Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

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anglicus
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Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by anglicus »

Hello, everyone. I've been registered with the forum for a while now, but just done a lot of lurking so far because I haven't had much to say yet. I've been studying Greek for probably around a year and a half now, currently reading Herodotus (halfway through the 2nd book).

I've always been kind of dissatisfied with the options for inputting Greek on the computer, seeing as the native Windows polytonic Greek layout is kind of cumbersome, and other systems I've tried usually only work with special fonts, so I took it upon myself to create a keyboard layout myself.

I think I've come up with a pretty good system, and I wanted to share it to see what other people think. I think it is about as simple as any layout capable of producing all the combinations of accents and breathings could be, and far simpler than most of the other options I've seen. I can't imagine that if you're using the standard Windows layout that you wouldn't like this better (but feel free to say so if you don't). I know there are some web-based systems that are pretty simple, but if you want something that you can use directly in any program, I think this is worth trying.

The image below more or less gives a summary of how it works, and after the image is a text sample showing the corresponding keystrokes. I've also attached a zipped copy of the layout installer (it's only 254k) that includes more detailed documentation. Feel free to download it and try it out.

-James

Image

Συνοικεούσης δὲ τῷ Καμβύσῃ τῆς Μανδάνης ὁ Ἀστυάγης
Sunoikeo/ushj d\e t=J Kamb/usV t=hj Mand/anhj [o ]Astu/aghj
τῷ πρώτῳ ἔτεϊ εἶδε ἄλλην ὄψιν• ἐδόκεέ οἱ ἐκ τῶν αἰδοίων
t=J pr/wtJ }etealt+1 e>ide }allhn }oyin@ ]ed/oke/e oek t=wn
τῆς θυγατρὸς ταύτης φῦναι ἄμπελον, τὴν δὲ ἄμπελον
t=hj qugatr\oj ta/uthj f=unai }ampelon, t\hn d\e }ampelon
ἐπισχεῖν τὴν Ἀσίην πᾶσαν.
]episce=in t\hn ]As/ihn p=asan.


ταῦτα ἐνδεικνύμενος ὁ θεὸς ἐξεπίπτηδες διὰ τοῦ
ta=uta ]endeikn/umenoj [o qe\oj ]exep/ipthdej di\a to=u
φαυλοτάτου ποιητοῦ τὸ κάλλιστον μέλος ᾖσεν• ἢ οὐ δοκῶ
faulot/atou poihto=u t\o k/alliston m/eloj >Vsen@ )h o]u dok=w
σοι ἀληθῆ λέγειν, ὦ Ἴων;
soi ]alhq=h l/egein, >w }Iwn;

anphph
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by anphph »

I'll be trying it as soon as I get home! Thanks!

spiphany
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by spiphany »

Hey, I don't know if you've heard of Tavultesoft Keyman. I've been using it for a couple of years now and am quite happy with it. It integrates with the windows language/keyboard layouts, so it's easy to switch back and forth. There are a couple of different classical Greek keyboards based on beta-code (can't remember the links right now, sorry, but they should turn up with a google search).
IPHIGENIE: Kann uns zum Vaterland die Fremde werden?
ARKAS: Und dir ist fremd das Vaterland geworden.
IPHIGENIE: Das ist's, warum mein blutend Herz nicht heilt.
(Goethe, Iphigenie auf Tauris)

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anglicus
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by anglicus »

I think I looked at Keyman a long time ago when I was first interested in Greek, but I had forgotten about it. In any case, I like my layout and it's working for me so far. Thanks for the suggestion though. Oder vielen Dank sogar, da es scheint, dass Sie auch ein Liebhaber der deutschen Sprache sind.

spiphany
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by spiphany »

Yes, picking one keyboard and sticking to it is probably the most important.

Ja, ein Bisschen Interesse an Deutsch hätte ich schon. (Bin eigentlich Germanistin. Griechisch ist quasi nur zum Entspannen.)
IPHIGENIE: Kann uns zum Vaterland die Fremde werden?
ARKAS: Und dir ist fremd das Vaterland geworden.
IPHIGENIE: Das ist's, warum mein blutend Herz nicht heilt.
(Goethe, Iphigenie auf Tauris)

Swth\r
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by Swth\r »

It seems to be pretty close to SGREEK beta code layout... Nice work though!
Dives qui sapiens est...

Ramses
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by Ramses »

Thanks mate! Really works nice and smoothly. Great that you've done this for free.

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anglicus
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by anglicus »

Ramses wrote:Thanks mate! Really works nice and smoothly. Great that you've done this for free.
Thanks, I'm glad you like it. That makes the effort more worthwhile. Although the keyboard editor is actually pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it, if anyone's interested, you can download it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

You can open up pre-existing layouts and edit them, or create them from scratch.

By the way, I noticed I have a typo on the image above that suggests you would get ἲ if you tried to type ἢ, but I double checked and it's definitely just a typo and not an error in the layout. So far I haven't noticed any errors (though I have been rethinking a couple aspects of the layout), but if anyone that's trying it out notices any problems, please let me know as soon as you can.

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Lex
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by Lex »

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

This one is necessary if you run Vista. The one you referred to is an older version, and won't work on Vista.

PS: I don't suppose you could upload your .KLC file to this thread, could you? No offense intended, but I don't know you from Adam, and I don't like to run programs unless they come from known sources.
I, Lex Llama, super genius, will one day rule this planet! And then you'll rue the day you messed with me, you damned dirty apes!

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anglicus
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by anglicus »

Here you go.

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Lex
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Re: Anyone interested in a new keyboard layout?

Post by Lex »

Thank you, sir.
I, Lex Llama, super genius, will one day rule this planet! And then you'll rue the day you messed with me, you damned dirty apes!

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