'm not entirely sure what it was that bugged me about the program the first time around, but I can't seem to find too much fault with it now. The good news is that it supports features like systemwide automatic font detection and a slick popup menu with an icon in the taskbar at the top of the screen that you can move anywhere you please. I also particularly like how it highlights characters you have recently used...

The bad? Not too much. Sometimes when you insert a character and then try to switch back to the application in front, the map window seems to lag, but that doesn't happen too often (and I'm always running lots of apps on my Mac... when I noticed this problem most, I was running a script in Matlab, so go figure). The other downer is that they don't offer student discounts, as I've said before. That really gets me, and I think, at 30 bucks, this program is wayyyy too expensive for functionality that should be included in the OS. But left with no other option, what can I do?

Anyway, if you have any other questions, let me know. If you find another option, let me know about that too. Have a great rest of the weekend.

12-01-2004, 04:21 PM	#1
chelloveck Prospect Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: New York, NY Posts: 8	Special Characters Map In windows your have an utility called Character Map, which helps you find special characters and gives you the keystroke needed to create it. I know of option and type the letter u need for a special character on mac, but is there any list of characters and commands on apple osx?

12-02-2004, 01:57 PM	#11
JDV Hall of Famer Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Chicago, Illinois Posts: 3,194	a slighly more expesnive route... I recently purchased a Matias TactilePro keyboad repalcement keyboard for the Mac. I wasn't really at all happy with the touch of the normal Mac keyboard these days, and that was the primary incentive. To my delight, however, the keyboard actually has printed on each key the special character which that key can produce with the various key combinations (in most programs, at least). It isn't the cheapest solution, but if you want a good keyboard in all respects, you might check it out. Joe VanZandt

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12-01-2004, 04:36 PM	#2
staypuft All Star Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: USA Posts: 628	If you're running 10.2.x you can simply open KeyCaps (I believe it's in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder). If you're running 10.3.x you need to open System Preferences -> select International -> click the Input Menu tab -> check Character Palette, and/or Keyboard Viewer -> check "Show input menu in menu bar" Then a little flag will appear in your menu bar. You can open the Keyboard Viewer from it... personally I much prefer KeyCaps, and hope Apple brings it back in 10.4

12-01-2004, 04:43 PM	#3
chelloveck Prospect Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: New York, NY Posts: 8	that is much more work than i was expecting but it should help... thanks a bunch dude

12-01-2004, 08:33 PM	#4
staypuft All Star Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: USA Posts: 628	I totally agree... KeyCaps was nice and easy to find and use, this new method is annoying(if you don't have/want the international keyboard flag up all the time). I hope you find what you're looking for there.

12-02-2004, 12:53 AM	#5
falconbrad Prospect Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 9	The keyboard palette or whatever is woefully inadequate... How in the world did they REMOVE functionality that was already included in previous versions of the OS? And something so basic, too... I don't understand. I've been combing the web for a week looking for a program that provides basic charactermap functionality... And the offerings have been dismal at best. Hell, at this point a printout of keyboard shortcuts for characters would be wonderful, but I've been unable to find that as well... Sorry, I just find it a little frustrating... Seems like such an obvious thing to me...

12-02-2004, 10:33 AM	#6
staypuft All Star Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: USA Posts: 628	Keyboard Viewer will show you what character are made... hold down option and other modifier keys to see what the selected font will make. I just prefered KeyCaps because it was easier to get to, and you could actually make the character in KeyCaps and then copy and paste it elsewhere. What character(s) did you want to know how to make?

12-02-2004, 10:44 AM	#8
staypuft All Star Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: USA Posts: 628	I just pulled Key Caps from my old Mac (10.2.8) and it runs fine on 10.3.6. So if you have access to a machine running Jaguar, grab Key Caps.

12-02-2004, 01:17 PM	#9
falconbrad Prospect Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 9	The Keyboard Palette isn't doing it for me. The fact that you have to start pressing keys and searching for your symbol is incredibly annoying. At least character palettes have the characters organized in a somewhat coherent and logical manner... I wish I could grab the KeyCaps utility, but I don't have a machine running Jag close by... just my poor powerbook in a sea of windows machines... I'm hoping I can possibly find it online. Searching now...

12-02-2004, 02:07 PM	#12
staypuft All Star Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: USA Posts: 628	PopChar X looks like it may do what you want (if I understand what you're looking for) http://www.macility.com/products/popcharx/ It looks like you can download it and try it out... it is shareware and they ask for $29 to register it. But from their demo movie it looks like it shows the keyboard combination to get the characters it shows... give it a try and let us know.

12-02-2004, 03:33 PM	#13
falconbrad Prospect Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 9	I had actually tried PopCharX some time ago and did not like it for one reason or another. But now, I think it was the first thing I had tried (and at the time I had expected there to be tons of utilities capable of doing what I wanted), and I can't remember why I didn't like it. I'm downloading it again and installing it right now and I will give you my mini-review after I've used it for a little while. One downside already: edu discounts are only available for quantities of 30 or more... The students are poor, guys, not the schools...

12-04-2004, 11:42 PM	#14
falconbrad Prospect Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 9	Alright, I've used PopCharX for a few days, as I said I would, and I think I'm going to keep it. To be honest with you, I'm not entirely sure what it was that bugged me about the program the first time around, but I can't seem to find too much fault with it now. The good news is that it supports features like systemwide automatic font detection and a slick popup menu with an icon in the taskbar at the top of the screen that you can move anywhere you please. I also particularly like how it highlights characters you have recently used... The bad? Not too much. Sometimes when you insert a character and then try to switch back to the application in front, the map window seems to lag, but that doesn't happen too often (and I'm always running lots of apps on my Mac... when I noticed this problem most, I was running a script in Matlab, so go figure). The other downer is that they don't offer student discounts, as I've said before. That really gets me, and I think, at 30 bucks, this program is wayyyy too expensive for functionality that should be included in the OS. But left with no other option, what can I do? Anyway, if you have any other questions, let me know. If you find another option, let me know about that too. Have a great rest of the weekend.