As a first example, let's see several methods to access French-accented keys on a US keyboard.
Method 1:
You can type these characters by using these Windows ALT codes for French accent marks by just using your number pad:
-
Alt+0233 (é)
-
Alt+0224 (à)
-
Alt+0232 (è)
-
Alt+0249 (ù)
-
Alt+0226 (â)
-
Alt+0234 (ê)
-
Alt+0238 (î)
-
Alt+0244 (ô)
-
Alt+0251 (û)
-
Alt+0235 (ë)
-
Alt+0239 (ï)
-
Alt+0252 (ü)
-
Alt+0231 (ç)
The way to type these characters is to hold Alt while you type all 4 numbers in your numpad keys (these are usually on another layer of your Raise).
This would require you to press 5 keys, and also change layer to access the numpad numbers. But Bazecor has macros, so you can configure a key to type all 5 keys automatically:
Create a macro that holds ALT, presses the 4 numbers on the numpad numbers and then releases ALT.
Method 2:
Switching the input language to French, typing the accented layer, and then switching back to US English.
For this, you need to have installed both French and US English keyboard input languages.
-
Click Start Start button, type intl.cpl in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
-
Click on Language Preferences.
- Under "Preferred Languages", check that you have both French and US English. If not, add them by clicking on "Add a Language".
Now you can use this method.
Again, you can create a macro that does this after just one keypress. It would first press Win+Space to change the language to French, then type the accented letter with the same keystrokes that a French keyboard would require to get that accented letter, and then press Win+Space again to switch back to US English.
Method 3:
Typing the accent first and the letter after. Accessing accented keys on a US English layout is tricky, because it depends on how your OS manages keycodes sent to it by the keyboard. The Raise keyboard can't control how your OS interprets keycodes, it can only send the keycodes you tell it to.
For this reason, to access accent keys, you have to change how your OS manages keycodes by installing a United States-International keyboard layout.
To add the United States-International keyboard layout in Windows, follow these steps:
-
Click Start Start button, type intl.cpl in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
-
Click on Language Preferences.
-
Under preferred languages, find US language and click on it.
-
Then click on Options.
-
Click on Add a keyboard.
-
Look for United States-International.
-
Click to Add.
-
On your task bar, next to the time and date, click on your input language.
-
You should now be able to select English-United States-International keyboard.
Now that you're set up your Keyboard input language to allow French and other international characters to be typed on it, you can get them this way:
-
Accent aïgue (é): Press ‘ (apostrophe, key between semicolon and Enter), followed by the letter.
-
Accent grave (à, è, ù): Press ` (the tilde key that is not in your Raise by default, but you can configure by following this guide), followed by the letter.
-
Accent circonflèxe (â, ê, î, ô, û): Press Shift-6 followed by the letter.
-
Trëma (ë, ï, ü): Press Shift+' (apostrophe) followed by the letter.
-
Cédille (ç): Press ' (apostrophe) followed by letter c.
Now, you may wonder if there's an easier way to get these key combinations. There is. By using the macros that the Raise includes 😊
You just have to set up a macro that types those characters for you. For example, to type ë you would make a macro that holds Shift, types apostrophe, releases Shift, and types e.
For other symbols you can find on other EU languages, you can use one of the 3 methods above, but applied to that language instead of French. For the Alt codes, a quick google search will tell you the Alt code of the symbol you're looking for in that language.