Windows 7: Italian Keyboard: Typing capitalized accented vowels
I am running Windows 7 on a computer with an Italian keyboard. Such a keyboard has keys for producing the lowercase accented grave characters à, è, ì, ò, ù, and it is also possible to produce the lowercase accented acute character é by pressing SHIFT + è.
However I would like to insert the uppercase accented characters À, È, É, Ì, Ò, Ù without recurring to the use of numeric ALT codes. How can this be achieved?
I would like a solution which works across all programs on the system, not just MS Word.
Thanks.
Here is the diagram of the standard Italian keyboard layout I am using:
Solution 1:
It is very rare for italian words to start with a wowel that requires an accent in regular text documents (unless you consider sentences, and yet in that case 99% of the times it will be an È as in È possibile?), so maybe that is the reason of this design choice.
Or maybe to make CAPS LOCK look funny: ASDèàùUP. Who knows...
Anyways most people never need this because they incorrectly use E' (letter E followed by an apostrophe). Even newspapers do this.
But we can fix this in 5 lettere: MSKLC!
You can use the freely available Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to remap (map, in this case) the combination SHIFT-é to get È, for example, or SHIFT-ALT-è to get É. Italian tutorial here.
This is probably the best solution as you are making a new keyboard layout file to use, so no additional programs are run (you only execute MSKLC once, to make the layout).
If you have Windows XP or lower, then it is time to upgrade as this requires at least windows Vista.
Update: Due to having to re-install Windows myself from time to time I feel it is better to put my own keyboard file here. Just copy & paste the following block of text in an empty file and name it "italian.klc". You can now open it with the MSKLC. Feel free to update this answer with your improvements.
KBD ItaBest "Italiano - Better"
COPYRIGHT "(c) 2016 B9K"
COMPANY "Company"
LOCALENAME "it-IT"
LOCALEID "00000410"
VERSION 1.0
SHIFTSTATE
0 //Column 4
1 //Column 5 : Shft
2 //Column 6 : Ctrl
6 //Column 7 : Ctrl Alt
7 //Column 8 : Shft Ctrl Alt
LAYOUT ;an extra '@' at the end is a dead key
//SC VK_ Cap 0 1 2 6 7
//-- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
02 1 0 1 0021 -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT ONE, EXCLAMATION MARK, <none>, <none>, <none>
03 2 0 2 0022 -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT TWO, QUOTATION MARK, <none>, <none>, <none>
04 3 0 3 00a3 -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT THREE, POUND SIGN, <none>, <none>, <none>
05 4 0 4 0024 -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT FOUR, DOLLAR SIGN, <none>, <none>, <none>
06 5 0 5 0025 -1 20ac -1 // DIGIT FIVE, PERCENT SIGN, <none>, EURO SIGN, <none>
07 6 0 6 0026 -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT SIX, AMPERSAND, <none>, <none>, <none>
08 7 0 7 002f -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT SEVEN, SOLIDUS, <none>, <none>, <none>
09 8 0 8 0028 -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT EIGHT, LEFT PARENTHESIS, <none>, <none>, <none>
0a 9 0 9 0029 -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT NINE, RIGHT PARENTHESIS, <none>, <none>, <none>
0b 0 0 0 003d -1 -1 -1 // DIGIT ZERO, EQUALS SIGN, <none>, <none>, <none>
0c OEM_4 0 0027 003f -1 0060 00b4 // APOSTROPHE, QUESTION MARK, <none>, GRAVE ACCENT, ACUTE ACCENT
0d OEM_6 SGCap 00ec 005e -1 007e -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH GRAVE, CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT, <none>, TILDE, <none>
-1 -1 0 00cc // LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH GRAVE
10 Q 1 q Q -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER Q, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Q, <none>, <none>, <none>
11 W 1 w W -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER W, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER W, <none>, <none>, <none>
12 E 1 e E -1 20ac -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER E, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E, <none>, EURO SIGN, <none>
13 R 1 r R -1 00ae -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER R, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER R, <none>, REGISTERED SIGN, <none>
14 T 1 t T -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER T, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER T, <none>, <none>, <none>
15 Y 1 y Y -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER Y, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y, <none>, <none>, <none>
16 U 1 u U -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER U, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U, <none>, <none>, <none>
17 I 1 i I -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER I, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I, <none>, <none>, <none>
18 O 1 o O -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER O, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O, <none>, <none>, <none>
19 P 1 p P -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER P, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER P, <none>, <none>, <none>
1a OEM_1 SGCap 00e8 00e9 001b 005b 007b // LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH GRAVE, LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE, ESCAPE, LEFT SQUARE BRACKET, LEFT CURLY BRACKET
