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Article Updated January 19, 2005
Family Tree Maker Tips, Hints & FAQs:
By: Rick Roberts, Biography & Archived Articles
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More FTM Tips & FAQs
How can I enter foreign characters with accents (diacritics)?
At an FTM workshop that we facilitated at the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan in Roseville, Michigan, members asked how to enter special alphabetical characters into FTM, that are unigue to Polish historical records and language. The following will help anyone with an interest in international characters for a variety of languages.
The process of entering extended characters (such as ø, ú, ö, ñ, etc) requires some instruction. Since standard American keyboards have no direct means of accessing these extended characters, you must use a special keyboard sequence called an Alt code to use these characters. To find the Alt code for a specific character, you can use the Character Map utility that comes with Windows.
To access the Character Map, click the Start button, select Programs, then Accessories, and then Character Map.
Note: If you don't see Character Map, you will need to install it from your Windows CD or diskettes. Consult your Windows documentation for more details.
With the Character Map on screen, locate one of the characters you are interested in and click on it. In the lower-right corner of the Window, notice the box that says "Keystroke:" followed by "Alt+XXXX" (where XXXX is a 4-digit number). This 4-digit number is that character's Alt code. Write this number down.
If you don't see the character you're looking for, make sure Character Map is displaying the appropriate font. Click the Font drop-down list to specify a font to display in Character Map. Many fonts use the same Alt codes to generate the same characters, however some fonts may be different (for example, Alt 0233 usually makes an é in most fonts, but this is not the case with the Symbol font).
Now go to your program. Place the cursor where you want to enter the extended character, and hold down the Alt key on your keyboard while using the number keypad to enter the 4-digit Alt code. (It is important to use only the number keypad on the right side of your keyboard to enter numbers. Do not use the numbers across the top of your keyboard.) Now let go of the Alt key and your character will appear on the screen.
Below you will find a chart that lists some common Alt codes. If you use one of these and it generates a different character, it probably means that the font you're using has a different code for the character in question. In this case, you should use the Character Map program to determine the correct Alt code sequence.
| Special Character Codes |
| ß 0223 |
× 0215 |
Ð 0208 |
ð 0240 |
| À 0192 |
à 0224 |
Á 0193 |
á 0225 |
| Â 0194 |
â 0226 |
à 0195 |
ã 0227 |
| Ä 0196 |
ä 0228 |
Å 0197 |
å 0229 |
| Æ 0198 |
æ 0230 |
Ç 0199 |
ç 0231 |
| È 0200 |
è 0232 |
É 0201 |
é 0233 |
| Ê 0202 |
ê 0234 |
Ë 0203 |
ë 0235 |
| Ì 0204 |
ì 0236 |
Í 0205 |
í 0237 |
| Î 0206 |
î 0238 |
Ï 0207 |
ï 0239 |
| Þ 0222 |
þ 0254 |
Ñ 0209 |
ñ 0241 |
| Ò 0210 |
ò 0242 |
Ó 0211 |
ó 0243 |
| Ô 0212 |
ô 0244 |
Õ 0213 |
õ 0245 |
| Ö 0214 |
ö 0246 |
Ø 0216 |
ø 0248 |
| Ù 0217 |
ù 0249 |
Ú 0218 |
ú 0250 |
| Û 0219 |
û 0251 |
Ü 0220 |
ü 0252 |
| Ý 0221 |
ý 0253 |
Ÿ 0159 |
ÿ 0255 |
| œ 0156 |
Π0140 |
š 0154 |
Š 0138 |
Source: FTM Technical Knowledge Database
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