The Quick Unicode Input tool
The Quick Unicode Input tool lets you type any Unicode character simply and quickly, irrespective of what Windows program you are using or what your current keyboard layout is.
You can type characters using their numeric codes, or using the hexadecimal codes that are listed in most Unicode tables and in Microsoft's own charmap utility.
The Quick Unicode Input tool is designed not to interfere with existing Unicode entry methods (built into some programs such as Microsoft Word) but it adds a single entry method that is consistent across all programs that are able to receive Unicode characters.
We have tested the Quick Unicode Input tool on Windows 98, 2000, and XP; but it should work with all versions of Windows.
The Quick Unicode Input tool is available for download free of charge.
What the tool does and why it exists
Unicode is a way of expressing every possible printable character, including accented letters ą č ę Ł, Greek letters π ε ρ ι, and so on. The idea is that every computer equipped with appropriate fonts should be able to display and print any character from any language, ancient or modern. "Unicode" is a trademark of the Unicode Consortium.
Windows has no built-in means for typing general Unicode characters. You can install multiple keyboard layouts from different languages, and use Windows commands to switch between them as necessary, but this can rapidly get cumbersome, especially since the keyboard layout will not correspond to what you actually see on the keyboard and many characters, such as ≠, don't occur in any keyboard layout at all.
Various Windows programs have various ways of getting round this limitation. Each program does things a little differently and some crucial programs (such as Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer) have no way round it at all.
The Quick Unicode Input tool provides a way of typing any Unicode character that is simple, consistent and universal.
- Simple
- Hold down the Alt key and type the numeric code of the
character you want.
Or hold down the Alt key and type the hexadecimal code of the character you want. This is useful because many Unicode character charts (and even Charmap itself) describe Unicode characters using their hexadecimal codes. - Consistent
- The Alt+number shortcut has been in existence since MS-DOS was invented, and many people are familiar with it. The Quick Unicode Input tool simply extends it to cover Unicode characters and hexadecimal codes.
- Universal
- Some application programs already implement their own methods of entering Unicode characters (sometimes decimal only, sometimes hexadecimal as well). Not all programs do this, and the methods vary from one program to another. The Quick Unicode Input tool gives you identical behaviour whatever Windows program you happen to be using.
Links
- Informal introduction
- What the problems are with typing Unicode in Windows, and how the Quick Unicode Input tool solves them.
- Licence, download and installation
- Review the licence terms, download the software and install it.
- Operating instructions
- How to use the Quick Unicode Input tool.
- Technical details and support
- How it works, how much memory it uses, and other things.