repeating characters vs. display of character accents

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HB Whitesell
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repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by HB Whitesell »

Yesterday, for the first time in several years as an NW user, when I depressed a character key (e.g., "i" or "e"), instead of receiving the usual display of accented character choices, I merely got "iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii". Have I overlooked (i.e., accidentally depressed) a key combination that would enable this change? I can't find it in the literature!
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martin
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by martin »

The feature you described (holding down a key to show available accented versions of that character) is actually provided by macOS. It was introduced a few major system versions ago, apparently for macOS Catalina, so is it possible that you are working on a Mac with an older version of macOS?

Otherwise the other possible factor is your active input method / keyboard layout. I actually don't know if they behave differently, but perhaps this new(ish) feature is not provided across all system keyboards? It's something to try if your system is fully updated.
HB Whitesell
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by HB Whitesell »

Thanks for your response, Nisus celeb. Here is mine: I'm on a 2019 iMac, updated to Ventura 13.0.1. I have never modified my keyboard; it's "stock". I wonder if there is, in fact, some unpublished key combination that might switch between states?
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martin
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by martin »

HB Whitesell wrote: 2022-12-13 05:11:57 Thanks for your response, Nisus celeb.
hah! 😎
Here is mine: I'm on a 2019 iMac, updated to Ventura 13.0.1. I have never modified my keyboard; it's "stock". I wonder if there is, in fact, some unpublished key combination that might switch between states?
That's current and should behave as you expect. The behavior of holding down a letter key to type accented characters is even in the official Apple documentation for Ventura. It doesn't mention any relevant factors or options, and I don't see any settings related to this in the system preferences.

Are you using any non-standard keyboard layouts / input methods? In other words, something other than the stock "U.S." keyboard?
HB Whitesell
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by HB Whitesell »

No sir! I saw the Apple literature. Bare as a baby's behind concerning this phenomenon. My Apple keyboard/input is stock. All was well until three days ago, when I lost the 'accent feature menu' when holding down a key, and it 'reverted' to repeating characters. IIRC, perhaps I shut down Nisus Writer Pro in the interim. It is happening only on this machine (with both Nisus and Pages). I still have the feature on an older MacBook Pro.

This is why I posit that there is some unpublished keystroke combination I accidentally 'performed'. I loathe this predicament.Thanks for spending time on this Martin!
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martin
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by martin »

HB Whitesell wrote: 2022-12-14 16:25:40 No sir! I saw the Apple literature. Bare as a baby's behind concerning this phenomenon. My Apple keyboard/input is stock. All was well until three days ago, when I lost the 'accent feature menu' when holding down a key, and it 'reverted' to repeating characters.
Hrm, that's a potential lead: have you tried adjusting the "Key Repeat" timing options in your system preference? If I set mine to "off" then accented characters are disabled entirely. Anywhere else along the slow/fast slider seems to enable the accents popover.
Þorvarður
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by Þorvarður »

HB Whitesell wrote: 2022-12-14 16:25:40 Bare as a baby's behind concerning this phenomenon.
I would first try TinkerTool.
What is TinkerTool? "TinkerTool is an application to access selected preference settings of your personal user account which are not visible in System Preferences. The tool never changes any part of the operating system, nor does it add or run anything. The feature set reflected by these preference settings is defined by macOS only. It cannot be changed by TinkerTool."

TinkerTool allows you to toggle between the accent menu and key repeat.

TinkerTool.png
TinkerTool.png (140.45 KiB) Viewed 2888 times

Find the right TinkerTool version for your operating system here (it's free):
https://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerToolOverview.html
Last edited by Þorvarður on 2022-12-15 05:35:39, edited 1 time in total.
Þorvarður
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by Þorvarður »

Does the problem persist? Then try the Terminal command described in the links below.
Creating a pristine new user account is also always a good idea to find out whether something has got corrupted in your current user account. If the problem goes away, you can migrate to the new account and delete the old one.

https://fvdm.com/code/fix-for-not-worki ... menu-macos
https://eclecticlight.co/2016/03/30/hol ... or-repeat/
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questio ... cos-sierra
https://www.addictivetips.com/mac-os/di ... -on-macos/
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251239888
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252843441
https://www.macworld.com/article/227684 ... -os-x.html
HB Whitesell
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by HB Whitesell »

Hallelujah, Dr. Þorvarður!! It was the Terminal command that restored the diacritic character display! Neither key speed in Preferences, nor a trip to Tinker Tool did the trick. Thank you, and to you as well, Martin. Nisus is a most-favored, full-flavored application that even a perpetual neophyte like me can become so comfortable with. Cheers!
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martin
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by martin »

That is great! Thanks for all the tips Þorvarður.

I guess the cause was probably that HB has somehow accidentally changed the ApplePressAndHoldEnabled setting in the macOS "defaults" subsystem. I wonder where it is exposed in the system preferences– if at all now. It's a common complaint about Ventura that it disappeared several settings that existed in prior versions of macOS which are still perfectly useful and functional.

This actually reminds me of my latest settings struggle. Any time I use Apple Pay it autofills an old shipping address. I have no idea where it's getting this address. It's not shown in my Apple ID settings (under Payment & Shipping) on either my Mac or iPhone, nor is the address shown in the Wallet or Contacts app. If anyone has any magic to reveal and expunge this setting I would be grateful.

Apple's not infrequent inability to provide visibility into their systems is frustrating.
Vanceone
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by Vanceone »

Martin, maybe try logging into your Apple ID account on apple.com? They contain addresses there, I think. Perhaps the old address exists there?
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martin
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by martin »

Vanceone wrote: 2022-12-18 19:39:36 Martin, maybe try logging into your Apple ID account on apple.com? They contain addresses there, I think. Perhaps the old address exists there?
That's a good idea, thanks Vance! Unfortunately no joy. The only place I found for any addresses was under "Payment Method", which already had my current address for both billing and shipping. I didn't see any outdated addresses or other places to look.
Vanceone
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by Vanceone »

Try here:
Well, I can give you a list of everywhere to check for your address that you can access.

for iPhone
settings>Wallet & Apple Pay>transaction defaults>address - edit as needed.
Wallet>first card(check all cards)>tap three dots in corner>billing address-adjust as needed
settings>your name at the top>payment & shipping>edit the address as needed
your contact card in contacts

For Mac
contact card in contacts
Music app>iTunes Store>account(at the bottom)>billing address - edit as needed.
iCloud.com>contacts>your contact card

Taken from this thread at apple.com: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252502493.

The notes say that this may also be a payment processor? No idea how that would work.
Last edited by Vanceone on 2022-12-20 16:16:02, edited 1 time in total.
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martin
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by martin »

Vanceone wrote: 2022-12-20 15:38:35 settings>Wallet & Apple Pay>transaction defaults>address - edit as needed.
AHA! My old address was in this area and checkmarked as the default. It seems stupid that Apple doesn't mirror this info in the Payments & Shipping area. One would assume the underlying data is unified.

Well, now that I've excised the address I hope my troubles are over. It was annoying to always be on alert for Apple Pay shipping items to a place I no longer live.

Thank you, thank you! :D
Vanceone
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Re: repeating characters vs. display of character accents

Post by Vanceone »

You are welcome Martin!

It's nice to be able to help you out instead of having you always answer our questions for a change! Happy to do it. I hope the address change "sticks" too.
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