FAQ - or FDP (Frequently Discussed Problems)

Q.

  • Why can't I type any Dene characters? I have selected a WinMac Dene font, but when I type 6o (or o6) I just get 6o (or o6) instead of an o-nasal.

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    A.

  • Keyman is not active. You must have Keyman running; you must have one of the WinMac keyboard definition files loaded into Keyman; AND Keyman must be active (its button must show a white D or V on a red background). You should also set the Regional or International settings in the Control panel to USA English for Keyman to work properly.

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    Q.

  • Why do my high tones and low tones display correctly, but nasalized vowels and nasal combinations display a different character?

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    A.

  • You have not selected one of the WinMac Dene fonts. High and low tones are the same as acute and grave accents in most standard fonts, but nasals and other characters are only included in the WinMac Dene fonts. If you type a voiceless L L slashin any other font you will see a ring A Å. Attempting to type a nasal with the vowel 6 combination will usually display a carat over the vowel if you are not using a WinMac Dene font. For example, using the Dene Key configuration if you type 5o you will see ò, the o-grave in most standard fonts, but if you type 6o you will see ô, o-carat in most fonts. Only the WinMac Dene fonts contain the nasals.

    If you are using a standard font for most of your document and are only using the Dene fonts for the occasional word, e.g. place names, here's something to keep in mind. Some word processors allow you to change fonts at the cursor location while other word processors require you to select something, at least a single character or even a space or carriage return, before changing the font. If you activated Keyman and you are still getting non-Dene characters, just select the word after typing and change to a WinMac Dene font. That will usually correct the problem.

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    Q.

  • Why is the "Hide" button greyed out on the Keyman Menu Window?
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    • A.

  • It isn't. The graphic on the button is screened as a visual aid in understanding that that button will make the window dissappear. However the button is fully functional. Click on it and you will see that it works.
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    • Q.

  • Why can't I see the red D and V Keyman buttons on the title bar after I click on the Hide button?
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    • A.

  • The default location of these buttons is on the right side of the active window's title bar. If you are displaying any "always on top" window at the top of your screen (such as MS Office's button menu), and if your application window is maximized, then that window is probably hiding the Keyman buttons. If you can't see the buttons at all, move the window which is covering your menu bar, or else change the window size or move it so you can see all of the title bar. Right-click on the red D or V button to open the Keyman Menu window. Click on the Options button. This will open a dialogue window where you can set the button position and alignment. I recommend the left side of the title bar.

    If your word processor uses the title bar to display messages then you should set the button position to "floating window". The floating window will appear in the same place on the screen all the time rather than in the title bar of the active window. I'd also recommend you add a grab-tag handle so you can move it to where ever you want it. (Note: it still will not appear on top of the Office menu bar.) The Keyman on-line help explains more on the use of the options.

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    Q.

  • Why can't I find the two WinMac Keyboards (WinMac Dene Key & WinMac Vowel First Dene) when I run Setup for Keyman? I see a large number of other keyboards, including Lao, French, & Swiss, but I don't see WinMac Dene Key and WinMac Vowel First Dene.

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    A.

  • You have extracted the archive KEYMAN32.EXE instead of WMKEYMAN.EXE. Keyman32.exe is the original SIL archive included for copyright requirements only. You do not need this file unless you want to write your own keyboard layouts from scratch.

    Delete the directory to which you extracted the keyman32.exe archive (c:\temp\keyman if you used the default). Then expand the file WMKEYMAN.EXE. This contains only two keyboard layout files that are ready to use with the WinMac Dene Font System.

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    Q.

  • Why do I need Keyman? Can't I use WinMac Dene fonts without Keyman?
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    • A.

  • You don't absolutely NEED Keyman to use WinMac Dene fonts. Those users who only want to view and print documents containing Dene Fonts do not need Keyman at all. That's why the fonts are offered as a separate download. However it is very cumbersome to type the special Dene characters without using a keyboard re-mapping utility. The special Dene characters are in the extended character, or Upper ASCII, section of the font. These characters are not normally accessible from the keyboard. Windows users could hold down the ALT key and type the 4-digit ASCII code on the numeric keypad, but they would have to do this for each letter. Mac Users could figure out just which option, control, command combinations to use for the accented vowels. Some word processor programs have an "Insert Special Character" option, which allows access to the extended characters in a font. Windows users could also use the Windows Character Map applet to copy special characters to the clipboard. However Keyman makes it much easier to type the special Dene characters. Accented vowels require only two keystrokes, a vowel and a number, and special consonants require only one keystroke.
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    • Q.

  • Why are there two different WinMac keyboard layouts?
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    • A.

  • There have actually been THREE different Dene font systems for Macintosh only before WinMac. The earliest one was not widely used. However the DeneKey system had a large number of users who continued using it even after Vowel First Dene became the accepted standard.

    When I designed the WinMac cross platform system, I wanted to make it as easy as possible for those who had already spent the time learning how to type in a Dene Language.

    For a new user, the Vowel First keyboard layout is probably the most intuitive and I usually recommend it for those with no previous experience at typing in a Dene Language.

    It is important to note that the same characters are placed into the document no matter which keyboard is used. Documents created using one keyboard layout can be edited with the other one on either Windows or Macintosh computers.

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    • Q.

  • Why can't I open a file someone else created with the WinMac Dene fonts?
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    • A.

  • Probably because they used a Word Processor program whose file type is incompatible with the Word Processor you are using, or because you are putting a Macintosh disk into a Windows computer.

    Ask the author to save the file in Rich Text Format. This usually solves the file format incompatibility problem. See the Technical Stuff page for more information on issues relating to sharing files across different software manufacturers.

    Most Macintosh computers can save files onto DOS formatted disks. If you are a Windows user and do not have a conversion program that can read Mac disks, ask the Mac author to save the file onto a DOS formatted disk.

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