JLG Extended Keyboard Layout for US Keyboard - version 1.0

Free software for individual use. For more details, see the licence agreement.
This software is free, and if you find it useful, you can encourage the author by making a donation.

Note: Check the layout mapping definition for all details.

Installation

1. Download the last version of the software at http://www.jlg-utilities.com/download.html

2. Run it. The installer just install the keyboard and the documentation. You still need to specify to Windows that you want to use it (see step 3)

3. Configure windows in order to setup the US (JLGv10) keyboard layout. Of course, it is recommanded to use it as the default keyboard. To do this, you can follow the instruction below:
       - Open the control panel and double click on "Regional and Language Options".
       - Select the "Languages" tab.
       - Click on the "Details" button
       - Click on the "Add" button
       - Click on the "Keyboard Layout/IME" option box
       - Open the list and select "US (JLGv10). The keyboard is added.
       - Recommanded: If you want to make the JLG Extended Keyboard Layout the default keyboard, then in the "Default Input Langugage" section, open the list and choose the US (JLGv10) keyboard layout.
       - Click on the "Apply" button and then to the "OK" button.
       - That's it. If you decided to set the JLG Extended Keyboard Layout as the default keyboard, it is recommanded to log off, and log on again. (Reboot if you don't know).

Keyboard design

The keyboard was designed in order to satisfy the following constraints and functionalities:

1. No headache for the user ! The keyboard tries to satisfy a minimum of rules in order to remember how to retrieve a character on the layout.

2. Fully compliant with the original layout (the US keyboard). Thus a user which doesn't know the computer use the JLG Keyboard layout will still be able to use it without surprise.

3. The keyboard tries to get a maximum of unicode characters, even some that are not available to all the fonts. The counterpart of this is that some applications will not print the characters, depending on the Windows version, the installed fonts and the running applications. In particular, an application that use only ASCII but not UNICODE will not react necessarily as the user would expect.

4. We consider that the CTRL key is more ergonomic for the user than the ALTGR key (the ALT key at the right of the SPACE key) so we use it with the following punctuation characters: ` ~ ^ ' " ; : , < . > / ?. The counterpart is that some applications still reserve and overwrite the CTRL + <ponctuation character>. When this situation is met, the user can still use the ALTGR key instead of the CTRL character to reach the wanted character.

5. The way a Windows keyboard works is by sending unicode characters to the windows operating system. The JLG Extended keyboard layout complies as well to this rule. The JLG keybaord layout is in fact generated with the official and free microsoft product Microsoft Keybaord Layout Creator.

6. If there can be many independant logics to make a character, then all the logics are implemented in order to let the user have its prefered logic to remember how to generate a special character.

Notations

Key1 + Key2 means that the user press the Key1, then the Key2 without releasing the Key1.

Key1 then Key2 means that the user press the Key1, release it and then press the Key2. Key1 in this case is called a dead key.

Key1 + Key2 then Key3 means that the user press the Key1, then the Key2 without releasing the Key1. Then the user release the Key2 and the Key1. And the user press the Key3. Key1 + Key2 in this case is a combination leading to a dead key.

In fact, in order to add clarity and concision to the notation, we sometimes use a shortcut for letter that are accessed with the SHIFT modifier. Thus we prefer to note A instead of (SHIFT + KeyA) and a instead of KeyA.

For instance, CTRL + ~ then U (which generate a Ũ with the JLG Keyboard) is a shortcut for CTRL + SHIFT + ` then SHIFT + U

Rules

Accents and general way to generate special characters

All characters with accent is generated by doing:

CTRL + accent, then character.

Example:

In order to generate é, the combination is

CTRL + ' then e

In order to generate Å (A with a circle above), the combination is

CTRL + 0 then A

(with A = SHIFT + a )

 

More generally, when a character is composed of two signs, the way to generate it is by combining the two signs.

Example 1

± is generated by doing

ALTGR + = then -

Because on the = key, you have also the +, and the - key make a reference to the - sign.

Example 2

© is generated by doing

ALTGR + 0 then c (guess why ? yes, it's because the 0 encompass the c...)

You can also try ALTGR + o then c just to check if we have the same logic...

Example 3

¢ is generated by doing

CTRL + / then c

Example 4

The romanian character ă is generated by doing

CTRL + ) then a

Unfortunately, some bl.... applications use CTRL + SHIFT + NUMBER, which anihilates the keyboard function. In this case, simply replace the CTRL key by ALTGR and cross your fingers...

Currency

All currency can be generated by doing CTRL + $, letter.

$ is SHIFT + 4

Example, the Euro currency € is generated by:

CTRL + $ then e

Mirror

All characters like (which is the mirror of A) can be generated if they are unicode character by doing:

ALTGR + 5 then character

Example

ALTGR + 5 then ? will give ¿

 

Greek characters

All the Greek characters can be found by doing:

ALTGR + g then letter

Where letter is the equivalent latin character. There are some exceptions because the translation latin-greek is not one to one. For instance, in greek, you have two character equivalent to "o". There are omicron (Ο) and omega (Ω). Ω is generated by ALTGR + g, V. See the layout definition for more details.

Cyrillic characters

All the Cyrillic characters can be found by doing:

ALTGR + c then letter

Where letter is the equivalent latin character. There are some exceptions because the translation latin-cyrillic is not one to one. For instance, in cyrillic, you have two character like "b". There are Б and В. Б is generated by ALTGR + c, B while В is generated by ALTGR + c, v because its phonetic is like the v in latin. See the layout definition for more details.

Mathematics symbols

The rule is to build the character peace by peace.

For instance, ⇒ is geneated by :

ALTGR + = then >

We build the = then, the > to make ⇒.

Conclusion

That's it for the rules. You still can check the layout mapping definition for more details.