-1 -1 0 00c8 // LATIN CAPITAL LETTER E WITH GRAVE
1b OEM_PLUS 0 002b 002a 001d 005d 007d // PLUS SIGN, ASTERISK, INFORMATION SEPARATOR THREE, RIGHT SQUARE BRACKET, RIGHT CURLY BRACKET
1e A 1 a A -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER A, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A, <none>, <none>, <none>
1f S 1 s S -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER S, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER S, <none>, <none>, <none>
20 D 1 d D -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER D, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER D, <none>, <none>, <none>
21 F 1 f F -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER F, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER F, <none>, <none>, <none>
22 G 1 g G -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER G, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER G, <none>, <none>, <none>
23 H 1 h H -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER H, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER H, <none>, <none>, <none>
24 J 1 j J -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER J, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER J, <none>, <none>, <none>
25 K 1 k K -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER K, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER K, <none>, <none>, <none>
26 L 1 l L -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER L, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER L, <none>, <none>, <none>
27 OEM_3 SGCap 00f2 00e7 -1 0040 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH GRAVE, LATIN SMALL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA, <none>, COMMERCIAL AT, <none>
-1 -1 0 00d2 // LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH GRAVE
28 OEM_7 SGCap 00e0 00b0 -1 0023 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH GRAVE, DEGREE SIGN, <none>, NUMBER SIGN, <none>
-1 -1 0 00c0 // LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH GRAVE
29 OEM_5 0 005c 007c -1 007e -1 // REVERSE SOLIDUS, VERTICAL LINE, <none>, TILDE, <none>
2b OEM_2 SGCap 00f9 00a7 001c -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH GRAVE, SECTION SIGN, INFORMATION SEPARATOR FOUR, <none>, <none>
-1 -1 0 00d9 // LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH GRAVE
2c Z 1 z Z -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER Z, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z, <none>, <none>, <none>
2d X 1 x X -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER X, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER X, <none>, <none>, <none>
2e C 1 c C -1 00a9 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER C, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C, <none>, COPYRIGHT SIGN, <none>
2f V 1 v V -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER V, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER V, <none>, <none>, <none>
30 B 1 b B -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER B, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B, <none>, <none>, <none>
31 N 1 n N -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER N, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER N, <none>, <none>, <none>
32 M 1 m M -1 -1 -1 // LATIN SMALL LETTER M, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M, <none>, <none>, <none>
33 OEM_COMMA 0 002c 003b -1 -1 -1 // COMMA, SEMICOLON, <none>, <none>, <none>
34 OEM_PERIOD 0 002e 003a -1 263a 263b // FULL STOP, COLON, <none>, WHITE SMILING FACE, BLACK SMILING FACE
35 OEM_MINUS 0 002d 005f -1 2015 -1 // HYPHEN-MINUS, LOW LINE, <none>, HORIZONTAL BAR, <none>
39 SPACE 0 0020 0020 0020 -1 -1 // SPACE, SPACE, SPACE, <none>, <none>
56 OEM_102 0 003c 003e 001c 25c4 25ba // LESS-THAN SIGN, GREATER-THAN SIGN, INFORMATION SEPARATOR FOUR, BLACK LEFT-POINTING POINTER, BLACK RIGHT-POINTING POINTER
53 DECIMAL 0 002e 002e -1 -1 -1 // FULL STOP, FULL STOP, , ,
KEYNAME
01 Esc
0e Backspace
0f Tab
1c Enter
1d Ctrl
2a Shift
36 "Right Shift"
37 "Num *"
38 Alt
39 Space
3a "Caps Lock"
3b F1
3c F2
3d F3
3e F4
3f F5
40 F6
41 F7
42 F8
43 F9
44 F10
45 Pause
46 "Scroll Lock"
47 "Num 7"
48 "Num 8"
49 "Num 9"
4a "Num -"
4b "Num 4"
4c "Num 5"
4d "Num 6"
4e "Num +"
4f "Num 1"
50 "Num 2"
51 "Num 3"
52 "Num 0"
53 "Num Del"
54 "Sys Req"
57 F11
58 F12
7c F13
7d F14
7e F15
7f F16
80 F17
81 F18
82 F19
83 F20
84 F21
85 F22
86 F23
87 F24
KEYNAME_EXT
1c "Num Enter"
1d "Right Ctrl"
35 "Num /"
37 "Prnt Scrn"
38 "Right Alt"
45 "Num Lock"
46 Break
47 Home
48 Up
49 "Page Up"
4b Left
4d Right
4f End
50 Down
51 "Page Down"
52 Insert
53 Delete
54 <00>
56 Help
5b "Left Windows"
5c "Right Windows"
5d Application
DESCRIPTIONS
0409 Italiano - Better
LANGUAGENAMES
0409 Italian (Italy)
ENDKBD
Solution 2:
There is also a shareware tool called keyxpat that can help you, under any windows software. It attaches the characters you want on the key you want, so there is no other keys to type at the same time. So to get À, you just type shift+A and wait one click of the metronome. This is straightforward and unobtrusive, and it allows you to type quickly.
Disclaimer: I'm the author of this tool. I did it for myself first because I need to write in french on a US qwerty keyboard all the time.