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April 10th, 2013 14:00

Entering ASCII characters from the keyboard

I have a new Inspiron 15R. Its keyboard does not have a numeric keypad. I have been accustomed to entering an ASCII character directly from the keyboard by pressing and holding ALT+Fn+0151, for instance, to get an m-dash on the screen. This laptop does not have a numeric keypad. So, how does one enter ASCII characters directly?

6 Posts

April 10th, 2013 16:00

AutoHotkey looks promising. I'll give it a try. Also, after some poking around in Outlook, I found the Symbols key. It has a couple of duplicate symbols for the n-dash and m-dash and are situated adjacent to those symbols in the character chart. For instance, by pressing 2012,Alt+X you get a character exactly like an n-dash. The code for m-dash is 2015,Alt+X. Thanks, everyone.

1.5K Posts

April 10th, 2013 14:00

Hi LHIIII,

Welcome to the community.

Please let us know the exact model number and version of windows installed on the system. Below are the similar models we have:

Inspiron 15R 5521

Inspiron 15R 5520

Inspiron 15R N5110

Inspiron 15R SE 7520

Also, if you have a num lock key on the keyboard then make sure it is on before entering any ASCII codes. If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks and Regards
Sandeep P
#iworkfordell

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5.2K Posts

April 10th, 2013 15:00

You need to use the embedded keyboard - the numbers are shown in blue or some other different color at the top right corner of the keys: J K L U I O 7 8 9 0. Make sure to turn the Number Lock on.

934 Posts

April 10th, 2013 15:00

Try AutoHotKey

Code is given beneath the video on YouTube - copy/paste

6 Posts

April 10th, 2013 15:00

It is an Inspiron 15R SE 7520 running Windows 8. There is no Num Lock key. There is no embedded, numeric keyboard either.

1.5K Posts

April 10th, 2013 16:00

Hi LHIIII,

Thanks for providing us this information. I can confirm this system doesn't come with the NUM lock option. You can try below things to get ASCII code:

1. You can connect a external USB keyboard.

2. Click on Start>All Programs> Accessories> Ease of Access>On screen keyboard. You can use this for getting the ASCII codes.

3. Click on Start>All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Character Map. And, you can select the code from it.

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks and Regards
Sandeep P
#iworkfordell

1.5K Posts

April 12th, 2013 13:00

Hi LHIIII,

Its great to hear that your query has been answered  to your satisfaction. If you have any queries in future feel free to contacts us.

Thanks and Regards
Sandeep P
#iworkfordell

2 Posts

June 16th, 2013 06:00

I have an Inspiron 15R SE 7520, have to use some chars , but cant use ALT with code , dont have Keypad

rgds

934 Posts

June 16th, 2013 08:00

Try downloading NumLock.exe.

dl.dropboxusercontent.com/.../NumLock.exe

By double clicking this file you should be able to use the "normal" number keys in combination with ALT to get any ASCII character.Watch the video posted previously to understand how it works.

The file itself just contains and runs the autohokey-code(see video) without having to install autohotkey.

If you don't trust the file you can still create it yourself by following the video instructions.

6 Posts

June 16th, 2013 08:00

Thanks for the feedback. I probably would not have purchased the 15R SE 7520 had I realized that it had no keypad. My mistake. Nevertheless, the external keyboard suffices whilst at home.

As an alternative to the keypad ASCII entry code, there is always the operating system’s Character Map. However, the process of accessing it requires a few more steps. Inconvenient.

One prior poster suggested using the On Screen Keyboard. That does not work either because the displayed keyboard is the same as the physical keyboard—no embedded numeric keypad.

Note that using the Character Map and selecting a character (say, the em dash), the bottom of the Character Map window shows two codes. At the bottom right, the ASCII code (i.e., Alt+0151) is presented. On the left bottom, another code, U+2014 is presented. However, I haven’t been able to figure out how to use it. That is, entering U+2014 yields U@)!$, holding the Shift key whilst typing the four numeric digits.

Perhaps, someday I’ll figure it out.

LHIIII

1 Message

June 1st, 2015 13:00

NumLock.exe works perfect for me.

Thanks.

22 Posts

September 24th, 2015 17:00

Thank you for the help

The NumLock.exe works fine for me..

1 Message

March 7th, 2016 12:00

NumLock.exe worked for me, but now I can't type the regular characters above the number keys

i'd type some exclaimation points after that sentence, but I can't now1

934 Posts

March 8th, 2016 04:00

NumLock.exe worked for me, but now I can't type the regular characters above the number keys

i'd type some exclaimation points after that sentence, but I can't now1

I mentioned that in my video.You either have to quit the program (right click on the green"H"-icon in the taskbar  and click exit) or you can toggle the behaviour of the keys by pressing the "AppsKey".

Note: not all laptops come with an "Appskey" in that case you will have to exit the program.

On my laptop inspiron 1545 the AppsKey is located next to the left "Arrow"-key.

www.youtube.com/watch

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