Using Character Map

With the Character Map Windows application, you can:

• View all the characters of any font installed on your system.
• For any individual character in the font, Character Map displays its keystroke. That keystroke will either be the actual key to be pressed or an "Alt+number" sequence for inputting the character through the numeric keypad.
• You can select and copy any group of characters to the clipboard to paste into your document.

Character Map is available in Windows 3.x and in Windows 95/98. It is not available in DOS windows.

Finding Character Map can sometimes be a problem. Although Character Map is provided with Windows, I have seen a few inconsistencies in where its shortcut icon is displayed, or even whether it is displayed at all. In Windows 95/98, it is usually in the Start Menu under "Programs/Accessories," but I have also found it under "Programs/Accessories/System Tools." In Windows 3.1, it is usually in the Accessories group. Sometimes its shortcut icon cannot be found anywhere.

If you cannot find the shortcut/icon for Character Map, then you should be able to find the program in the Windows directory by the name "CHARMAP.EXE". If you cannot find it there, then do a "Find File" for it. If you still cannot find it, then it must have been omitted for some strange reason. In that case, get a copy from another computer with the same level of Windows and copy it into your C:\WINDOWS directory. There is no help file associated with it. Once you have located or loaded CHARMAP.EXE in your computer, then you can create your own shortcut/icon to it.

Using Character Map

• The "Font" combo box for selecting the font to view.
• The "Characters to copy" edit box for containing the characters you have selected to copy to the clipboard.
• The "Close" button to exit Character Map.
• The "Select" button to place a character into the "Characters to copy" edit box.
• The "Copy" button to copy the selected characters into the clipboard. It is currently disabled because no characters have been selected.
• The "Keystroke" field in the lower-right corner. This displays the keystroke for the current character or, if no keystroke exists, its "Alt+number" sequence for inputting the character through the numeric keypad. Note that in Figure 1 the current character is the "µ" and that its "Alt+number" sequence is "Alt+0181".
• When you move to or click on a character, it becomes the current character and it is enlarged four-fold. If it had been clicked, when you release the mouse button the current character returns to normal size but remains highlighted (not shown).

Figure 1.

1. Run Character Map.
2. Use the "Font" combo box to select the font. All fonts installed in your system will be listed.
3. When the program starts, the first character (upper-left-most) will be highlighted as the current character. Navigating through the character list can be done in two ways:
   1. Use the arrow keys. This will cause the new current character to be enlarged and remain enlarged. See the "µ" in Figure 1.
   2. Left-click on the desired character. This will cause it to be enlarged for as long as the mouse button is depressed. When you release the mouse button, the character will return to normal size and be highlighted.
   Note that the keystroke or "Alt+number" sequence of the current character will be displayed in the "Keystroke" field in the lower-right corner.
4. Select the current character for copying by clicking on the "Select" button. The selected character will appear in the "Characters to copy" edit box. Select another character and it will join the first in the edit box.
5. Click on the "Copy" button to copy the selected characters to the clipboard.
6. Back in your document, paste the selected characters from the clipboard with the menu command "Edit / Paste (CTRL+V)".
7. Exit Character Map by clicking on the "Close" button or on the "X" system menu button.

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