Typing accents & special characters in Idiom Software programs

Idiom Software programs use standard Macintosh and Windows methods for entering accented letters and special characters.

Macintosh:

The Macintosh uses the "Option" key to select accents and special characters. To make an accented letter, hold down the Option key and press a second key to select the desired accent. Then release the Option key, and press the letter key (or shift+letter for capital). The accented letter will show on the screen. For example, to create an ó, ( o with an Acute accent) press Option+e, followed by o.

For special characters, the Option key is used with a single other key to directly produce the character. For example, to create a Ç (cedilla), hold down the Option key and press c.

Option key sequences for accents and special characters are shown in the table below.

Macintosh Accent & Special Character Guide

To produce	Press
à, è, ì, ò, ù À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù	Option + ~ (tilde), then letter Option + ~ (tilde), then Shift + letter
á, é, í, ó, ú Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú	Option + e, then letter Option + e, then Shift + letter
â, ê, î, ô, û Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û	Option + i, then letter Option + i, then Shift + letter
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü	Option + u, then letter Option + u, then Shift + letter
ã, ñ, õ Ã, Ñ, Õ	Option + n, then letter Option + n, then Shift + letter
ç / Ç	Option + c / Option + Shift + c
ß	Option + s
/	Option + q / Option + Shift + q

Windows

The most general method for making accents in Windows programs is to use the "Alt" key in combination with a number code entered using the keypad to the right of the main keyboard. For example, to create an ó ( o with an Acute accent), hold down the Alt key and enter the code 0243 on the keypad. Upon release of the Alt key the character will be entered on the screen.

Windows "Alt" codes for accented letters and special characters are shown in the table below.

Windows Accent & Special Character ALT keycodes

Accent	ALT codes
grave	à = 0224	è = 0232	ì = 0236	ò = 0242	ù = 0249
	À = 0192	È = 0200	Ì = 0204	Ò = 0210	Ù = 0217
acute	á = 0225	é = 0233	í = 0237	ó = 0243	ú = 0250
	Á = 0193	É = 0201	Í = 0205	Ó = 0211	Ú = 0218
circonflex	â = 0226	ê = 0234	î = 0238	ô = 0244	û = 0251
	Â = 0194	Ê = 0202	Î = 0206	Ô = 0212	Û = 0219
dieresis	ä = 0228	ë = 0235	ï = 0239	ö = 0246	ü = 0252
	Ä = 0196	Ë = 0203	Ï = 0207	Ö = 0214	ü = 0220
tilde	ã = 0227	ñ = 0241	õ = 0245
	Ã = 0195	Ñ = 0209	Õ = 0213
special	ç = 0231	Ç = 0199	ß = 0223	= 0156	= 0140
	¿ = 0191	¡ = 0161

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