FIY only, not a complaint. I have noticed that many posters in the Knots forum use an astrick or star * for a degree sign. I figure this is because they don’t know how to get the degree sign. It is really quite simple. Just hold down the Alt key and type in the number 0176. Let up on the Alt key and you will have the ° sign. If this does not work then you will need to load the character map to your computer. I have no idea how to do this with Macs but this should work with any Windows OS. Other symbols are available with this same method. Diameter or diametrical Ø is Alt 0216, plus or minus ± is Alt 0177 and so on. These do sometimes change with a different font but are for the most part consistant. Check out the character map for all kinds of signs and symbols to have fun with. Squared² Alt 0178, cubed³ Alt 0179, copyright© Alt 0169. There are lots more.
Rich
The Professional Termite
Replies
I know you said it's FYI but, if this bothers you, maybe you shouldn't think about their spelling and grammar.
I didn't say it bothers me. I was only trying to share some information. Isn't that what this forum is all about? How is sharing this tip any different than sharing a tip about sanding, routing or some other method of work?
I figure if they want to use spellcheck thats up to them, and I don't even know their grammar, or any of their other kin. Life is too short to get my knickers twisted about trivia like this. ;o)
Rich The Professional Termite
Relax, and re-read the first sentence in my post- I acknowledged you starting the thread as informational. I wasn't getting on you for this. That's the problem with reading things like this- it's impossible to hear the vocal inflections and pick up on the spirit in which it was written.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
High
Have to agree with you about the voice inflections and body language stuff. I reread your post with my tounge in my cheek and a smiley face at the end, and it is completly different. You have my apology sir for thinking you were being critical. Now, about this bosscrunk fellow and his scotch, wow, I'm crazy enough without drinking.<g> One sip of that stuff and no tellin' what might happen. :^)Haven't touched a drop since Feb of 83. Come to think of it, haven't had a hangover since then either. Anyway, no problem here, I was just confused, not ticked. Yall have a Merry Christmas.
RichThe Professional Termite
Right back atcha! Have a good one.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Yall have a Merry Christmas.Tick off ALOT of the Modern folks.. ChristMass or CrhistMas OK by me though...
<ChristMass or CrhistMas OK by me though...>Will, Xmas is actually correct although I dont know how many will agree. It was code back in the day when the dude was still alive...... aloha, mike
Rich: I've been using some of the character map items for a while now and I think they add a nice finishing touch to any comunication. Fractions are nicely presented as ¼, ½ etc.
Clarity is worthwhile. Aim high.
Merry Christmas Duke
The Bill of Rights
December 15 1791
NRA Endowment Member
LEAA Life Member
CRPA Member
I suggest a strong Scotch or two and a few days rest from the computer.
Alt 0169?
Alt 0177
I get nothin' in here!
Now that is a pity-I thought a good solution was about to surface. I prefer to use * rather than type all that stuff....surely the computer boffins can come up with something better???I mean why isn't there a key for degrees?°
Actually, on second thoughts, thanks very much-it is not too hard°.
Another thing that is quite handy is the spelling checker.
A spell checker is handy-- if it checks English. That's why I never use the spell checker here: it only checks American, ha, ha, ha. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
<<A spell checker is handy-- if it checks English. That's why I never use the spell checker here: it only checks American, ha, ha, ha. Slainte.>>
Of course... I guess, in a real twisted way, it's nice to see that us colonials ain't the only one that get to beta test Mr. Gates' software for only $129.95 + tax, title, and license per copy. Guess you have to get the PAL version of windows before it will spell check "English". Personally, I'll stick with my Mac: lots fewer problems and it's already multi-national.....
Prosit! Salute! Na Starovia!, etc!
only checks American!! Gee is there any other English??We here in the US just use SLANG these days.. Queens English just used on BBS News broadcasts..
<<only checks American!! Gee is there any other English??>> I suspect that our friends from Down-Under, up-North - eh, and elsewhere in the English-speaking world might dispute the idea that 'Murican is the only kind of English....
I, uh, like, know what ya mean 'bout usin' slang alot here in da US.....
I use this,but only works for IE.
http://www.iespell.com/
"a spell checker is handy"- actually I was hinting at the state of Trial's spelling....
The spelling checker is still quite handy-one merely slackens off on the stiff upper lip, and uses it to confirm whether it is useful or usefull, for example.Hawhaw.
Anyway, one makes the odd mistake here and there, lest one is accused of being anal over these minor matters ;)(;Philip Marcou
Hey now, I don't misspell, thats just poetic liscence. :>)The Professional Termite
The degree symbol would be nice but I would really like someone to add the "Any" key for when I get the "Type Any Key To Continue" message - lol.
