Accent Composer FAQs

• Nothing happens when I press the compose key
• Not working under Windows Vista and Internet Explorer
• Not working at system startup, but works OK if started later
• Producing other accented characters (e.g. Welsh or Turkish)
• The wrong character appears
• Can it produce more than one character?
• The windows do strange things when I press the compose key
• Two characters are inserted, not one
• Typing an Alt code into the Extended Characters dialog doesn't work
• Removing Accent Composer from my computer
• I get an "Action canceled!" error when trying to view the help file

Nothing happens when I press the compose key

Q. When I press the compose key and type a compose sequence, such as ' and A, nothing happens.

A. There are a few things you can check:

1. Make sure the program is actually running (a red Á should appear in the system tray in the lower right corner).
2. Make sure you are pressing the correct compose key (double click on the Á icon to see what it is currently set at; it's the right hand Alt key by default).
3. Make sure you are pressing and releasing the compose key before typing the two characters of the compose sequence; do not hold the key down.
4. If you are using StarOffice/OpenOffice then open the Options dialog (double click on the red Á icon), then hold down the Alt key and press X. A dialog box called "Fix Incompatibilities" will come up. Choose the "Shift key" option and press OK. Press the Help button on the Fix dialog for more details. This may also fix problems with Accent Composer working with other programs.

Not working under Windows Vista and Internet Explorer

Q. Accent Composer works OK with most programs on Windows Vista, but not when I'm typing into forms on Internet Explorer (IE7).

A. Enhanced security features in Windows Vista and IE7 means that the latter is very restricted in interacting with other programs, such as Accent Composer, to avoid corruption by rogue programs downloaded from the Internet. As a result, Accent Composer doesn't work when typing into IE7. This can be fixed by turning off Protected Mode in IE7 (on the Security page of the Tools|Internet Options dialog box), but this leaves your computer at slightly increased risk from rogue programs.

Not working at system startup, but works OK if started later

Q. Accent Composer doesn't work (the icon doesn't turn green) when the program is automatically loaded when Windows starts, but if I start it later manually it works fine.

A. Sometimes, if other programs are running that also monitor the keyboard, these programs can block Accent Composer's access to the keyboard, so that AC doesn't work. However, when you start it manually later Accent Composer will be the first program to have access to the keyboard and thus works OK. We've added an option that causes AC to wait for a while before it starts monitoring the keyboard, thus ensuring that it is the first program to see the keystrokes.

To access it, first make sure you are using version 1.09L or later (right click the Á icon and choose "About" to check). Then open the Options dialog (double click on the red Á icon), hold down the Alt key and press X. A dialog box called "Fix Incompatibilities" will come up. Set the required number of seconds in the "Delay hooking keyboard" option (try 10 seconds first, then increase if required) and press OK. Press the Help button on the Fix dialog for more details. Next time you restart AC the icon will appear straight away as normal, but it won't react to anything for the set number of seconds.

Producing other accented characters (e.g. Welsh or Turkish)

Q. How can I get Accent Composer to produce other accented characters (e.g. Welsh or Turkish).

A. You must have a font installed that contains the desired accented character. For more information click here.

The wrong character appears

Q. When I type a compose sequence for certain characters (for example, the copyright symbol ©) I instead get a different character (e.g. ó). What's wrong?

A. The characters produced by Accent Composer rely on the particular font in use in your word processor or other program. When you press a compose sequence, Accent Composer tells the word processor "put in the character that is at position 0169 in the table of characters for this font". Most fonts will have the copyright symbol at that position, but some will not. If you are using one of these other fonts, then the wrong character will appear. To check to make sure that Accent Composer is set up to match your font, go to the Options dialog (double click on the icon) and make sure that the font list in the "Font" box is the same as the one used in your word processor. Then scroll through the list to make sure the characters and compose sequences match.If they do not you can modify the sequences to match. Note, however, that modifying the sequences may mean that they will not match up with most other fonts.

Can it produce more than one character?

Q. Can Accent Composer be used to enter more than a single character? I'd like to assign a compose sequence to automatically type in my full name and address.

A. Not at the moment. However, this is a commonly requested feature and will be in version 2 (no release date set yet).

The windows do strange things when I press the compose key

Q. Something strange happens in one of my programs when I use Accent Composer to enter an accented character. The focus switches away from the window into which I'm typing. (Another program, the Delphi programming editor, opens a second edit window when the character is entered).

A. This is a result of the way in which Accent Composer inserts characters into other applications. There is an option that can be changed that will cure this, but it may have other unwanted effects on other programs, most notably Excel. It should be changed only if there are problems, so they have been placed on a "hidden" dialog box to avoid mistaken changes. To access the dialog box with these options simply open the Options dialog box, then hold down the Alt key and press x. Then change the "Fake Keystroke" option to "Shift Key".

Two characters are inserted, not one

Q. I'm running Microsoft Works for Windows 3 (a 16-bit program) under Windows 95. Whenever I try to enter an accented character with Accent Composer, two characters of the compose sequence are inserted into the Works document as well as the accented character (e.g., 'aá appears rather than just á). How do I fix this?

A. This only seems to happen if the compose key is the right Control key; it does not happen with other ones. To fix this you can try using another compose key. Alternatively, there is an option to insert a small delay while Accent Composer is handling the keystrokes. This fixes the problem but slows down the entry of accented characters by a small but noticible amount. This option is changed through the "hidden dialog box" referred to in the previous answer. Once this box is displayed tick the "Delay key processing" option.

Typing an Alt code into the Extended Characters dialog doesn't work

Q. I'm trying to enter the Alt code for Á (0193) into the box on the Extended Characters dialog but it beeps when I try to type the second number.

A. To enter Alt codes into that box you shouldn't type the four numerals of the code; instead you hold down the Alt key and press the numbers on the keypad, as you do when using the Alt codes in other applications.

Removing Accent Composer from my computer

Q. I've tried deleting Accent Composer from my computer but it still keeps loading at boot-up.

A. You need to fully uninstall the program. This removes all the program files. It is best if you first close down Accent Composer (right click on the red Á icon in the lower right of the screen, then choose "Close" from the menu). Then click on the "Uninstall Accent Composer" entry under Start Menu|Programs|Accent Composer. You can also click the "Add/Remove Programs" icon on the Control Panel, selecting "Accent Composer" from the list, and clicking the "Add/Remove" button.

In some cases we've seen where people use a separately bought utility like Uninstall to monitor adding and removing programs, it doesn't always manage to remove Accent Composer (probably because Accent Composer was running at the time). In these cases you can manually remove Accent Composer this way: First make sure you have closed down Accent Composer (see previous paragraph) so the red Á isn't displayed in the system tray. After this, delete the directory containing the Accent Composer program (by default this is a folder called "Accent Composer", under your usual "Program Files" folder). That contains all the files related to Accent Composer and will stop the introductory screen.

I get an "Action canceled!" error when trying to view the help file

Q. When I try to view the help file I get a message saying "Action canceled! Internet Explorer was unable to link to the web page you requested". How can I get it to work?

A. This is caused by a security update released by Microsoft. Basically, this stops compiled HTML help files from being displayed if they are run from the Internet or over a network. Help files installed on your local hard disk will still work OK.

You can fix this by having the administrator of your computer make some changes to the Windows registry. The changes to be made are described at the Microsoft Knowledge base, article 902225. There is also a free utility called HHReg that automates the process.