Entering text with accented characters can be tedious, because normally under X (Linux) the keyboard uses so-called nodeadkeys. To be able to enter as many accented characters as possible, I developed a little package called deadkeys.
A global variable switch is used to show whether the state of the keyboard has changed, meaning that one of the dead keys has been pressed. You could use this as a textvariable for a label so that its content shows.
If you require this package in any Tk app, you can easily enter accented chars without affecting other programs. There are no side-effects (hopefully).
This package has not been tested on any other environment than Linux + X with a German keyboard.
package provide deadkeys 1.0
# list of classes to be applied to
set classes [list Text Entry]
foreach class $classes {
bind $class <KeyPress-acute> {
if {$switch == ""} {
set switch "acute"
} else {
set switch ""
} ;# if
break
} ;# bind
bind $class <KeyPress-grave> {
if {$switch == ""} {
set switch "grave"
} else {
set switch ""
} ;# if
break
} ;# bind
bind $class <KeyPress-asciicircum> {
if {$switch == ""} {
set switch "circum"
} else {
set switch ""
} ;# if
break
} ;# bind
bind $class <KeyPress-degree> {
if {$switch == ""} {
set switch "degree"
} else {
set switch ""
} ;# if
break
} ;# bind
bind $class <KeyPress-plus> {
if {"%A" == "~"} {
if {$switch == ""} {
set switch "tilde"
} else {
set switch ""
} ;# if
} ;# if
break
} ;# bind
bind $class <Key> {
if {$switch != "" && "%A" != "{}"} {
set ch "%A"
set i_ch "%A"
if {$switch == "acute"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "\u00b4"}
a {set i_ch "\u00e1"}
A {set i_ch "\u00c1"}
e {set i_ch "\u00e9"}
E {set i_ch "\u00c9"}
i {set i_ch "\u00ed"}
I {set i_ch "\u00cd"}
o {set i_ch "\u00f3"}
O {set i_ch "\u00d3"}
u {set i_ch "\u00fa"}
U {set i_ch "\u00da"}
c {set i_ch "\u0107"}
C {set i_ch "\u0106"}
n {set i_ch "\u0144"}
N {set i_ch "\u0143"}
l {set i_ch "\u013A"}
L {set i_ch "\u0139"}
s {set i_ch "\u015B"}
S {set i_ch "\u015A"}
r {set i_ch "\u0155"}
R {set i_ch "\u0154"}
z {set i_ch "\u017A"}
Z {set i_ch "\u0179"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "grave"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "\u0060"}
a {set i_ch "\u00e0"}
A {set i_ch "\u00c0"}
e {set i_ch "\u00e8"}
E {set i_ch "\u00c8"}
i {set i_ch "\u00ec"}
I {set i_ch "\u00cc"}
o {set i_ch "\u00f2"}
O {set i_ch "\u00d2"}
u {set i_ch "\u00f9"}
U {set i_ch "\u00d9"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "circum"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "^"}
a {set i_ch "\u00e2"}
A {set i_ch "\u00c2"}
e {set i_ch "\u00ea"}
E {set i_ch "\u00ca"}
i {set i_ch "\u00ee"}
I {set i_ch "\u00ce"}
o {set i_ch "\u00f4"}
O {set i_ch "\u00d4"}
u {set i_ch "\u00fb"}
U {set i_ch "\u00db"}
w {set i_ch "\u0175"}
W {set i_ch "\u0174"}
z {set i_ch "\u0177"}
Z {set i_ch "\u0176"}
c {set i_ch "\u00E7"}
C {set i_ch "\u00C7"}
s {set i_ch "\u015F"}
S {set i_ch "\u015E"}
g {set i_ch "\u011F"}
G {set i_ch "\u011E"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "degree"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "\u00b0"}
a {set i_ch "\u00e5"}
A {set i_ch "\u00c5"}
i {set i_ch "\u0131"}
I {set i_ch "\u0130"}
u {set i_ch "\u016F"}
U {set i_ch "\u016E"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "tilde"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "\u007e"}
a {set i_ch "\u00e3"}
A {set i_ch "\u00c3"}
i {set i_ch "\u0131"}
I {set i_ch "\u0130"}
o {set i_ch "\u00f5"}
O {set i_ch "\u00d5"}
u {set i_ch "\u0169"}
U {set i_ch "\u0168"}
n {set i_ch "\u00f1"}
N {set i_ch "\u00d1"}
} ;# switch
} ;# if
if {$ch == " " || $ch >= {a} && $ch <= {z} || $ch >= {A} && $ch <= {Z}} {
%W insert insert "$i_ch"
set switch ""
break
} else {
tk_messageBox -message "out of range"
} ;# if
} else {
%W insert insert %A
} ;# if
} ;# bind
} ;# foreach classI added some bindings which can be very helpful especially for Turkish users. Using the ring accent on i gives a dotless i, ring accent on I gives a capital I with a dot, using the ring accent on a g/G gives the same character in its soft variation (yumusak g), using a circumflex on s/S gives the same character with a cedille unterneath.
LINKS
Hope this proves to be helpful.