TIPS & TRICKS: Typing Spanish Accented Characters

bowdoin.edu: Typing Spanish Accented Characters

I was just typing my Away Message in AIM and realized that I needed an "é" for the word "resumés". I know that both Windows and OS X have international keyboards built-in and I could have just as easily enabled the feature to be able to type the "é". However, I decided that I just wanted something fast that worked on any computer. Thus, I decided to find what's called ASCII code for the particular character. The webpage shows this code and how to use it (ALT+0233). It probably took me longer to find it than to install the international keyboard. But, I now know the ASCII code to use on any computer (with a numeric keypad) without having to install the international keyboard. Hopefully, this will help someone else save some time too.

Update: I forgot to mention that on a Mac, at least on OS X, all you need to do is hold the alt-option key down, hit the letter you want (i.e. any character that could be used with an accent mark), let go of the alt-option key and type the letter again. Also try typing any other key with the alt-option key held down, you'll get a plethora of special characters.

Updated 4/8/2006:
Ever seen this character?: Þ

I use this one quite a bit: •

There's a whole bunch of characters that many people don't use on a regular basis, that may come in handy. Do a web search for ASCII characters and you'll find a lots of websites that have lists of these special characters. For example, do you ever wonder how to make this letter: é ? There are keystrokes that will yield these special characters. Here's how to get the three I just mentioned:

Þ = ALT-0-2-5-4
• = ALT-0-1-4-9
é = ALT-0-2-3-3

Note: These codes will only work on a keyboard using the numerical 10 keypad on the right. They may also work on a laptop if the laptop keyboard has keys that double as a number pad if the numlock is enabled.