kaŝperanto:

bartlett22183:If the task is merely to be able to type the Esperanto accented letters ĉĝĥĵŝŭĈĜĤĴŜŬ for English versions of Windows, there are already keyboard drivers available, such as Ek! (I'm not sure whether this is still available / supported) and Tajpi. Indeed, when I decided to compose this reply, I just went to my Windows (7) desktop and started Tajpi. I could immediately type the E-o accented letters with two trivial keystrokes each. To the best of my information, such utility programs are also freely available for Mac and Linux. Are you trying to reinvent the wheel?

I'm not familiar with those programs (primarily a Linux user here), but it sounds like this approach more directly uses the OS tools given by Microsoft (no additional software required).

A similar situation for me is recently I edited some registry keys to force Caps Lock to act like a Ctrl key. The Caps Lock key is a holdover from typewriter days and is a pointless waste of space on modern keyboards, ESPECIALLY for programmers or others who work with applications that use a lot of Ctrl key combos for commands. You can get software to remap this key, but doing it in the registry directly changes how Windows processes the key itself without needing to install any software at all.

Something like this. Sure you can download programs to type in it but I personally found that very tedious. Having the entire alphabet in Windows from bootup feels far better to me, especially because I don't have to do any copy pasting from a program to wherever I'm writing. It's the same reason why I use the International English layout instead of just searching é or downloading an accent program every time I want to say Pokémon. It feels more natural and doesn't break the flow of typing/writing. If you're an avid writer I think you'll understand what I mean how googling and such can really kill the mood or the feeling that you're building up. With this you don't need to be on your browser or start an app. You simply type and it's there. There's a lot to be said for that difference.

- also another thing -

This can be used with any language version of Windows, regardless. I like to alternate between Russian and English and it works fine in both. I'm not sure about these programs but they may not have the localisation support to be of any use to non-English speakers (Who I value equally as much as English speakers). Effectively it renders the program quite useless.

Ragtag:

Alkanadi:Doesn't windows already have a built in keyboard for esperanto?

No, unfortunately. As far as I can tell, they're not even considering it. The general attitude both Apple and Microsoft have to Esperanto seems to be that it's on the same level as Klingon and is thus not worth the time or money investing in. In all honesty, I can see where they'd think that considering the lack of publicity Esperanto has these days and the fact that anyone outside the community doesn't know it is growing.

With enough time, though, I believe that will change. Shifts in powers will make Esperanto a more prominent competitor in the world.

While I can't comment on Windows, Esperanto is a system language option for Mac OS X. However it does say it's only partial support and the only thing it appears to change is the date/time. There is no keyboard option. On iOS (for iPhones/iPads) Esperanto is not available as a system language but it is an option in preferred language order, which (I think) means if a developer creates an app and uses Esperanto as a language option (along with English, Spanish etc) if Esperanto is set first it will default to it.

Like you say with enough time and pressure things will change. Seeing as it's already partially support on Mac OS X I think I might go and email Apple about providing full support...

Christa627:But for some reason, when we were using a Win 8 computer to transfer files from a dying external hard drive to a new one, when it did my folder it quarantined the Tajpi file as a trojan

Some antivirus programs treat Tajpi as malware because it watches the keyboard (in the same way as a malicious program might snoop on a user's typing), but it's nothing to worry about. You can usually get around the issue by telling your antivirus program to ignore Tajpi, thereby setting it up as an exception.

nornen:Writing an application that emulates a keystroke handler on top of your OS's keystroke handler is working against your OS

Perhaps, but Windows keymaps don't make sense for Esperanto. Keymaps are based primarily around countries, and using the US layout for Esperanto is an arbitrary choice that won't appeal to everyone. Who wants to switch to an unfamiliar layout just to be able to type Esperanto? It might be working with the OS, but it's against the user in a lot of cases.

The proper solution to the Esperanto characters problem would be for the OS to provide the kind of functionality offered by Tajpi and Ek by default, by providing an easy way of configuring compose key combos that run on top of the currently selected keymap. Until that happens though we're stuck with addon programs.

tommjames:

Christa627:But for some reason, when we were using a Win 8 computer to transfer files from a dying external hard drive to a new one, when it did my folder it quarantined the Tajpi file as a trojan

Some antivirus programs treat Tajpi as malware because it watches the keyboard (in the same way as a malicious program might snoop on a user's typing), but it's nothing to worry about. You can usually get around the issue by telling your antivirus program to ignore Tajpi, thereby setting it up as an exception.

Thank you for the explanation! Of course, my brothers always insist that it is a keylogger and it's spying on me, but they will take any opportunity at all to pick on anything Esperanto-related, so that isn't surprising .

Christa627:

tommjames:

Christa627:But for some reason, when we were using a Win 8 computer to transfer files from a dying external hard drive to a new one, when it did my folder it quarantined the Tajpi file as a trojan

Some antivirus programs treat Tajpi as malware because it watches the keyboard (in the same way as a malicious program might snoop on a user's typing), but it's nothing to worry about. You can usually get around the issue by telling your antivirus program to ignore Tajpi, thereby setting it up as an exception.

Thank you for the explanation! Of course, my brothers always insist that it is a keylogger and it's spying on me, but they will take any opportunity at all to pick on anything Esperanto-related, so that isn't surprising .

Yes, the evil Esperanto World Domination League uses Tajpi to spy on Esperantists worldwide, making sure any dissenters are taken care of before they can become a problem.

By the way, I had this great idea about a reform to Esperanto that would fix ahsfdlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll[user disconnected]

kaŝperanto:By the way, I had this great idea about a reform to Esperanto that would fix ahsfdlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll[user disconnected]

Hehe. Now if only the lernu admins would crack down on the reformists with similar efficiency

Perhaps this should be another thread but there is now an iOS keyboard thanks to Chuck Smith:

https://appsto.re/gb/Z-oS4.i

For typing with Windows 7 (and I imagine 8) you can create a keyboard using the official keyboard layout creator downloadable at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.as....

I used it to have ĉ ĝ ĵ ŝ á é í ó and ŭ at the ready with the alt button.

tommjames:

nornen:Writing an application that emulates a keystroke handler on top of your OS's keystroke handler is working against your OS

Perhaps, but Windows keymaps don't make sense for Esperanto. Keymaps are based primarily around countries, and using the US layout for Esperanto is an arbitrary choice that won't appeal to everyone. Who wants to switch to an unfamiliar layout just to be able to type Esperanto? It might be working with the OS, but it's against the user in a lot of cases.

This idea would also appeal to people who use alternative keymaps, like Dvorak.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking that there are other Dovark typers out there looking to type Esperanto characters...