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.
This package has not been tested on any other environment than Linux + X with a German keyboard.
package provide deadkeys 1.0
### accented keys
# list of all classes where chars are applied
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 {$switch == "acute"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "´"}
a {set i_ch "á"}
A {set i_ch "Á"}
e {set i_ch "é"}
E {set i_ch "É"}
i {set i_ch "í"}
I {set i_ch "Í"}
o {set i_ch "ó"}
O {set i_ch "Ó"}
u {set i_ch "ú"}
U {set i_ch "Ú"}
c {set i_ch "?"}
C {set i_ch "?"}
n {set i_ch "?"}
N {set i_ch "?"}
l {set i_ch "?"}
L {set i_ch "?"}
s {set i_ch "?"}
S {set i_ch "?"}
r {set i_ch "?"}
R {set i_ch "?"}
z {set i_ch "\u017A"}
Z {set i_ch "\u0179"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "grave"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "`"}
a {set i_ch "à"}
A {set i_ch "À"}
e {set i_ch "è"}
E {set i_ch "È"}
i {set i_ch "ì"}
I {set i_ch "Ì"}
o {set i_ch "ò"}
O {set i_ch "Ò"}
u {set i_ch "ù"}
U {set i_ch "Ù"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "circum"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "^"}
a {set i_ch "â"}
A {set i_ch "��"}
e {set i_ch "ê"}
E {set i_ch "Ê"}
i {set i_ch "î"}
I {set i_ch "Î"}
o {set i_ch "ô"}
O {set i_ch "Ô"}
u {set i_ch "û"}
U {set i_ch "Û"}
w {set i_ch "\u0175"}
W {set i_ch "\u0174"}
z {set i_ch "\u0177"}
Z {set i_ch "\u0176"}
c {set i_ch "\u00E7"}
C {set i_ch "\u00C7"}
s {set i_ch "\u015F"}
S {set i_ch "\u015E"}
g {set i_ch "\u011F"}
G {set i_ch "\u011E"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "degree"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "°"}
a {set i_ch "å"}
A {set i_ch "Å"}
e {set i_ch ""}
E {set i_ch ""}
i {set i_ch "\u0131"}
I {set i_ch "\u0130"}
o {set i_ch ""}
O {set i_ch ""}
u {set i_ch "\u016F"}
U {set i_ch "\u016E"}
} ;# switch
} elseif {$switch == "tilde"} {
switch %A {
" " {set i_ch "~"}
a {set i_ch "ã"}
A {set i_ch "��"}
e {set i_ch ""}
E {set i_ch ""}
i {set i_ch "?"}
I {set i_ch "?"}
o {set i_ch "õ"}
O {set i_ch "Õ"}
u {set i_ch "\u0169"}
U {set i_ch "\u0168"}
n {set i_ch "ñ"}
N {set i_ch "Ñ"}
} ;# switch
} ;# if
if {$ch == " " || $ch >= {a} && $ch <= {z} || $ch >= {A} && $ch <= {Z}} {
%W insert insert "$i_ch"
set switch ""
break
} else {
tk_messageBox -message "out of area"
} ;# if
} else {
%W insert insert %A
} ;# if
} ;# bind
} ;# foreach class
I 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.
Hope this proves to be helpful.