WD: Cannot Use Some US-International Key Combinations in Word

ID: Q113185

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, version 7.0
Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you use the US-International Keyboard Layout setting, some US- International key combinations run Word for Windows commands instead of producing international (accented) characters.

For example, if you press RIGHT ALT+i to produce a lowercase letter "I" with an acute accent, Word instead runs the Print Preview command and switches to print preview.

To view the Regional Settings in Windows 95, click the Start button, click Settings, click Control Panel, and double-click Regional Settings. To view the Keyboard Layout setting in Windows 3.x, open Windows Control Panel and click the International icon.

CAUSE

To implement full keyboard access to all commands, Word overrides several of the US-International key combinations. As a result, these key combinations do not produce international characters in Word 6.0, 7.0 and Word 97; instead, they run Word commands. The following table lists the US-International key combinations strokes that run Word commands instead of producing international characters.

NOTE: The ALTGR key is the RIGHT ALT key or the CTRL+LEFT ALT key on standard U.S. keyboard.


Key        Word Command                Expected International Character
---        ------------                --------------------------------

ALTGR+a    InsertAnnotation            a' (a, acute accent, {SYMBOL
                                       0225})
   (For Word 97, this shortcut is unassigned)

ALTGR+e    InsertEndnoteNow            e' (e, acute accent, {SYMBOL
                                       0233})

ALTGR+i    FilePrintPreview            i' (i, acute accent, {SYMBOL
                                       0237})

ALTGR+n    ViewNormal                  n tilde ({SYMBOL 0241})

ALTGR+o    ViewOutline                 o' (o, acute accent, {SYMBOL
                                       0243})

ALTGR+p    ViewPage                    o" (o, umlaut, {SYMBOL 0246})

ALTGR+s    DocSplit                    esset (hard S, {SYMBOL 0223})

ALTGR+t    Trademark                   Thorn Icelandic capital
                                       ({SYMBOL 0254})

ALTGR+u    TableUpdateAutoFormat       u' (u, acute accent, {SYMBOL
                                       0250})

ALTGR+y    RepeatFind                  u" (u, umlaut, {SYMBOL 0252})

ALTGR+z    GoBack                      ae ligature ({SYMBOL 0230})

ALTGR+1    ApplyHeading1               open exclamation mark (inverted
                                       or upside down exclamation mark,
                                       {SYMBOL 0161})

ALTGR+2    ApplyHeading2               superscript 2 ({SYMBOL 0178})

ALTGR+3    ApplyHeading3               superscript 3 ({SYMBOL 0179})

ALTGR+!    Open Exclamation Mark       superscript 1 ({SYMBOL 0185})

ALTGR+-    ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenu    Japanese yen ({SYMBOL 0165})

ALTGR+=    ToolsCustomizeAddMenuShort  multiplication sign (looks like
                                       "x", {SYMBOL 0215})

WORKAROUND

Method 1

To restore the US-International keyboard functionality for the key combinations listed above, you can remove the Word keyboard assignment for each one. You can make these changes globally, in NORMAL.DOT, or you can make them in a template, which you can attach or load as an add-in when needed. Use the following procedure to remove Word keyboard assignments to activate the US-International key combinations.

Note: These steps remove the documented Word functionality for each key combination you modify. To restore Word functionality, click the Reset All button in the Tools Customize dialog box on the Keyboard tab.

On the Tools menu, click Customize.

Click the Keyboard tab.

From the Categories and Commands lists, select the Word command you want to unassign. For example, to unassign the ViewNormal command from the ALTGR+n key combination, select View in the Categories list and select ViewNormal in the Commands list.

Select the key combination in the Current Keys box. For example, select ALT+CTRL+N, which appears in the Current Keys box for the ViewNormal command.

Click the Remove button. This clears the key combination from the Current Keys box.

Repeat steps c through e to remove additional keyboard assignments.

Click the Close button.

Method 2

If you don't want to remove the Word keyboard assignments, you can use one of the following alternative methods to create international characters:

On the Insert menu, click Symbol. Select the international character you want to insert and click the Insert button.

Use the keyboard shortcut key combination to create the international character on your U.S. keyboard. For a complete list of key combinations for international characters, see page 49 in the "Microsoft Word User's Guide" for Word 6.0 or double-click the Help button on the Standard toolbar, and then type international settings.

Method 3

Obtain the ALTKEYBD.DOT template file from Alki Software Corporation. This template removes the Word key assignments that conflict with US-International key combinations. Alki supplies this template with the U.S. domestic version of its foreign language proofing tools. The package contains complete documentation on most international keyboard settings and includes keyboard layout diagrams. ALTKEYBD.DOT modifies only the keyboard assignments; it does not affect menu or toolbar assignments for any Word commands.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word User's Guide," version 6.0, pages 48-49

Additional query words: 6.0 foreign diacritical special word7 word6 7.0 word95 winword 8.0 word8 word97

Keywords : kbualink97
Version : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :