Type Norwegian characters with a U.S. keyboard without switching keyboard layout. The script predicts when you want to type Norwegian characters and when you want special characters. It took half a year of trial and error to find the right balance of hotstrings. The main idea of the script can presumably be re-used for other languages as well.
Github: https://github.com/siljuberg/NorwegianLettersWithUSKeyboard
Script rationale
The superiority of the U.S. keyboard layout
When it comes to "computer stuff", the U.S. keyboard gives a smoother experience than most (possibly all) other keyboard layouts. U.S. keyboards has for example 3 extra keys to enter special symbols, which the Norwegian keyboard has used for Æ,Ø and Å. For example "[", which in U.S. layout involves moving your pinky 9mm northeast, requires in Norwegian "Alt+Ctrl+8" (or AltGr+8).
Other symbols easier to type on a U.S. keyboard are:
/\{}[] ;"?| @
Frequently switching language keyboard layout
If you, like me, frequently type in non-English languages, but prefer U.S. keyboard for coding/scripting, you likely switch between keyboard layouts throughout the day. E.g. when you get a ping from a colleague in your native language. After some typing you eventually notice that special symbols are being produced (/\{}[] ;:) instead of the characters you were interested in (i.e. Æ, Ø and Å). You then backspace the wrong character(s), hit Alt+shift and then type again.
This annoyed me for quite some time. And I must say the script is a big relief. I have not found any other suitable solution.
Solution
This script solves the issue by "grammatically" detecting when the user wants to type these special letters and insert them only at that time. The script has evolved over 0.5 year and the most frequent conflicts are resolved. If you find another, I will be happy if you log it as a bug.
You can enable/disable mappings for your own need. I have found the current configuration to work fine for me. During the testing period, I found it useful to exclude some applications where the script is more likely to cause trouble than help. For this, see #IfWinActive/#IfWinNotActive. Typical candidates are Teams.exe, chrome.exe, devenv.exe, vscode.exe.
Known issues
- Typing in Edge and Firefox address bar duplicates first letter. I.e. dåp=>ddåp. Only if it is the very first word. I can [ins]not[/ins] reproduce this issue in in Chrome version 100.0.4896.88, nor in 111.0.5563.111.
- Currently, the most troublesome conflict is typing a word starting with a lower case consonant inside a square/curly bracket, i.e. [long] or {long}. If you are able to type [Long]/{Long}, instead of [long]/{Long}, this is not an issue. The issue could be solved by detecting when a square/curly bracket ends and ignore the conversion then. Some time ago, I tried to implement a fix proposed by @boiler. It worked in isolation, but I was not able to successfully incorporate it in the script. Would be happy if anyone manages. See: viewtopic.php?f=76&t=102686
The Script
Code: Select all
/*
*********************************************************
******** Type æ,ø,å with English keyboard layout *******
*********************************************************
Author: Morten Kristoffer Siljuberg
License: MIT
Syntax description:
* means no end character (space) is required.
? means it can be inside another word
X means Execute. Instead of replacement text, the hotstring accepts a command or expression to execute. See https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=96030
C means case sensitive.
Documentation: https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/Hotstrings.htm
*/
; ***************************************** Exclude script from certain applications ******************************************************
; Exlusion list for Norwegian character script. When you are using any of the applications below, this script will be ignored.
; If you call this script from another (main) script, then the GroupAdd statements needs to be in the auto execute section in the main script.
; *****************************************************************************************************************************************
;GroupAdd, exclusionListNorwegianCharacters, ahk_exe notepad++.exe
GroupAdd, exclusionListNorwegianCharacters, ahk_exe code.exe
GroupAdd, exclusionListNorwegianCharacters, ahk_exe devenv.exe
#IfWinNotActive, ahk_group exclusionListNorwegianCharacters ; Exclude applications listed above.
; *****************************************************************************************************************************************
; ************ Exceptions ************
:?*:næt::n't ; Exception for contractions like don't, won't, can't
:?*:Iæm::I'm ; Exception for contractions like it's
:?*:uær::u'r ; Exception for you're
:?*:eæv::e'v ; Exception for we've
:?*:Iæv::I'v ; Exception for I've
:?*:Iæll::I'll ; Exception for I'll
; ************ Exception for genetive contractions ************
; First simply maintains all "'s" cases. The remaining are specific exceptions.
:?*:æs::'s ; Exception for all genetive contractions 's. "Væske" is currently an issue. As well as "Æser"
;:?*:tæs::t's ; Exception for contractions like it's
;:?*:eæs::e's ; Exception for contractions like here's, he's, she's
;:?*:ræs::r's ; Exception for contractions like her's, mother's
;:?*:eæs::e's ; Exception for file's
;:?*:læs::l's ; Exception for dll's
;:?*:wæs::w's ;
; ************************************
; Stand alone å:
:?*o:[ ::å{space}
:?*o:{ ::Å{space}
#InputLevel 1
;*******************************
;**************Æ****************
;*******************************
;*********UPPER CASE************
;*****Succeeding Æ*******
;:?*XC:"b::Send Æb
;:?*XC:"d::Send Æd
;:?*XC:"f::Send Æf
;:?*XC:"g::Send Æg
;:?*XC:"h::Send Æh
;:?*XC:"j::Send Æj
;:?*XC:"k::Send Æk
;:?*XC:"l::Send Æl
;:?*XC:"m::Send Æm
;:?*XC:"n::Send Æn
;:?*XC:"p::Send Æp
:?*XC:"r::Send Ær
;:?*XC:"s::Send Æs
;:?*XC:"t::Send Æt
;:?*XC:"v::Send Æv
;*****Preceding æ*******
:?*XC:B'::Send Bæ
:?*XC:D'::Send Dæ
:?*XC:F'::Send Fæ
:?*XC:G'::Send Gæ
:?*XC:H'::Send Hæ
:?*XC:J'::Send Jæ
:?*XC:K'::Send Kæ
:?*XC:L'::Send Læ
:?*XC:M'::Send Mæ
:?*XC:N'::Send Næ
:?*XC:P'::Send Pæ
:?*XC:R'::Send Ræ
:?*XC:S'::Send Sæ
:?*XC:T'::Send Tæ
:?*XC:V'::Send Væ ; Vær
;*****Æ succeeding a consonant*******
; :?*XC:b"::Send bÆ
; :?*XC:d"::Send dÆ
; :?*XC:f"::Send fÆ
; :?*XC:g"::Send gÆ
; :?*XC:h"::Send hÆ
; :?*XC:j"::Send jÆ
; :?*XC:k"::Send kÆ
; :?*XC:l"::Send lÆ
; :?*XC:m"::Send mÆ
; :?*XC:n"::Send nÆ
; :?*XC:p"::Send pÆ
; :?*XC:r"::Send rÆ
; :?*XC:s"::Send sÆ
; :?*XC:t"::Send tÆ
; :?*XC:v"::Send vÆ
;*********lower case************
;*****Preceding a consonant*******
;:?*XC:'b::Send æb
;:?*XC:'d::Send æd
;:?*XC:'f::Send æf
;:?*XC:'g::Send æg
;:?*XC:'h::Send æh
;:?*XC:'j::Send æj
;:?*XC:'k::Send æk
;:?*XC:'l::Send æl
;:?*XC:'m::Send æm
;:?*XC:'n::Send æn
;:?*XC:'p::Send æp
:?*XC:'r::Send ær
;:?*XC:'s::Send æs
;:?*XC:'t::Send æt
;:?*XC:'v::Send æv
;*****Suceeding a consonant*******
:?*XC:b'::Send bæ ; bæ bæ
:?*XC:d'::Send dæ ; dæven
:?*XC:f'::Send fæ ; færøyene
:?*XC:g'::Send gæ ; gæren
:?*XC:h'::Send hæ ; hæ, hva sa du?
:?*XC:j'::Send jæ ; jæren
:?*XC:k'::Send kæ
:?*XC:l'::Send læ ; lære
:?*XC:m'::Send mæ ; mære
:?*XC:n'::Send næ ; nær
:?*XC:p'::Send pæ ; pære
:?*XC:r'::Send ræ ; ræva
:?*XC:s'::Send sæ ; sæd
:?*XC:t'::Send tæ ; tærer på
:?*XC:v'::Send væ ; vær
;*******************************
;**************Ø****************
;*******************************
;*********UPPER CASE************
;*****Suceeding Ø*******
:?*XC::b::Send Øb
:?*XC::d::Send Ød
:?*XC::f::Send Øf
:?*XC::g::Send Øg
:?*XC::h::Send Øh
:?*XC::j::Send Øj
:?*XC::k::Send Øk
:?*XC::l::Send Øl
:?*XC::m::Send Øm
:?*XC::n::Send Øn
:?*XC::p::Send Øp
:?*XC::r::Send Ør
:?*XC::s::Send Øs
:?*XC::t::Send Øt
:?*XC::v::Send Øv
:?*XC::y::Send Øy
;*****Preceding ø*******
:?*XC:B;::Send Bø
:?*XC:D;::Send Dø
:?*XC:F;::Send Fø
:?*XC:G;::Send Gø
:?*XC:H;::Send Hø
:?*XC:J;::Send Jø
:?*XC:K;::Send Kø
:?*XC:L;::Send Lø
:?*XC:M;::Send Mø
:?*XC:N;::Send Nø
:?*XC:P;::Send Pø
:?*XC:R;::Send Rø
:?*XC:S;::Send Sø
:?*XC:T;::Send Tø
:?*XC:V;::Send Vø
;****Capital Ø suceeding a consonant******* Does not work: https://www.autohotkey.com/board/topic/5871-hotstrings-with-colon/
; :?*XC:b:::Send bØ
; :?*XC:d:::Send dØ
; :?*XC:f:::Send fØ
; :?*XC:g:::Send gØ
; :?*XC:h:::Send hØ
; :?*XC:j:::Send jØ
; :?*XC:k:::Send kØ
; :?*XC:l:::Send lØ
; :?*XC:m:::Send mØ
; :?*XC:n:::Send nØ
; :?*XC:p:::Send pØ
; :?*XC:r:::Send rØ
; :?*XC:s:::Send sØ
; :?*XC:t:::Send tØ
; :?*XC:v:::Send vØ
;*********lower case************
;*****Preceding a consonant*******
:?*XC:;b::Send øb
:?*XC:;d::Send ød
:?*XC:;f::Send øf
:?*XC:;g::Send øg
:?*XC:;h::Send øh
:?*XC:;j::Send øj
:?*XC:;k::Send øk
:?*XC:;l::Send øl
:?*XC:;m::Send øm
:?*XC:;n::Send øn
:?*XC:;p::Send øp
:?*XC:;r::Send ør
:?*XC:;s::Send øs
:?*XC:;t::Send øt
:?*XC:;v::Send øv
;*****Suceeding a consonant*******
:?*XC:b;::Send bø
:?*XC:d;::Send dø
:?*XC:f;::Send fø
:?*XC:g;::Send gø
:?*XC:h;::Send hø
:?*XC:j;::Send jø
:?*XC:k;::Send kø
:?*XC:l;::Send lø
:?*XC:m;::Send mø
:?*XC:n;::Send nø
:?*XC:p;::Send pø
:?*XC:r;::Send rø
:?*XC:s;::Send sø
:?*XC:t;::Send tø
:?*XC:v;::Send vø
;*******************************
;**************Å****************
;*******************************
;*********UPPER CASE************
;*****Succeeding å*******
:?*XC:{b::Send Åb
:?*XC:{d::Send Åd
:?*XC:{f::Send Åf
:?*XC:{g::Send Åg
:?*XC:{h::Send Åh
:?*XC:{j::Send Åj
:?*XC:{k::Send Åk
:?*XC:{l::Send Ål
:?*XC:{m::Send Åm
:?*XC:{n::Send Ån
:?*XC:{p::Send Åp
:?*XC:{r::Send År
:?*XC:{s::Send Ås
:?*XC:{t::Send Åt
:?*XC:{v::Send Åv
;*****Preceding å*******
:?*XC:B[::Send Bå
:?*XC:D[::Send Då
:?*XC:F[::Send Få
:?*XC:G[::Send Gå
:?*XC:H[::Send Hå
:?*XC:J[::Send Jå
:?*XC:K[::Send Kå
:?*XC:L[::Send Lå
:?*XC:M[::Send Må
:?*XC:N[::Send Nå
:?*XC:P[::Send På
:?*XC:R[::Send Rå
:?*XC:S[::Send Så
:?*XC:T[::Send Tå
:?*XC:V[::Send Vå
;*********lower case************
;*****Preceding a consonant*******
:?*XC:[b::Send åb
:?*XC:[d::Send åd
:?*XC:[f::Send åf
:?*XC:[g::Send åg
:?*XC:[h::Send åh
:?*XC:[j::Send åj
:?*XC:[k::Send åk
:?*XC:[l::Send ål
:?*XC:[m::Send åm
:?*XC:[n::Send ån
:?*XC:[p::Send åp
:?*XC:[r::Send år
:?*XC:[s::Send ås
:?*XC:[t::Send åt
:?*XC:[v::Send åv
;*****Suceeding a consonant*******
:?*XC:b[::Send bå
:?*XC:d[::Send då
:?*XC:f[::Send få
:?*XC:g[::Send gå
:?*XC:h[::Send hå
:?*XC:j[::Send jå
:?*XC:k[::Send kå
:?*XC:l[::Send lå
:?*XC:m[::Send må
:?*XC:n[::Send nå
:?*XC:p[::Send på
:?*XC:r[::Send rå
:?*XC:s[::Send så
:?*XC:t[::Send tå
:?*XC:v[::Send vå
#InputLevel 0
#IfWinNotActive
Return