I’m trying to change the prefix key to CTRL or right-Alt key on my macbook but in preferences if I press those keys while in the “prefix key” area, nothing happens.
I downloaded and installed the keyboard layout from aplwiki/TypingGlyphs page and put the unzipped layout files in /Library/Keyboard Layouts directory as the instructions say on that page but that didn’t seem to do anything (even after restarting Dyalog).
Has anyone been able to change this prefix key from " ` " to CTRL or ALT on macOS ??
Hi Adám, I do get the Dyalog keyboard selector, but I can’t use the right Alt key to get the glyphs in my terminal etc. But I’ve given up on that as it wasn’t related to what I really wanted to do. Actually I was mistaken in thinking I could change my prefix Char in the Dyalog RIDE from " `" to “CTRL” by installing the Dialog Alt US keyboard layout.
What I really wanted to (still want to ) do is to use a different prefix key instead of the " ` " (backtick) … Maybe it’s not possible?
tl;dr: Either let RIDE have a normal character-producing key as prefix key, or use Alt as shifting key with the installed keyboard.
Technical details
RIDE handles the prefix input inside itself, but this doesn't affect the behaviour outside RIDE.
Installing the separate keyboard should let you use Alt as shifting key in all applications. Note that while prefix input requires you to press the prefix key, then let go of it, then press the e.g. a for ⍺ then let go of it; the Alt layout requires you to keep pressing Alt while you type a.
You can’t use Ctrl or Alt as prefix keys, as they are shifting keys, only modifying the values of keys pressed while they are being held, rather than generating their own characters. Conversely, you can’t use a normal character key like ` as shifting key, as it immediately generates a character.