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Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:49 am
by David and Bui
pensive wrote:Probably handy for typing ภาษาไทย into an English forum?

Pensive,

Can't the operating system's onscreen keyboards be used for the same purpose?

Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:28 am
by PerfectTHAI
Many people use virtual keyboards.

Some can't be bothered setting up their computer with multiple languages, or don't know how.
Sometimes you might need to use a computer where your can't set up another language (at work, in a library, internet cafe etc).

Plus of course you get the added benefit of seeing where the characters map on an English keyboard, rather than just guessing (which is why I made my own in the first place)!

There are actually lots of virtual keyboards around on the internet for many different languages.

Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:13 pm
by pensive
David and Bui wrote:Can't the operating system's onscreen keyboards be used for the same purpose?

You mean a tablet? I use Windoze 7 and I ain't got no onscreen keyboard. And if I did, I would expect it to be in the same language as the current IME.

Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 12:59 am
by Richard Wordingham
There are several reasons for using a virtual keyboard. Not all apply to all virtual keyboards.

  1. An appropriate keyboard has not been installed, and the user is not authorised to install keyboards. For example, the Windows XP Thai keyboards are not available if complex script support has not been enabled.
  2. A virtual keyboard may include a visual keyboard. Many of us have to look at the keyboard when typing, and an English keyboard is not much help for typing Thai unless you have memorised the Thai keyboard layout. Keyboards labelled in Thai are not cheap away from Thailand.
  3. An application's keyboard facility may actually be easier to use than the real keyboard! For example, when using the Emacs editor, if I use the editor's keyboard, I don't have to remember to switch keyboard when I want to use shortcuts or commands - the editor knows I am doing one of these things, and treats my input accordingly. (One can add one's own keyboards to Emacs.)

Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:32 am
by David and Bui
Richard Wordingham wrote:There are several reasons for using a virtual keyboard. Not all apply to all virtual keyboards.

  1. An appropriate keyboard has not been installed, and the user is not authorised to install keyboards. For example, the Windows XP Thai keyboards are not available if complex script support has not been enabled.
  2. A virtual keyboard may include a visual keyboard. Many of us have to look at the keyboard when typing, and an English keyboard is not much help for typing Thai unless you have memorised the Thai keyboard layout. Keyboards labelled in Thai are not cheap away from Thailand.
  3. An application's keyboard facility may actually be easier to use than the real keyboard! For example, when using the Emacs editor, if I use the editor's keyboard, I don't have to remember to switch keyboard when I want to use shortcuts or commands - the editor knows I am doing one of these things, and treats my input accordingly. (One can add one's own keyboards to Emacs.)

Thank you for that explanation, Richard. Please help us understand how the Windows on-screen keyboards built into Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, for example, do not fulfill these functions. And, with respect to the OP's, can it be used beyond the internet browser, for example, when using Word or Excel?

Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:36 am
by Richard Wordingham
pensive wrote:I use Windoze 7 and I ain't got no onscreen keyboard. And if I did, I would expect it to be in the same language as the current IME.

Are you sure you haven't? Try going to the start menu and trying to run osk. For simple input systems (I'm not sure about big IMEs, such as the Japanese one), it will 'support' at least whatever keyboards you have enabled. The full search path for Windows 7 Home Premium is "all programs, accessories, ease of access, on-screen keyboard".

I put 'support' because it might have problems getting a suitable font. My Lanna script keyboard didn't get the keys labelled, but as it is tagged as being for Norwegian (NO is the closest language identifier to NOD that we have), it may have looked for a font that supports Norwegian. For something as simple as Thai, the keys were automatically labelled with the Thai characters. You select the keyboard the osk is to emulate the same way you normally select a keyboard, or at least, you do in Windows 7. I can't remember how it works in Windows XP.

As far as aware, the default locale for my computer is English.

Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 2:10 am
by Richard Wordingham
While you make think that Vista and later would support the full set of 'complex' scripts, it is actually possible to set computers running them up so that users cannot choose what built-in keyboards they have available.

As I noted before, the osk program does not label the keys for a Tai Tham keyboard.

To issue a complicated command in the Emacs editor, I normally start by typing esc-x. However, if I have set Windows up so that my current keyboard is Thai, Emacs instead sees esc-, which it does not understand.

Perhaps I have missed something, but the OP's program does not seem to function fully as a keyboard. Instead, one assembles the text in a textarea and then copies it to the local directory structure for use.

Richard.

Re: Virtual Thai Keyboard

PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 7:34 am
by dhanu
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