Re-Mapping a Keyboard In some languages, the keyboard...
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Re-Mapping a Keyboard In some languages, the keyboard layout is standardized. For instance, English and Tamil keys are the same regardless of the font. If you type P in Times New Roman, it will be the same in Arial. However, in a number of languages, the keyboard layout may vary from font to font. Sometimes it is necessary to change the font you are accustomed to and if the keyboard layout is different, it can be very challenging to change the way you type. This tool will help you arrange the keys to the way you are accustomed to typing. The tool can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/outreach/dnloads/msklc.mspx These instructions will help you understand how to use it. The instructions explain how to re-map two keys in Gujarati.
Transcript of Re-Mapping a Keyboard In some languages, the keyboard...
Re-Mapping a Keyboard
In some languages, the keyboard layout is standardized. For instance, English and Tamil keys are the same regardless of the font. If you type P in Times New Roman, it will be the same in Arial. However, in a number of languages, the keyboard layout may vary from font to font. Sometimes it is necessary to change the font you are accustomed to and if the keyboard layout is different, it can be very challenging to change the way you type. This tool will help you arrange the keys to the way you are accustomed to typing. The tool can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/outreach/dnloads/msklc.mspx These instructions will help you understand how to use it. The instructions explain how to re-map two keys in Gujarati.
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The following are instructions for re-mapping two keys on the Gujarati keyboard. Keys that correspond to the letters Q and W on the US keyboard are swapped.
(1) Start the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator program and load the Gujarati keyboard (vial File>Load Existing Keyboard)
(2) The keyboard loads a default font. In my case it was a Microsoft Tahoma font, size 8pt.
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(3) The font selection is not relevant (see below, step 24).
I will just increase the font-size for better viewing, from 8pt to 18pt, via View>Fonts.
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(4) Right-click on the key that corresponds to the letter Q on the US-keyboard and select “Properties for VK_Q in all shift states”.
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(5) A new window will appear, with VK_Q as a window-title. Mark down all the corresponding “Code Points Associated with Keystroke”.
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(6) Repeat the steps (4) and (5) for the key that corresponds to the letter W on the US keyboard layout. You will get a new window with VK_W in the windows-title. These VK_* window-titles correspond to US-keyboard keys, for easy reference. Mark down all the corresponding “Code Points Associated with Keystroke” for VK_W.
(7) Replace all “Code Points Associated with Keystroke” entries with the ones from VK_Q window. Other words, replace U+0ac8 with U+0acc and U+0a90 with U+a094. As soon as the new code is entered, the font-symbol under “Actual Char(s)” will change automatically. That is giving you a visual feedback. Symbols after the U+ are hexadecimal numbers, they are symbols 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,a,b,c,d,e,f.
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(8) Press OK, you will get a keyboard with two identical symbols for Q and W on the US-keyboard, as follows:
(9) Because we do not need such a keyboard, right-click on the key corresponding to Q on the US-
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keyboard. Select “Properties for VK_Q in all shift states” and replace U+0acc with U+0ac8 and U+0a94 with U+0a90.
(10) When you press OK, you will get a keyboard with swapped Q and W keys, as follows: Now:
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Before:
(11) You can now test your new keyboard layout via Project>Test Keyboard Layout, for both regular and shift-keys:
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(12) You can now validate your new keyboard layout via Project>Validate Keyboard. The software asks you if you would like to change keyboard description, say Yes:
(13) Enter you new keyboard Name and description and OK.
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(14) Next, you will get a warning message, as follows:
(15) When you click Yes to see the log, you will get a warning about the symbol “.” (comma). This comma-symbol is on two places on the original Gujarati keyboard from Microsoft. One place is on the regular keyboard and the other one is on the numeric/decimal keyboard. I believe this is the way it is supposed to be, if not, you can change it accordingly.
(16) Now you can build a distribution package for your keyboard, via Project>Build DLL and Setup Package.
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(17) The distribution package is saved in the directory with the same name as the keyboard Name:
(18) The distribution package consists from a Windows installer GP.msi and an i386 folder. The package is very small; you can zip it and e-mail it (find attached). Do not e-mail unzipped files; they will be blocked by Microsoft Outlook.
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(19) To install the new keyboard, unzip the attachment into a folder and double-click on the GP.msi file.
(20) You can add the keyboard the usual way, via Windows XP control panel.
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(21) You will end-up with two keyboards for Gujarati:
(22) Once you select the Gujarati language, you should have a choice of two keyboards:
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(23) However, on my system “Gujarati (Peter)” description did not show up until I rebooted. The keyboard option was there but it was blank and narrow. The “Gujarati (Peter)” description was simply missing. I such s case, you can always define keyboard switching by hot-keys (via Control Panel).
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(24) Under Office Word 2003, a default font is Shruti upon selection of our new keyboard. It means that a font selection during keyboard modifications is not relevant.
(25) It is not possible to upgrade the keyboard. You must uninstall it first, by running the same GP.msi file. (You must remove the keyboard from your language bar first, via Control Panel). Then you can install an upgraded keyboard under the same name.
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