Using EzerKb

As an example, we will look at how to use the classical Greek keyboard.

Among the programs in your Start menu locate the EzerKb folder. Click the shortcut labelled “EzerKb (Greek Libronix)”. This will cause two things to happen:

A Greek keyboard layout will appear in the lower right hand corner of you screen.
An icon looking like this: will appear in the system tray in you Windows task bar (typically at the bottom right of the screen).

You can turn the keyboard on and off by a single click on the icon in the system tray.

Start a program that requires textual input. This can be the Windows Notepad, it can be a web browser, or Microsoft Word. (Microsoft Word works fine with the Greek keyboard, but it does have some problems with Hebrew. Microsoft Outlook does not work with EzerKb.) In the illustration below, the Windows Notepad (found in the Start menu under Accessories) is used with a Times New Roman font.

Click where you want to write, just as you normally would. Now use your mouse to click a few keys on the Greek keyboard. As you press the keys, the characters appear in the window:

If you want to add spiritus or accent marks, click them before the the character on which you want them to appear. For example, to type ἄ, click the two diacritics and then α. If you want to include Latin characters in your text, simply type them on your normal keyboard. You can also experiment with pressing the “Shift” key on the Greek keyboard to produce upper case letters.

If you want to use your normal keyboard to type Greek, do this: Click where you want to write; then click the “Type” key on the Greek keyboard. You can now use your normal keyboard to type Greek characters. There are a few important things to note here:

Use the displayed Greek keyboard as a guide to where the Greek characters are located on your normal keyboard. Also note how the Greek keyboard changes when you press the Shift key on your normal keyboard.
Unfortunately, not all keyboards are alike, so a few keys may be located in another place on your keyboard than where they appear on the screen.
Do not type too fast. EzerKb has to catch each keystroke, convert it, and send it to your application. This takes time. If you type too quickly, some keystrokes will not be translated into Greek.
If you use your mouse to click anywhere, the translation of your keystrokes stops immediately. You must then again click where you want characters to appear and then click the “Type” key on the Greek keyboard.
You can stop the translation of keystrokes by pressing the “Esc” key on your keyboard.

If you use your mouse to right-click the Greek keyboard, a menu will appear. This menu has these options:

Hide: Hides the keyboard just as if you click the icon in the system tray. To display the keyboard again, click the icon.
About: Displays version information about EzerKb.
Help: Opens this Users’ Guide in a web browser.
Exit: Terminates EzerKb.

You can also terminate the keyboard program by right-clicking the system tray icon and selecting the Exit menu item.

Go to main page Updated: 2009-08-21 06:53:15