I found an EXTREME secret in OS X!!!

[solrac]

I don't even know how to reproduce this.

One day I accidentally hit some kind of key-combination. I think I was in the Finder.

Then a font panel popped up.

But it was not the regular font panel.

This was a bigger, more square shaped panel, and it was focused on all the Japanese / Asian fonts. And had a TON of controls for them!

After I closed it, well, I've never found out how to get back to it.

This is definetely buggin' me. I'm stupid for not at least have taken a screen-snap.

-solrac-

 

[Red Phoenix]

That's the Japanese Character Input. If you have it enabled, you can switch keyboard inputs (unless you changed this option) by typing command-space.

 

[solrac]

Is that all I did? Command-Space?
Well since then, I got this great little app called "LaunchBar", and command-space activates it.

I changed its activation to Control-Space, but now command-space does nothing in the Finder, nor in TextEdit.

How do I bring this panel back up???

Thanks,
-solrac-

 

[Red Phoenix]

Yeah, I set LaunchBar to control-space also, since otherwise I wouldn't be able to type in Japanese. If you got what I think you got, then go to the Apple Menu, choose "System Preferences...", and then the International panel under Personal. Click on the "Keyboard Menu" tab, and click the "Options..." button on the lower right. This brings down a sheet where you can tell it to use those keys to switch between layouts/input methods.

You should also check that you have more than one keyboard layout checked (i.e. the Japanese one), and then you can switch. This should also add a flag in your menu bar, so that you can pick layouts from the menu.

 

[solrac]

thank you, yes that is correct
I found all that stuff in the system preferences, too.

But I swear I remember making this panel come up straight from the Finder by accidentally touching the keyboard some weird way, and it was not the same panel....

it was a much larger square shaped panel. The panels in the keyboard (international) preferences are more rectangle shaped.

Oh well, they are good enough though.

And, I might be wrong. It might just be my memory playing tricks on me. I can't say I'm 100% sure.

Goes back to the original screw-up.... should've taken a screen snap the first time..

thanks for the info dude!
-Carlos-

 

[jimr]

brings up te moji pallette you describe.

shows all the codes for all the characters supported and also shows various special sub-groups and unicode equivalents.

only a secret to the western world.

also if you drag japanese to the top of the list in preferences, your whole system will be just exactly what Japanese users are looking for.

in the default installation!!!!!

how bout you mr. gates just a high price for the localized version!!!!

 

[solrac]

I tried ctrl-shift-B in the Finder and in TextEdit, nothing!

How did I do this? Where do hit this key combo??

Thank you thank you...
-solrac-

 

[jimr]

if you have any international menu added you will get a little flag in the menu bar.

this means if you go to prefs and click on Japanese, then the extra language menu will appear.

when you then select the next item down from that menu you can type japanese.

the input method is called kotoeri

if you don't know japanese then you won't find this very useful.

you may have had it enabled somehow....

I have never see it come up "by magic" or without at least enabling the basic feature.

then, when you were typing command space it was enabling the japanese input.

when japanese input is enabled ---ususaly a small rectanglular menu will appear at the lower part of the screen to allow you to toggle between
1. text input as we know it
2. hiragana romajii input
3. katakana romaji input
4. type capital letters which are really japanese characters (really hate that one)

on the menu bar yet another menu item should appear which is shaped like a little pencil.

the top item toggles the floating palette I just described, the item which indicates ctrl shift B will bring up the moji palette.

the big question is what the heck were you doing if japanese is not enabled on your system...I can't think of an key combination which would activate and then bring up the menu palette.

if it is already activated, then Japanese might become accidentally enabled command-shift and then you press ctrl-shift-B

command option shift might have rotated you through all possible scripts but that would also be a bug in HI if you had not any languages enabled.

Anyway, I encourage everyone to at least turn it on once and see it in all the glory..

mostly you should be able to enable it,

open a worldscript capable app and

select the right-most item on the floating palette

type nihonngo
press space

then it will enter the kanji

for Japanese (language)



Good luck...

 

[solrac]

Yes I found it!
I don't know japanese and I will never type in Japanese but it's still cool for making cool graphics with japanese symbols!!!

I never had keyboard layouts set up. Somehow I brought this palette up randomly when my hand fell on the keyboard. Freaky, huh?

Here's a screen snap!!!

-solrac-