AccentPress

A Windows system tray application that allows you to easily type accented characters by holding down letter keys. Perfect for typing in multiple languages without switching keyboard layouts.

Features

• Long Press Detection: Hold any letter key for 300ms to see available accented characters
• Uppercase Support: Hold Shift + letter to access uppercase accented characters
• System Tray Integration: Runs quietly in the background with a system tray icon
• Global Hotkeys: Works in any application - no need to switch input methods
• Extensive Character Support: Includes characters for multiple European languages

Supported Characters

Vowels

• A/a: À, Á, Â, Ã, Ä, Å, Æ, Ā, Ă, Ą (and uppercase variants)
• E/e: È, É, Ê, Ë, Ē, Ĕ, Ė, Ę, Ě (and uppercase variants)
• I/i: Ì, Í, Î, Ï, Ĩ, Ī, Ĭ, Į, İ (and uppercase variants)
• O/o: Ò, Ó, Ô, Õ, Ö, Ø, Ō, Ŏ, Ő, Œ (and uppercase variants)
• U/u: Ù, Ú, Û, Ü, Ũ, Ū, Ŭ, Ů, Ű, Ų (and uppercase variants)
• Y/y: Ý, Ÿ, Ŷ (and uppercase variants)

Consonants

• C/c: Ç, Ć, Ĉ, Ċ, Č (and uppercase variants)
• N/n: Ñ, Ń, Ņ, Ň, Ŋ (and uppercase variants)
• S/s: Ş, Ś, Ŝ, Š, Ș, ß (and uppercase variants including ẞ)
• Z/z: Ź, Ż, Ž (and uppercase variants)
• T/t: Ţ, Ť, Ŧ, Ț (and uppercase variants)
• R/r: Ŕ, Ŗ, Ř (and uppercase variants)
• L/l: Ĺ, Ļ, Ľ, Ŀ, Ł (and uppercase variants)
• D/d: Đ, Ď, Ḏ (and uppercase variants)
• G/g: Ğ, Ġ, Ģ, Ĝ (and uppercase variants)
• H/h: Ĥ, Ħ (and uppercase variants)
• W/w: Ŵ (and uppercase variants)

How to Use

1. Start the Application: Run AccentPress.exe - it will appear in your system tray
2. Type Accented Characters:
   • Hold any supported letter key for 300ms
   • A popup will appear with available accented characters
   • Use arrow keys or number keys (1-9) to select a character
   • Press Enter to insert the selected character
   • Press Escape to cancel
3. Uppercase Characters: Hold Shift + letter key for uppercase accented variants
4. Exit: Right-click the system tray icon and select "Exit"

System Requirements

• Windows 10 or later
• .NET 8.0 Runtime (Windows Desktop)

Building from Source

Prerequisites

• .NET 8.0 SDK
• Visual Studio 2022 or Visual Studio Code

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/RSpeets/AccentPress.git
   cd AccentPress

2. Build the project:

   dotnet build

3. Run the application:

   dotnet run --project AccentPress/AccentPress.csproj

Creating a Release Build

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained false

The executable will be created in AccentPress/bin/Release/net8.0-windows/win-x64/publish/

Architecture

The application consists of several key components:

• GlobalKeyboardHook: Low-level Windows keyboard hook for detecting key presses
• LongPressDetector: Manages timing and detection of long key presses
• InternationalCharacterMappings: Contains all character mappings for different keys
• SimpleCharacterPopup: UI for displaying and selecting accented characters
• TextInjector: Handles inserting selected characters into the active application
• LongPressService: Coordinates all components and manages the system tray

Customization

To add more characters or modify existing mappings, edit the InternationalCharacterMappings.cs file:

• _lowercaseCharacterMappings: Contains lowercase character variants
• _uppercaseCharacterMappings: Contains uppercase character variants

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the need for easy multilingual typing on Windows
• Character mappings based on common European language requirements
• Built with .NET 8.0 and Windows Forms

Troubleshooting

The application doesn't start

• Ensure you have .NET 8.0 Runtime installed
• Run as Administrator if you encounter permission issues

Characters don't appear when typed

• Make sure the application is running (check system tray)
• Try adjusting the long press timeout in LongPressDetector.cs
• Verify the target application accepts Unicode input

Popup doesn't appear

• Check if the key you're pressing has character mappings defined
• Ensure you're holding the key for at least 300ms
• Try running the application as Administrator

Support

If you encounter any issues or have feature requests, please open an issue on GitHub.