Alt codes - Revision history

Jsummers: Added categories

2017-03-29T17:27:27Z

Added categories

Jsummers at 21:54, 4 March 2016

2016-03-04T21:54:53Z

Dan Tobias: /* Unicode */

2014-09-06T16:02:22Z

‎Unicode

Jsummers: /* Original DOS-based codes */

2014-09-06T14:59:59Z

‎Original DOS-based codes

Dan Tobias: /* Unicode */

2013-04-16T11:37:24Z

‎Unicode

Dan Tobias: /* Original DOS-based codes */

2013-04-16T11:32:38Z

‎Original DOS-based codes

Dan Tobias: Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Character Encodings }} '''Alt codes''' are the codes for entering "special" characters in PC/MS-DOS and Windows, allowing a wider ..."

2013-04-13T21:41:40Z

Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Character Encodings }} '''Alt codes''' are the codes for entering "special" characters in PC/MS-DOS and Windows, allowing a wider ..."

New page

{{FormatInfo
|formattype=electronic
|subcat=Character Encodings
}}

'''Alt codes''' are the codes for entering "special" characters in PC/MS-DOS and Windows, allowing a wider character repertoire than is found on keyboards. They have been in use since the early days of the IBM PC, and have been designed for compatibility over the years, resulting in some codes from obsolete character encodings still working in addition to more modern Unicode-based ones. Codes are entered on keyboards by holding down the Alt key while pressing the appropriate digits or letters for the code.

== Original DOS-based codes ==

The original DOS-based codes consisted of numbers from the [[IBM PC code pages]], depending on what language setting was in effect on the PC. In English-speaking countries, it was usually CP 437. Any three-digit number not starting with a zero will be interpreted as one of these codes even now, which will result in the corresponding character from the current character set if it exists.

== Windows codes ==

When encodings such as [[Windows 1252]] (and others for different languages) were implemented, the corresponding character codes could be entered by prefixing the character code point with a leading zero.

== Unicode ==

Finally, when Unicode support was added, these were done by pressing the + sign followed by a hexadecimal number. It is necessary to modify the Windows registry (create registry entry '''HKCU\Control Panel\Input Method\EnableHexNumpad''' with type REG_SZ to value 1, and then restart or re-login to enable this setting) to allow these codes to work.

== Links ==
* [[Wikipedia:Alt code|Wikipedia article]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:27, 29 March 2017
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	== Links ==		== Links ==
	* [[Wikipedia:Alt code\|Wikipedia article]]		* [[Wikipedia:Alt code\|Wikipedia article]]
		+
		+	[[Category:MS-DOS]]
		+	[[Category:Windows]]

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 == Original DOS-based codes ==
-The original DOS-based codes consisted of numbers from the [[IBM PC code pages]], depending on what language setting was in effect on the PC. In English-speaking countries, it was usually CP 437. Any three-digit (or less) number not starting with a zero will be interpreted as one of these codes even now, which will result in the corresponding character from the current character set if it exists.
+The original DOS-based codes consisted of numbers from the [[IBM PC code pages]], depending on what language setting was in effect on the PC. In English-speaking countries, it was usually [[CP437]]. Any three-digit (or less) number not starting with a zero will be interpreted as one of these codes even now, which will result in the corresponding character from the current character set if it exists.
 == Windows codes ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{FormatInfo
 |formattype=electronic
-|subcat=Character Encodings
+|subcat=Character encoding
 }}
 '''Alt codes''' are the codes for entering "special" characters in PC/MS-DOS and Windows, allowing a wider character repertoire than is found on keyboards. They have been in use since the early days of the IBM PC, and have been designed for compatibility over the years, resulting in some codes from obsolete character encodings still working in addition to more modern Unicode-based ones. Codes are entered on keyboards by holding down the Alt key while pressing the appropriate digits or letters for the code.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 == Unicode ==
-Finally, when Unicode support was added, these were done by pressing the + sign followed by a hexadecimal number.  It is necessary to modify the Windows registry (create registry entry '''HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Input Method\EnableHexNumpad''' with type REG_SZ to value 1, and then restart or re-login to enable this setting) to allow these codes to work.
+Finally, when [[Unicode]] support was added, these were done by pressing the + sign followed by a hexadecimal number.  It is necessary to modify the Windows registry (create registry entry '''HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Input Method\EnableHexNumpad''' with type REG_SZ to value 1, and then restart or re-login to enable this setting) to allow these codes to work.
 == Links ==
 * [[Wikipedia:Alt code|Wikipedia article]]