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Inserting special characters, How to insert special characters
 
#1
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How can I insert a special character such as an "e" with an accent mark over it in a message.  I can't find anyway to do that.
 
 
 
#2
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I don't think The Bat offers any help there. Like with any other Windows program, you can use the Character Map windows utility, or in Windows 10 use the virtual Touch Keyboard. Or memorize the ascii codes and type Alt-<code>.

Personally, I have activated the US International keyboard layout in Windows, which makes it very easy to type accented characters. When I type 'e, I get é and when I type "i I get ï. The drawback is that when I want to type just ' or ", I have to press that key and then a space to make it appear - but that's something that I got used to quickly.
Edited: Daniel van Rooijen - 20 September 2017 06:55:45
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#3
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Well, the alt key doesn't work well with keyboards with no data entry pad. If a person uses a few special characters frequently, I've found an easy tweak is to edit the images/default.msl file (it's a simple text file) and then copy and paste desired characters from charmap into smiley faces that you never use (TB! gives approx 20 and many of us don't use them). Then, when composing a message, there's a convenient smiley face in compose tool bar. Just click it, identify the smiley that shows the desired character and click it. Approx 10 minutes one time effort, but can save lots of time if you use such characters frequently (and not a lot of them). Just remember to backup the images folder for any updates or reinstalls.
david
 
 
 
#4
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Clever! :-)
I volunteer as a moderator to help keep the forum tidy. I do not work for Ritlabs SRL.
 
 
 
#5
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Quote
david kirk wrote:
Well, the alt key doesn't work well with keyboards with no data entry pad. If a person uses a few special characters frequently, I've found an easy tweak is to edit the images/default.msl file (it's a simple text file) and then copy and paste desired characters fr om charmap into smiley faces that you never use (TB! gives approx 20 and many of us don't use them). Then, when composing a message, there's a convenient smiley face in compose tool bar. Just click it, identify the smiley that shows the desired character and click it. Approx 10 minutes one time effort, but can save lots of time if you use such characters frequently (and not a lot of them). Just remember to backup the images folder for any updates or reinstalls.
david
This sounds like a great solution, however, I don't know quite how to do this. Would you be so kind as to walk me through each step?  I assume the images/default.msl file is in The Bat folder.  However, wh ere do you find the smiley faces once you add the special characters from charmap?  What menu are they on when you are either creating a new message or replying to a message?  

Thank you for being patient with me and helping me with this issue.
 
 
 
#6
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Hello, Ann,
Yes, the folder of which I spoke is in the TB! folder at c:\program files\TheBat!\images   In that folder is another folder 'Default" that contains the smiley faces. You can IGNORE them, as we don't bother with them. You will also see the Default.msl file. If you're in Windows Explorer view, my suggestion is to do a copy and paste to create a backup copy so you can restore if you make a mistake.  

First, make sure that TB! is not running, just to be safe.

Now, open the Default.msl file in a simple text editor, such as notepad - NOT a wordprocessor.  The content looks like this:
Smiley = ".\Default\smile001.png", 0, ":)", "smile"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile002.png", 0, ":(", "sad"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile003.png", 0, ":'(", "cry"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile004.png", 0, ":-o", "surprised"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile005.png", 0, "=p~", "crazy"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile006.png", 0, "(blushing_shy)", "blushing"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile007.png", 0, ":))", "laughing"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile008.png", 0, "x-(", "angry"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile009.png", 0, ":|", "indifferent"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile010.png", 0, ":^)", "suspicious"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile011.png", 0, "B-)", "cool"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile012.png", 0, "O:-)", "angel"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile013.png", 0, "x-P", "disgust"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile014.png", 0, "8->", "dreaminess"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile015.png", 0, "8-/", "bafflement"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile016.png", 0, ":P", "tongue"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile017.png", 0, ";)", "winking"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile018.png", 0, "(in_love)", "in love"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile019.png", 0, ":((", "disappointed"
Smiley = ".\Default\smile020.png", 0, ":-b", "thumbs up"

Pick a few that you would never use and paste in the desired characters that you have copied fr om charmap. The content to replace are the characters between the quote marks. For example, the bottom one is for thumbs up. The characters you would replace are the ;-b . Overtype the 'thumbs up' only for your personal documentation as TB! ignores that text.

Now start TB! and select the compose window. Mine shows a smiley fact in bar above content area. I don't remember if that's the default or not. If you see that, just click it and the smiley menu will appear and you can move mouse over the images until you see the character you want. Just click and it will be inserted. You can also click Utilities>Insert>Insert Smiley and see the same menu.

If you decide to make changes while TB! is running, it won't recognize the changes until you restart TB!.  

I hope this info gets you to wh ere you want to be. Good luck,
david
 
 
 
#7
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Oh, thank you so much.  Yes, those instructions should be just what I need.  I didn't have the smiley face icon on my menu, but I just found it and added it.  I think this will work perfectly.  

Ann
 
 
 
#8
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OK, I did it, but I had to add an additional line of coding to create a new smiley face icon.  I wouldn't work changing one of the already existing ones.  I must have been doing something wrong.  As long as I keep the box in the menu checked, I will get the character I am needing.  If I don't check that box, I get a smiley face with the character superimposed on top of it.  But, this will work.  Thank you.
 
 
 
#9
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Another alternative would be the free Holdkey utility, which pops up when you hold a character key for half a second, and then allows you to pick the special character that you want to insert.
I volunteer as a moderator to help keep the forum tidy. I do not work for Ritlabs SRL.
 
 
 
#10
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Ann,
I'm puzzled. There is no "box" to check, so I'm not sure what you're doing. Maybe if you post the content of your default.msl file I can advise.
david
 
 
 
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