QuickChar requires any Macintosh with System 7.0 or later (PowerMacs are fine)
About QuickChar
QuickChar is a control panel which allows you to easily use characters which are not readily accessible on your keyboard. For users with English language keyboard, this will mean foreign letters such as“é” or “Å” or “ß”, while other users can enter characters which do not appear on their keyboards. It also allows you to shorten repetetive typing tasks by defining macros which can be expanded whenever you type a short abbreviation.
Installation
Just drag the version of QuickChar appropriate for your Mac (68K or PowerPC) onto your System Folder and restart. If QuickChar loads successfully, its icon will be displayed during startup. If there is a problem, the icon will be displayed with a large “X” through it.
• Important: Users of earlier versions MUST delete their QuickChar preferences files and restart with QuickChar installed to avoid crashing. This is the last time such an action need be performed when upgrading since a new extensible prefs system has been introduced.
Usage
To use the character picker, hold down your chosen modifier keys (the default is option-shift; use the control panel to change the combination to your liking) and press and hold the mouse button. Use the list on the left to select a category of characters to look at, and the large pane on the right to select the character to enter. When you release the mouse, the highlited character is entered at the insertion point. (To close the picker without entering anything, just move the mouse outside the window and then release.)
If you need to use a character often, you may find it quicker to enter the keystroke manually. The picker displays the keys you need to press to enter a character at the bottom of its window.
The number displayed along with the keystroke is simply the ascii code for the character. Programmers may find this useful; otherwise you can ignore it.
The sets provided contain almost all the characters you’re likely to need, but you can create your own if you wish. To change the contents of sets and to add new ones, click “Edit Sets…” in the control panel. Although this dialog is fairly self-explanatory, here’s a brief outline of some of its features:
Use the list to select a set to edit. The selected set’s name is displayed underneath this list. You can give it a new name by entering it here.
The “Characters…” button lets you choose the characters in the selected set. If you’re unsure how to type in the character you want to use, click on the “Ä” icon for a comprehensive selection to choose from.
Notes: You can have a maximum of 10 sets for your own use; the set called, by default, “Full charset” contains just about every character and cannot be deleted. You can, however, change its name.
NB: With the current engine, it is not advisable to use QuickChar with Dingbats or similar iconic fonts, or with the Symbol font. The next version should definitely be sensitive to the active font and eliminate this problem.
Macros
To use QuickMacros, click “Edit Macros…” in the control panel. Here a list of your macros and their expansions is displayed in the list on the left; when you first use it, this list will be empty. Use the “New” and “Delete” buttons to add and remove macros.
Enter a macro’s abbreviation in the topmost field. This can be up to five letters long and cannot contain spaces.
Enter the macro’s expansion in the large field below it.
To use the macro in your work type ‘/” followed by the abbreviation and then a period (‘.’).
If you wish to use expansions with line breaks in them, use the enter key instead of return to enter the new line in the edit macros dialog.
Use variables to add variable data— such as the date or time— to your expansions. Variables consist of the '#' character followed by a letter indicating the variable. Select a variable in the list and click “Insert” to add it to the current macro’s expansion.
Registration
QuickChar is shareware, meaning that if you use it and find it helpful to you, you should register for a small fee.
The registration fee for QuickChar is IR£5 (Irish pounds— or the equivalent in your currency). This is valid for all future versions and releases.
QuickChar has no disabled features or “Give me your money” notices, so the onus is entirely on you, the user, to register. Please do.
Benefits include
- free technical support and an ear for your suggestions and ideas
- you are informed when new versions are released
- doing the right thing……
To register, open the control panel and click “About…”. In the about dialog, click “Register…” to display the registration dialog box.
After saving the form, and printing it if you intend to register through snailmail, just send the form to me along with your payment to the address below. You can also email me the form and snailmail the payment, if that is more convenient for you.
If you have neither email nor a printer, just copy the relevant details onto a slip of paper and snailmail them to me.
You can pay by
- cash, IR£5 or the equivalent amount
- or by cheque made payable to “Alastair Matthews”.
Last, but definitely not least, I'd like to thank a few people who helped-- and are helping-- to make QuickChar what it is:
My beta testers (in no particular order):
Kirk McElhearn, Rick ?, Henry Bibb, Bill Curtis, Martin Durand, G V Palazzolo, Sherry Reed, Randy Stokes, Zack ?, Bengt Lindell.
Jason Larson
The Future…
• A more convenient way of entering macro abbreviations
• Making the character picker sensitive to the active font
• Providing an optional floating character picker
If you’ve any suggestions on any future improvements, please tell me!
Version History
1.5.1 [15/2/97]
• Native PowerMac code for the control panel and filter!
• Five character macro names are now properly recognised
• Compound macros allowed
• New icons (very productivity enhancing :)
• Amazing number of bug fixes and code cleanups.
1.5 [3/12/96]
loads of new stuff here…
• Character sets
• New, intuitive picker window displays keystroke needed to generate a character
• QuickMacros features
• Slight- major performance enhancement
• Some other minor fixes
1.1 [9/96]
Original version
I HAVE DONE MY BEST TO ENSURE THAT QUICKCHAR WILL NOT DO ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER OR TO ANY DATA STORED ON IT. HOWEVER, I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY SUCH DAMAGE WHICH MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT OF USING QUICKCHAR. YOU USE QUICKCHAR AT YOUR OWN RISK.
