ALT-Key characters

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Rickles

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Topic # 97600 17-Feb-2012 14:33

I have a friend (no snide comments, thanks <s>), who has a problem when using Alt-key codes to insert special characters.

The characters in question are musical notes, and when he writes an email (Outlook Express) he can press Alt+13 and Alt+14 to produce the desired characters.

However, when he trys this using Word (Word97 ... he's an older chap and unlikely to upgrade), nothing happens, viz. no characters.

Anybody shed some light on why this is happening (or not happening, actually). System is XP Home.

Cheers,

R.

jbard

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Reply # 582823 17-Feb-2012 14:35

He is using a numpad to enter these and not the numbers at the top of the keyboard.

Most programs only support ALT + numpad keys, not ALT + numbers.

RSK

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Reply # 582825 17-Feb-2012 14:37

I would say because he is using an older version of word. however he could try using character map which can be found in start >Programs> Accessories >Systems tools - that may help

Rickles

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Reply # 582827 17-Feb-2012 14:42

RSK ... thanks for comment. Yes, we have used the Character Map to Copy & Paste, but we were looking for a quick shortcut means of inserting the character.

R.

RSK

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Reply # 582828 17-Feb-2012 14:44

good point, i would certainly try what jbard mentioned

jbard: He is using a numpad to enter these and not the numbers at the top of the keyboard. Most programs only support ALT + numpad keys, not ALT + numbers.

Rickles

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Reply # 582868 17-Feb-2012 15:50

jbard, no, he tried using both pad and top numbers.
Remember, it works fine in Outlook, just not Word. Also, other Alt characters work fine in Word.

R.

Behodar

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Reply # 582896 17-Feb-2012 16:28

Characters under 32 are non-printable, so I think it's just luck (or maybe even a bug) that Alt-13 and Alt-14 do something in Outlook Express.

Rickles

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Reply # 582898 17-Feb-2012 16:34

Behodar,

On the other hand, Outlook is more up to date (installed with XP plus SP3 and subsequent updates), whilst his copy of Word97 simple languished?

R.

Ragnor

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Reply # 582903 17-Feb-2012 16:44

Interesting, ALT - 13 works in Word 2003 and Notepad on Windows 7 for me.

Behodar

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Reply # 582908 17-Feb-2012 16:50

Hmm, you're right, it works for me too (I sent my previous message from my phone so couldn't check). 13 is a newline character though so it must be a text representation of it.

Rickles

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Reply # 582914 17-Feb-2012 16:58

Guys,

Works in Notepad 5.1, but not WordPad 5.1 using XP Pro.

I think the answer lies in the fact that although the characters are part of the latest Unicode character & symbol set, not every program has the ability to call them up, either in part or total.

R.

hellonearthisman

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Reply # 582919 17-Feb-2012 17:15

Could it be the font your using? Maybe the ♫ are not ♥ but the default font?