"but I would really like someone to add the "Any" key for when I get the "Type Any Key To Continue" message - lol." Years ago when I was working in a heavily computerized medical research company, one of the IT guys got smart and stuck a piece of tape on a useless key (central "all use" computer), the tape actually did say Any Key. It worked! forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
One thing you forgot to mention was that you need to do this with NumLock turned on and using the numeric keypad to the right hand side. I for one am glad you posted this though as I'd actually forgotten about this technique for getting special symbols. Where is the character map located though?
If you build it he will come.
For Mac users with OS X, you go to the menu at the top of the screen and click on Special Characters under Edit. This will give a gazillion characters in every language, font or special area you can think of. This doesn't mean that Knots will recognize the character though. The automatic censorship function is a little funny. Try to type the name of a natural sharpening stone that begins with a W, ####. It must be those four letters in the middle. It's also odd that the spell check doesn't recognize many woodworking terms including Taunton.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Willgeorge. Are the other symbols working for you? If not then the character map may not be loaded in your OS. If so, then check to see what font the map is using. Set it for Arial and it should work. If not then I'm stumped.
Phillip. What system are you using? The ° is showing but has a funny looking  in front of it.
Douglas2cats. The map is located in; start, programs, accessories, system tools, character map
Hammer1. Thanks for the input for the mac users. Are you aware that words can be added to spellcheck so it doesn't flag them anymore when you use them?
Someone mentioned the NumLock. Good catch, mine is on all the time and I always use it for numbers so I didn't even think to mention that detail.
Rich
The Professional Termite
Edited 12/9/2005 10:10 am ET by trialnut
Trial, I'm using FFox.
That is strange about the A thing- when I pre-viewed to check that it was working the correct degree sign was there.....
I'm testing again-the degree sign is °.Philip Marcou
Rich, some of the rrors in other programs, both mail and browser, are from a lack of updating of those programs. Numlock is an older way of locating the character palette. interesting eh? aloha, mike
For this symbol, on the Mac, I find it easier to use [option] zero (zed to you, Richard). Tom
tms, thanks that does make a º of difference....... now what about the heart symbol? ? ? if you find it........ aloha, mike
As ChipO pointed out, the heart's easy. Just type this in source mode:
♥
It comes out to this: ¢¾.My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
Cool, thanks, I need a list of these things!
Do a search for the "ASCII Character Set". There are hundreds of characters and the tables will give you codes for all of them. I had a Kaypro computer in the early 80's and was doing a lot of work with WordStar. I programmed the numeric keypad to generate the formatting codes (Control K - S, etc)
to all,
how about instead of going through all those gyrations
we just agree that * is just fine and dandy.
in fact I would rather just type out the word "degree" than go through some of the commotion suggested above LOL
Stephen
I find this very interesting and helpful but where do I find this character map. And how do we use the spell check in this forum. I come from the general class of computer illiterate which sources from being computer brain dead. To a °, it is sort of like my woodworking abilities. Hey that worked. Thats fun.
I'm waiting to find out how to get the character map too! Spell check is found two orange buttons down from Post (below the text composition box). Good idea to be sure you're completely done with your writing before clicking it though. Otherwise, it keeps interrupted you as you try to add on.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
In MS operating systems click, on the bottom left of the screen, Start, then open up the drop down menus, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Character Map (aka CharMap).
In MS Word click, Insert, Symbol, or use the shortcut keys if you know them.
Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
The other way to do this is to use the HTML character codes. For the ° symbol, use "°" (no quotes). There's a table of these codes here.
Chip, that's great. Also has the benefit of being compatible with every browser and OS.
Thanks, Richard! Your post helped with another question: "How do I use Wingdings"?? I owe you a pint! (Is that the appropriate vernacular??)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
See this link for the standard ALT codes for ASCII..May take a 'bit' to load.. But I recall you now have DSL so should not take to long.. Nothing bad there that I know of..http://www.computer-bobs.com/altcodes.htmlEDIT::MS Windoz Character MapSee this link
http://www.compukiss.com/sandyclassroom/tutorials/article751.htmIn Windoz XP... Use Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools.. In there someplace for all the fonts you have
Edited 12/10/2005 2:00 pm by WillGeorge
Thanks, Will, yep DSL has made things much easier!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Trying things out....
I x understand why it took so long to figure this out. What a great tool. Now I can practice using my 8 and 7 to make handy symbols. Boy they are tiny though, aren't they?! Kforestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I made a list of all the alt+num codes I use regularly and taped it to the monitor. It's only about 1" x 3" and comes in real handy.
