Allows one to type special characters such as å or λ on Windows without the alt-key bullshit or frequent language switching which is just cumbersome.
Inspired by Apple's iOS and OS X keyboard symbol selection, this shows a popup with symbols wherever you are typing.
It looks like this:
To type a symbol hold down CAPSLOCK and then (say) the a key. This will show the above popup.
To type an uppercase symbol, simply add SHIFT to the above key sequence.
To cycle options keep pressing the letter key, or use the arrow keys on the keyboard. You can also use the mouse to select a symbol. To go backwards, hold the ALT key in addition to the other keys.
IMPORTANT This is just an initial rough version which is working well for me, but has some known issues. It works particularly well for Microsoft applications which use the Win32 Caret api (SetCaretPos in particular), other applications work but without positioning of the popup at the caret. Instead, the centre of the screen is chosen for these applications.
It is possible to configure one's symbol settings, these will be saved on a per-user basis (see tasktray menu).
It is also possible to temporarily disable SymWin if you need access to CAPSLOCK for instance (see tasktray menu).
A ready-made version can be found here: https://github.com/mjvh80/SymWin/releases .
It is easy to build, however, by running the build.cmd
script or using Visual Studio. The steps are:
Right-clicking on the SymWin tray icon and selecting Configure Symbols
opens the dialog.
If you're interested in any of these features feel free to implement them and open a pull request. Otherwise talk to me, I might just be persuaded to implement the feature.
SymWin does not currently show in Metro because all kinds of special stuff needs to happen:
Is such support realistically possible without being Microsoft?
See http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/pavely/2012/05/16/windows-8-topmost-vs-topmost/ for details.
I know CAPSLOCK may not appease everyone and my app currently disables it. I never use CAPSLOCK for anything meaningful and it is one of the few key combinations that I could think off that is not already used and is easy to type.