Part Two

This part of the tutorial was written by Peter Thomas, representing a different perspective on using Ukelele. His main point is to show how to create dead keys to produce accented vowels, but without using the option key, as the standard US keyboard layout does. Again, importance is placed on the planning.

Introduction

Ukelele has been created for people who type in several languages, but do so on one keyboard. Ukelele is capable of producing accents on letters — grave, acute, circumflex, dieresis, tilde etc. — on ordinary (non function) keys. It does so making use of dead keys.

A dead key, usually representing an accent, does not respond immediately to our touch, hence its name. But as soon as we type its companion key, usually a vowel, both simultaneously appear: the accent together with the vowel.

Ukelele combines the accents grave, acute, circumflex and dieresis with all vowels. Furthermore, it combines the accent tilde with its own vowels plus some rare consonants. Such two stroke combinations of accents and vowels (plus rare consonants) will enable us to type texts in most non-English languages which use Roman script. Since the accented dead keys to be installed require space on our keyboard, we proceed carefully. Say we require the accents grave, acute, circumflex and dieresis. We place these four accented dead keys on the lower case of our keyboard layout. In doing so we have to “knock off” some key contents (symbols) that were there before. We have to find space for them elsewhere. We end up deciding which items of lesser importance we are ready to sacrifice.

Now, it happens to some of us that our fingers “look” automatically for the accustomed places of “their” accents, independently of the case we are typing in. Therefore we want to install our four accented dead keys not on one, but on all three positions (lower case, upper case and caps lock). This puts us into a bind. While the sacrifice of four key contents might be acceptable, a loss of twelve key spaces is not. What are we to do?

We shall sacrifice all number keys in the upper row of the lower and caps lock positions. Having the number pad at the right side of our keyboard, we don’t need numbers at its left. Thus we gain twenty free key spaces, which — after reallocating the earlier “knocked off” punctuation or symbols on new keys — leaves us with a bonus of eight free spaces. We may leave them empty or fill them with useful new content.

Now, this procedure might be acceptable to those among us who have a keypad with numbers. What about those who who have none? A solution will be found for them for them also.

This is the introduction so far. It demonstrates the importance of planning the complete layout of your new keyboard on its three positions (lower case, upper case, caps lock). Inside the folder of the Ukelele application we find an impressive choice of keyboards. Beginning with the one of our mother tongue, or with one we are familiar with, might be fine for some. Others may prefer to start with an ordinary QWERTY keyboard layout. Should we make errors in the planning stage, or later, we won’t worry. Ukelele will give us ample opportunities to correct our mistakes.

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