14 November 2003
Seppo Tiainen
GKOS WORD SHORTCUTS
===================
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
IN BRIEF:
Typing -q outputs question if the common keys of chords for - and q are not
released between the characters.
If all keys are released inbetween, output is -q
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The chordon technique makes it possibile to have word shortcuts in a manner that
is fully compatible with the normal way of typing on GKOS.
National characters can always be used as shortcuts if not otherwise needed:
U - with
Å - and
Ä - the
Ö - that
^ - have
¨ - which
If the chordon technique is applied, more shortcuts become available.
There are six 2-key punctuation characters that cannot be included in chordons and must normally be typed as separate chords (to minimise errors in chordons):
-'?!,.
In addition to these 1+1 key combinations, Up/Down Arrows and SHIFT must be typed as separate chords (and all controls as well, of course).
The first chraracter in a chordon, however, can be one of them. The only 2-key character often really required at the beginning of a chordon is SHIFT. Consequently, the punctuation characters and Up/Down Arrows can serve as indications of word shortcuts. There are many possibilitities of 2-character chordons:
-a -b -c ... -z 'a 'b 'c ... 'z ...., .a .b .c ... .z 6 x 26 = 154 shorcuts
Examples: -a after, -b before, 'b between, ?b better, ?b best, 'c could, ,d dollars, -f from,
-g good, !g great, 'g general, -e every, -t today, 't through, .t take, 't that,
-u under, .u understand, -v very. -w where, .w would, -m much, .m must, 'n nothing,
.p people, -u under, -i interest, 'i interesting, -l large, -y year
For longer words, it could be useful to have even 3-character shortcuts:
-ab -ac -ad ... -zy ... .zx .zy 26 x 25 = 650 words
Example: -il international,
Note that it is always possible to type e.g. -ab so that the result also becomes -ab by typing the punctuation character as a separate chord, i.e. releasing all keys after it, before character 'a'.
There is a limitation. To be able to type a chordon reliably as a chordon, not just trying to overlap two independent chords, common keys are needed between the characters. These punctuation characters and letters can be combined by one or two common keys:
- followed by a e g h i j k l m n o p q r u x 16
' followed by b d g h i j m o p q r s t u v w x y z 19
. followed by b f i k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 19
, followed by c e g h i j k l m n q s t u v z 16
? followed by a f h k l m n o p q r v w x y z 16
! followed by c d g h i j n o p q r v w x y z 16
102 words
UpArrow followed by a d g h i j l o p q r t w x y z 16
DnArrow followed by c f j k l m n r s t u v w x y z 16
32 words
134 words in total
- ' . , ? ! UpArrow(U) DownArrow(D)
-a ?a, Ua
'b .b
,c !c Dc
'd !d Ud
-e ,e
.f ?f Df
-g 'g ,g !g Ug
-h 'h ,h !h ?h Uh
-i 'i .i ,i !i Ui
-j 'j ,j !j Uj Dj
-k .k ,k ?k Dk
-l .l ,l ?l Ul Dl
-m 'm .m ,m ?m Dl
-n .n ,n ?n !n Dn
-o 'o .o ?o Uo
-p 'p .p ?p !p Up
-q 'q .q ,q ?q Uq
-r 'r .r ?r Ur Dr
's .s ,s !s Ds
't .t ,t !t Ut Dt
-u 'u .u ,u !u Dt
'v .v ,v ?v !v Dv
'w .w ?w !w Uw Dw
-x 'x .x !x ?x Ux Dx
'y .y ?y !y Uy Dy
'z .z ,z ?z !z Uz Dz
102 without Up/Down Arrows
Up/Down Arrows 32
134 in total
It can be further noticed, however, that part of these 134 shortcuts are simpler to type (primary shortcuts) than others because one keypress is either added or released (or moved), not both:
SHORTCUT WORD EXAMPLES
-a ?a about, after
'b .b before, between
,c !c country
'd !d dollars, disappear
-e ,e every, excuse me
.f ?f from, found
(-g 'g ,g !g) good, ing, general, great
-h Uh through
'i interest
!j ,j thank you (reject)
(,k .k -k ?k) kind
?l -l like, last
.m much
,n Dn never, nothing
(-o 'o .o ?o) only, often, nothing
'p Up people (or please?, see z)
-q question
?r .r are
('s .s ,s !s) sure, such
!t 't today, there
,u under
.v Dv very
('w .w !w ?w) where, would, what
?x except
'y .y years, you
!z please
32 without Up/Down Arrow, 36 if Up/Down Arrow included
=> Easy (including rather easy) shortcuts 36 (56) + national (Tab group) shortcuts
In the same way, the national characters can also be expanded as shortcuts in
addition to all figures above. That will give 4 (8) more primary word shortcuts.