Adding grave accents to vowels

[comaraidh]

Can some kind soul explain to me in words of one syllable how to add grave accents to vowels. I am using the ISO Level 3 button and the vowel but can't work out how to get the accent over the letter. i+KEY_GRAVE just gives me i`, whereas I want ì. Am I missing something obvious?

[kgeminicdev]

Two things are going on:

1. The order is reversed. Accents are typed with a dead key: you press the accent first, then the vowel, and the layout combines them. i + KEY_GRAVE sends i and then `, so you get i` . You need the grave dead key first, then i.

2. input-remapper sends key presses, not characters. It can only produce what your keyboard layout can already type (usage.md explains this). So the macro has to press the same keys you'd press by hand to get ì.

If your layout gives a dead grave with AltGr + ` (that's what ISO Level 3 is), map your key to a macro like:

modify(ISO_Level3_Shift, key(grave)).key(i)

That holds AltGr while pressing ` (the dead grave), then presses i. Check by hand first: AltGr + ` then i should give ì in a text editor. If your layout uses a different key for the dead grave, put that key in the macro instead.

If your layout can't type ì at all, the examples.md trick works: use xmodmap to assign igrave to an unused keycode, then igrave shows up as a symbol you can map directly.

[comaraidh]

Many thanks for the explanation - that's very helpful; I see why I was going wrong now.

[kgeminicdev]

Glad it helped! If the macro works on your layout, you can mark the answer with "Mark as answer" so others with the same accent question can find it more easily.