* Family Historian V6.2.3 Accent Feature

[E Wilcock]

This update was a significant change for me. Because of the accents.

In order to use fh (moving from TMG) I had to abandon my Windows xp lap top. The replacement Lenovo lap top (2015) like many modern lap tops involves not just Windows 10 (upgraded by MS from 8 but problem free) but the maker's own software to control touch screen and tablet style functions. The software uses two key boards, physical and touch screen and controls them both.

One reason I chose to move to fh was the new easier insertion of accented characters. So it was a bit of a blow to discover that the accent function of holding down a key did not work on my new lap top.
It took some time for Calico Pie to investigate that this was not due to a new user error - but when the glitch became clear, they promised me that they would do something about it, and this upgrade with the alternative use of the Insert button came sooner than I expected. I did not mention it on the Forum because Mike and others were giving me a lot of help getting to grips with fh , and I knew that the tech people had the problem in hand.

My heart sank at the thought of having to press the Insert key but in practice you quickly get the habit. I entered 200 new people last week and it is very quick to use the German umlaut accent. Easier than using cut and paste from the Windows character map. If other users dont need the accent update, then they are not obliged to install it. I normally install all updates to software. I did not uninstall fh - the update downloaded and overwrote the previous.

It is possible that the alphabetical sorting of correctly accented names of people and of places in fh may present problems. I have not sorted out all my place names yet. But fh provides a line for the standardised current, local, version of a place name. Putting Polish accented characters in that field (e.g. Działdowo Poland) may interfere with mapping - I had an error message but it is not yet clear whether it related to the fh mapping facility or to a plug in using Google maps. Or to my own ineptitude as I havent learned how to use the mapping plug ins.

I havent had time to test further and the records I am using at the moment dont include Polish names. But it may be something to mention here.

[tatewise]

I've started a new thread, as Family Historian V6.2.3 (14723) is for discovering undocumented new features in V6.2.3.

There are other ways of entering accented characters using the Alt key, as explained in how_to:entered_accented_and_other_special_characters|> Enter Accented and Other Special Characters.

FYI: Installing the V6.2.3 update does not make any change to the default method of entering accented characters, unless you change the Tools > Preferences > General > To Enter Accents When Typing setting. These new options have been requested by several users.

I believe FH uses the internationally agreed sorting order for Unicode accented & other characters.
I am not sure about the impact on the FH internal Map Window nor the Map Life Facts/Events Plugins.

[E Wilcock]

I find it disconcerting when my posts are moved. Someone asked why the update had been made? I replied.

I think it would also be nice if users like myself who were told by Calico Pie that no one else had that problem and that it could not be replicated, could be informed later if they were not alone. Mike seems to know that several people were affected. Any info on which brands of computer etc?

[tatewise]

Sorry you find it disconcerting, but many other Forums work that way to keep threads consistent.

It was me that asked, but that other posting starts with an exclusion for the well documented Accent feature:

Apart from the Accent popup feature, is anyone aware of what improvements and bug fixes have been implemented?

You misunderstand, other people did not suffer your PC glitch, but did want another way of invoking Accent Characters.
See [FHU] Very occasional accented characters that mentions earlier requests but cannot now find them.