Alt-Gr on keyboards with two Alt keys

[CX23882]

On non-International US keyboards without an AltGr key, does the right Alt key behave as AltGr if set in the OS, or is it a duplicate of the left Alt key?

[D-EJ915]

alt gr functionality is dictated by what keyboard layout the OS says you're using, like my regular alt on the at101 I'm using now is the alt gr key of my canadian french layout and my canadian french keyboard's alt gr functions as alt on my US layout systems.

[bhtooefr]

Set the keyboard layout in Windows to US International, and it'll function as AltGr.

Otherwise, it's a duplicate of left Alt.

[CX23882]

Thanks, that's good to know.  A while ago I explained to somebody in Canada how to type vowels with accents by switching to the US International layout and using AltGr+vowel (as opposed to annoying dead keys) but they insisted that it didn't work.

[bhtooefr]

Well, US-International has annoying dead keys, too. `, ~, ', and " are all dead keys. Which is annoying, and why I don't use it. OS X's implementation is much, much better (and doesn't need a special US-International layout to type accented characters...)

[CX23882]

The UK International layout on XP is goofier than that, so I used the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to make my own layout based on the standard UK layout, and then added the AltGr modifiers for áéíóúñ¿¡.  Having ' as a dead key is annoying as hell and I kept dead keys only when used in conjunction with AltGr (" ~ ' and `) in case I need to type something like Camagüay.

[lam47]

How do you do an i with 2 dots over it? My girlfriends name Eloisa is supposed to have them

[bhtooefr]

On US-International, type a " and then an i.

On a regular US layout... Alt-(numpad)0239.

Or, I'm not sure if it's interpreted differently in non-German languages, but the German umlaut can also be represented with an e after the letter in question - so it'd be Eloiesa.

[lal]

I'm using standard "US International" because it's readily available on every system (I have to type on other peoples machines often).  I got used to dead keys and don't find them annoying.  I often need to type German ümläüts.

[lal]

Or, I'm not sure if it's interpreted differently in non-German languages, but the German umlaut can also be represented with an e after the letter in question - so it'd be Eloiesa.

I'm pretty sure this is only done with ä, ö and ü, which can be written as ae, oe and ue respectively.

[lam47]

Hmm, perhaps it should be on the o then?
She does not bother and just writes it Eloisa but the pronunciation is El-oh-ee-sa.
Help me out here Lal. Its a German name

[lal]

Well, there is no letter ï in German. German has only four additional characters to the English alphabet, and these are ä, ö, ü and ß.  So if it's written Eloïsa, it's not really a German name.

[D-EJ915]

if you pronounce it that way there would be no accent on the i as 'e' is the default pronunciation of it so it should be just as it is.

[lam47]

Christ seems I dont know anything about her name after all! Well 11 years on its good to know. I may have to have a word with her parents!

[lal]

Hehe

[lam47]

That's interesting. Perhaps her name is Dutch after all!

[D-EJ915]

Heh only Nederlands I know is Ijs lol.

[patrickgeekhack]

Well, US-International has annoying dead keys, too. `, ~, ', and " are all dead keys. Which is annoying, and why I don't use it. OS X's implementation is much, much better (and doesn't need a special US-International layout to type accented characters...)

US-International being annoying or not is open to interpretation. It depends  if you like it or not. I type in both English and French a lot and cannot stand anything except a 104 keyboard layout, so US-International is the best thing ever. Like someone said, you can have the US-International layout on any computer running Windows or Linux. The Mac's method is good if you will only use a Mac all the time for the rest of you life. I've been using, and still do except when I'm at home,  US-International layout on Windows for a very very long time before I bought my first Mac. Imagine having to learn a new way of typing accents while using still using the old way at work.  So, the first thing I did was to find a way to emulate US-International on the Mac. Thankfully, there's a guy who has a solution: http://www.brockerhoff.net/usi/index.html.

So in short, I love it, and cannot imagine going back. In fact, my need for US-International layout is so high, that I might consider not using a Mac the day Rainer's solution does not work, rather than learning the Mac's way of typing accents. But that's just me

[bhtooefr]

And, I'd rather emulate the Mac's layout (with the variation of, instead of using Option like the Mac does, using right Alt as an AltGr-like key) on anything else, and I don't use Macs that often.

[patrickgeekhack]

And, I'd rather emulate the Mac's layout (with the variation of, instead of using Option like the Mac does, using right Alt as an AltGr-like key) on anything else, and I don't use Macs that often.

To each his or her own Seriously, I did not know that this was possible. If this is the case, then it's good news. I won't have to give up the Mac if Rainer's solution does not work on future Mac OS. I'm prepared to learn a new method of typing accents, but only if I can use it across platforms. I just don't want to have to remember one method while on Mac, and another while on a non-Mac. I have a hard time with CTRL-D/CMD-D in browsers everyday.

I will sleep a little bit more intelligent tonight

[bhtooefr]

I don't know that it is possible, but due to how keyboard layouts in Windows work, I expect that it is.

[patrickgeekhack]

I don't know that it is possible, but due to how keyboard layouts in Windows work, I expect that it is.

I'll check it out. When I have some free time that is