How do I create custom accents?

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Level 1

4 points

How do I create custom accents?

I saw online that I could go into /System/Library/Input Methods/PressAndHold.app/Contents/Resources/ and edit the file Keyboard-en.plist and add:

<key>Roman-Accent-t</key>
<dict>
  <key>Direction</key>
  <string>right</string>
  <key>Keycaps</key>
  <string>× ÷ √ π ∴ ∵ ≈ ≠ ∞</string>
  <key>Strings</key>
  <string>× ÷ √ π ∴ ∵ ≈ ≠ ∞</string>
</dict>

...or whatever characters I prefer.

First, I'm not sure where this goes in the code (e.g. top, bottom, etc). Second, each time I try to edit, it tells me I must make a duplicate to do so. Upon editing a duplicate, I was left with a .txt file instead of a .plist file, and therefore I was not able to replace the previous "Keyboard-en.plist".

Any help concerning how this would be done is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Jul 15, 2015 3:58 PM

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Answer 1

Roote

Level 4

1,643 points

Jul 15, 2015 7:43 PM in response to matt4086288

You may want to explore all the options OS X offers for character selection and input before modifying a property list file:

1. Accented characters or character alternates. Hold a key down for valid letters. See the Apple Support document How to type accents, emoji, and symbols on your Mac - Apple Support.

2. The Character Viewer. Press the Command-Control-Space keys to access. See the Apple Support document OS X Yosemite: Use the Character Viewer.

3. The Keyboard Viewer. Access from the Input menu in the menu bar. See the Apple Support document OS X Yosemite: Use the Keyboard Viewer.

4. Input sources. Navigate to  > System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources to set-up. See the Apple Support document OS X Yosemite: Use input sources to type in other languages.

5. Text substitution. Navigate to  > System Preferences > Keyboard > Text. Click the ➕ button to add. See the Apple Support document OS X Yosemite: Replace text and punctuation in documents.

6. Unicode hex input. Navigate to  > System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources. Click the ➕ button. Type "unicode" in the search box. Click the Add button. Select the checkbox "Show Input menu in menu bar". Close System Preferences. Click the Input menu in the menu bar. Select Unicode Hex Input. In a document hold down the Option key and type the four or five value hex number for the desired character. Release the Option key. You can find Unicode character codes charts at The Unicode Consortium website indexed by scripts, collation, character name, etc. You can also find a list at Wikipedia.

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