Cardbox > Quick Unicode Input ...

Operating instructions

Starting the Quick Unicode Input tool

If you haven't set it up to start automatically, you can start the Quick Unicode Input tool by double-clicking on its icon, either on the Desktop or in the folder where it was installed (often C:\Program Files\Quick Unicode Input).

Typing Unicode characters

Decimal

To type a Unicode character when you know its (decimal) numeric code, hold down the Alt key, and type, on the numeric keypad, the code number of the Unicode character you want; then release the Alt key. For example, if you hold down Alt, type 3, 2, 1, and release Alt, you will have typed the letter Ł.

• If you are typing a number less than 256, type a zero in front of it. This is a Windows convention.
• The numeric keypad's behaviour depends on whether the Num Lock mode is turned on: without Num Lock, the keys on the keypad behave as arrows and cursor keys. To avoid interfering with the operation of other programs, the Quick Unicode Input tool does nothing if Num Lock is turned off, but you can change this mode of operation and make the tool work always. See Operating Modes.

Hexadecimal

Hold down the Alt key, and type a dot (decimal point) on the numeric keypad, followed by the hexadecimal code number of the Unicode character you want. Then release the Alt key.

• In order to be able to type hexadecimal codes on the numeric keypad, the Quick Unicode Input tool reinterprets the meanings of the keys after you have typed Alt and the dot. Here is how the keys are interpreted:
  

  	A	B	C
  7	8	9	D
  4	5	6
  1	2	3	E
  0		F

• If you prefer, you can use the number and letter keys on your main keyboard. This is less convenient for your fingers but it means that you don't have to memorise anything.

Charmap

To use the Charmap utility of Microsoft Windows, which gives a complete chart of all available Unicode characters, hold down the Alt key, press the dot (decimal point) key on the numeric keypad, then release the Alt key.

How to find out the code for a character

The Unicode Consortium publishes the Unicode Standard, which has tables of all possible Unicode characters along with their codes. The codes are shown in hexadecimal format.

If you open the Charmap utility and click on a character, you will see its hexadecimal Unicode code value in the status bar at the bottom of the Charmap window.

Operating modes

You can select operating modes for the Quick Unicode Input tool by right-clicking on its icon in your system tray.

Quick Unicode Input

Use this option to turn the whole tool on and off. You won't normally need to do this, but we have included the option to cover the remote possibility that you have one program that doesn't work well with Quick Unicode Input and need to turn the tool off from time to time.

Only when NumLock is ON

Numeric keypads have a dual purpose depending on whether the Num Lock mode is on. (You can turn the mode on or off with the Num Lock key). When the mode is on, the numeric keypad is used to type numbers. When the mode is off, the numeric keypad is used to type cursor-control codes such as the arrows, Page Up and Page Down.
By default, Quick Unicode Input only works when the Num Lock mode is ON. This is to preserve compatibility with as many programs as possible. If you turn off the "Only when NumLock is ON" menu option, then Quick Unicode Input will work equally well with and without Num Lock: you will probably find this more convenient.
In particular, if you are using a laptop, you should almost certainly turn this option off. If you do this, you will be able to use the Alt and Fn keys together to activate the "virtual" numeric keypad (printed in blue on your keyboard) and type Unicode characters without having to change modes.

Also accept Alt+0xxx

By default, Quick Unicode Input accepts decimal Unicode character codes (using the convention of Alt plus 0 followed by a number). To cover the remote possibility that you are using a program that wants to use Alt+number for its own purposes, you can turn off this menu option to tell Quick Unicode Input to leave decimal codes untouched.

Stopping the Quick Unicode tool

You can stop the tool by right-clicking on its icon in the system tray and selecting "Exit" from the pop-up menu.

You can also suspend it temporarily by right-clicking on its icon in the system tray and selecting "Quick Unicode Input" from the pop-up menu. When you want to reactivate the tool, do the same thing again.