OK, son, hand me the plywood stretcher. Bill Bryan
Why does Microsoft always have to make the user go about things in such a round about way? On a Mac simply hold down the option key and type (L).
trialnut, The Mac has a character palette that does all that stuff too. I ? it! aloha, mike
the question mark above is a heart shape that Taunton doesnt recognize from the Mac. Just goes to show ya....theyre heartless ;-) aloha, mike
Edited 12/11/2005 1:30 am by mikegagne
"Just goes to show ya....theyre heartless ;-) " ROFL!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
well,
°╜²ÖÛ°±©
:)
JP
Don't have a clue what ya said but seein' as how it's copywrited I promise I won't repeat it. ;o)The Professional Termite
Very good! I have been trying to do one but never found a way, you did show me those points. Isn't there a chart that shows more?
Go to; start, programs, accessories, system tools, character map. Enough there to keep you busy playing for a while. You can also copy and paste these along with some other methods covered earlier in this thread.
The Professional Termite
Edited 12/12/2005 10:57 am ET by trialnut
Hi
ALT 248 also works for °
That is how I just made the symbol above.
Take care
Bob Oehler
All you need to do in Word is use a superscript o. You get there by Ctrl+Shift+= and then type in o and it is in the superscript position for a degree sign. Use the same key combination to stop superscript insert. FYI - subscript is just Ctrl+=.
P3
Just tried this and it is not working for me. What could I be doing wrong. I held down the Ctrl key the Shift key and the = all at the same time and typed in the o but got nothing. Tried it a second time and got a chime to sound. I'm confused, again.
RichThe Professional Termite
trial, haha, all of the characters are specific to operating system, browser, and version of browser. There is no agreed upon protocol between all the various entities that make up the internet..........kinda like in here, eh? Ya just gotta find what works for you. aloha, mike
That's not true of the ones you spell out, such as ° which should always render as °. Standards are poor for many things, but these have been accepted and standardized for many years. They work. I'll be surprised (and curious about OS/browser version) if this post doesn't look right to anyone.My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
Okay, I've got NumLock turned on, and I've got the Alt key held down. What do I type to pay for the hand plane I want for Christmas?
Bob
Did you use the numbers to the right?of keyboard.
<What do I type to pay for the hand plane I want for Christmas?>try LN.com and a bunch 0f $$$ signs. aloha, mike
< I'll be surprised (and curious about OS/browser version) if this post doesn't look right to anyone.>Its true that what you see is the the way it is for everyone. There are profoundly larger character sets that will not display in here except as a "?" when you push the "Post" button up there. And this is okay but it does narrow the communication some what. I have a few that I like to use and dern, they wont show. C'est la vie, eh? aloha, mike
Thats really neat! I will use this from now on.
„?¥ ˜ø† ?¨ß† ¨ß´ †?´ ø<pi>†ˆø˜ ?´¥
I've been typing a bunch of *'s lately, so here, I'm going to try and retrain myself. Hmmmmm, nothing's showing up.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
FG
Make sure your character map is loaded. Go to start, programs, accessories, system tools. If the character map is not there you will need to load it from your windows cd. If it is there then make sure it is set for a font that will give you these symbols such as arial. Anything beyond this and I'm stumped.
RichThe Professional Termite
It's loaded, I've played with it (at least I think it was on this computer) and I use Arial here at Knots (and just about everywhere else).forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
FG
If it's loaded and set for Arial and does not work then I don't know what to tell you. Maybe someone else can help troubleshoot the problem. I just set my character map to wingdings font, which does not have the ° sign and I still typed it with alt0176. I'm stumped. Make sure your numlocks is on and that you are using the numeric keypad.
Rich
The Professional Termite
Edited 1/4/2006 11:24 pm ET by trialnut
I think I figured it out -- wasn't using the number pad! Here, I'll try again:
° Wheeeeeee ° I got me some degrees!!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
0º.......now THATS coldaloha
Press and hold the ALT key and type 0 1 7 6 on the numeric keypad of your keyboard. Make sure the NumLock is on and type 0176 with the leading zero. If there is no numeric keypad, press and hold the Fn before typing the 0176 numbers of degree symbol.
You can browse the article to type on the device you want.
https://www.degree-symbol.com/
I tried this on a MacBook Pro in the "Pages" word processor. All I had to do was hold the alt key and type 0. Thanks for the tip!
I've used both platforms for years and the Mac is hands down easier to use. I think I used to use option-8 for the bullet, but it sure doesn't work that way in Windows. That's why I have Macs at home :)
Would like to add that at least for Windows based machines, Alt codes only work with the number pad,not the number row. According to the computer 1 on the number row above the alpha keys is not the same as 1 from the number pad typically on the right side.
If you are using Windows 10, you can pin the character map to your taskbar so it is a one-step/click process to access most if not all of the characters you may need.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled