izKeys “4 scripts + Math + Etc” layouts

Keyboard layouts with mad professor repertoirs designed with scatterbrains in mind

The [ee-zee-keys] layouts allow access to many thousands of Unicode characters. Among the goals are:

(Not all the goals are FULLY achieved, but we are very close).

Installation

Personality:LatinGreek (Polytonic)CyrillicHebrew
Install (Windows): iz-la-4s.zip T H S P iz-gr-p4.zip T H S P iz-ru-4s.zip T H S P iz-hb-4s.zip T H P
Install (Apple OSX): iz-Latin.zip iz-GreekPoly.zip (Broken???) iz-CyrillicPhonetic.zip iz-Hebrew.zip

(De)Install instructions (Windows);       T = Table of layout; H = Heuristics for the base script; S = Heuristics for script’s satellite layouts; P = Peek the main layout.
      (Preliminary) install instructions (Apple OSX)       Compose is on ISO, Option-F12, Option-F13, F20.     HEX is on Shift-SPACE² u, Shift-SPACE² U, F19.

Four “personalities” differ only in which script is available on alphabet keys. Using keys-modifiers and/or prefix keys, all personalities allow access to the same repertoir of characters. So: Install only personalities in which you need to type largish fragments; for shorter fragments, one can either switch to a different personality, or use (clumsier) approach with modifier/prefix keys.

Access the script’s satellite layouts using the “specific” prefix keys of the base layout. (The “shared” prefix keys are for cross-personality access, and math/technical/business/linguistic symbols.)


Resources:


Base layouts of Latin/Greek/Cyrillic/Hebrew personalities

T = Table of layout; H = Heuristics for the base script; S = Heuristics for script’s satellite layouts. Personality-specific colors are explained in H links; see also the general explanation of colors.

In front — results with AltGr modifier. T H S (On the bottom [ISO] \|-key, the base layer has Compose prefix key, and “mock AltGr” prefix.)

`~ˋ˜1!¬¡2@ºª3#·4$¢£5%¥6^ˇˆ7&§8*9(0)-_¯=+±Backspace
TabQÄWÁEÊRÅTÞYŸUÜIIJOŒPØ[{«]}»\|¦
CapsLockAÆSßDÐFÈGÝHÚJÍKÓLÖ;:¨÷'"´˵Enter
ShiftZÀXÉCÇVÌBÙNÑMÒ,<¸.>°/?◌̸¿Shift
CtrlAlt\|AltGrMenuCtrl

On the right — results with AltGr modifier. T H S

`~`~Ϣ1!¬¡1!2@ºª2@3#·3#4$¢£4$5%¥5%6^͵ʹ6^7&§7&8*8*9(9(0)0)-_¯-_=+±=+Backspace
TabQϑϴΘWΏΩEΈΕRϱΡTϚΤYϜΨUΎΥIΊΙOΌΟPϖΠ[{[{◌̔]}]}◌̓\|\|◌͂
CapsLockAΆΑSςΣDΔFϕΦGƔΓHΉΗJΐÍΪKϰϗΚLΛ;:·÷;:'"´˵'"Enter
ShiftZϞΖXϠΧCϘΞVΰϔΫBϐΒNΝMµÒΜ,<«,<.>».>/?Ɂ/?Shift
CtrlAlt\|۰ AltGrMenuCtrl

On the right — results with AltGr modifier. T H S

`~`~Ю1!◌҄1!2@◌҆◌҇2@3##3ё4$$£4Ё5%%5ъ6^^◌҃6Ъ7&§7&8*8*9(9(0)0)-_¯-_=+=+ЧBackspace
TabQѢЯWѴВEЁЕRԖРTЋТYІЫUЎУIѶИOѠОPѰП[{[{Ш]}]}Щ\|\|Э
CapsLockAӘАSЅСDЂДFѲФGҐГHҺХJЇЙKҚКLЉЛ;:¨÷;:'"◌́´'"Enter
ShiftZЄЗXЪЬCЏЦVӁЖBЃБNЊНMӍМ,<«,<.>».>/?Ј/?Shift
CtrlAlt\|ӀЪAltGrMenuCtrl
Hover mouse over left/right Shift to switch to “Un-shifted”/“Shifted” view; press mouse to flip.

On the right — results with AltGr modifier. T H

`~`~◌֙◌֘1!1!◌ִ◌֮2@2@◌ֵ◌ְ3#3#◌ֶ4$4$◌ָ£5%5%◌ֱ6^6^◌ֳ7&7&◌ׇ8*8*◌ַ◌͏9(9(◌ֻ0)0)◌ֲ-_-_־=+=+◌ְBackspace
TabQק◌ֲ◌֨◌֬Wש◌ׁ◌֓Eע◌ֵ◌ֶ◌ֱRר◌ֱ◌ֿ◌֗Tתט◌֩◌֠Yי◌ּײUט◌ֻױIי◌ִ◌֬Oו◌ֹ◌ָPפף◌֡◌֟[{[{׆◌֩]}]}◌֘◌֠\|\|◌֖׀
CapsLockAא◌ָ◌ַ◌ֲSס◌ׂ◌֒Dד◌ֶ◌ְ◌֧FפףGג״׳◌֞Hהח◌֢◌֜Jח◌ֻ◌ﬞ◌֝Kכך◌֦◌֫Lל◌ֹ◌ׇ◌ֳ;:;:◌֛◌֔'"'"׳״Enter
ShiftZז◌ַ◌֮◌֕XכךCצץ◌֯◌ׄVו◌ְ◌ֺװBב◌֪Nנן׆◌֦Mמם◌ֽ◌֣,<,<◌֑◌֤.>.>׃◌֚/?/?◌֥◌ׅShift
CtrlAlt\|◌ֿ◌ׇ۰ AltGrMenuCtrl
Hover mouse here to see how characters look in RTL context. Trivia: note mirroring of <{[()]}>.

Heuristics in the descriptions of layouts

Windows and OSX allow a layout to have a (on Windows — short!) description string attached. As the first line of defence against forgetting how to use the layout, the descriptions pack a lot of reminders about how the layouts work; for 4 personalities, the descriptions are:

   US·Int Grk=Ⓖ➡⇧␣=^ˡⒶˡ- Rus·ЯВЕ=Ⓡ➡Ⓐʳ␣=Ⓜ Hbr➡Ⓡ²=Ⓜ^ʳ- • k.ilyaz.org
   RUS·ЯВЕРТЫ Lat=Ⓖ➡⇧␣=^ˡⒶˡ- Grk=Ⓡ➡Ⓐʳ␣=Ⓜ Hbr➡Ⓡ²=Ⓜ^ʳ- • k.ilyaz.org
   Gr·ΘΩΕΡΤΨ↻[]\ Lat=Ⓖ➡⇧␣=^ˡⒶˡ Rus=Ⓡ➡Ⓐʳ␣=Ⓜ Hbr➡Ⓡ²=Ⓜ^ʳ •k.ilyaz.org
   Hebr·QWERTY Lat=Ⓖ➡⇧␣=^ˡⒶˡ- Grk=Ⓡ➡Ⓐʳ␣=Ⓜ Rus➡Ⓡ²=Ⓜ^ʳ- •k.ilyaz.org
This may look as a gibberish, but there are several elements each reminding a heuristic; for Greek, they are:(Sometimes, due to the limit on length, there is no space for trailing -.)

On Windows, there are 2 ways to see the descriptions:


Advanced modifiers

NOTE: most entries in the table below are there for debugging purposes only. It is not clear whether these entries (with white background) may be widely useful in practice.

“Right”-Modifiers
Mnu rCtrl Mnu+rCtrl
“Left”-Modifiers ↓ Heuristics → “Cursive-like” “Bold” “Cursive-like” + “Bold”
Base Cyrillic (“Ripe”, AltGr-SPACE) Hebrew (“Ripe²”, AltGr-SPACE²)
AltGr Main Math Variants:
Script Double-Struck Fractur
lCtrl+lAlt Greek (“Green”, Shift-SPACE) ±Italic ±Bold ±Bold-Italic
lAlt+AltGr “Text Math” Monospace
lAlt “Sans Serif Math” (+B/+I)
lCtrl “Boldified Math” BoldScript Bold-Italic-Sans
(“Tensor”)
Bold-Fractur

NOTES: 1. Green parts of the table are accessors to the companion layouts (duplicating the functionality of the indicated prefixes). They do not follow any heuristic (except for being accessible in the easiest way possible); AltGr-bindings of companion faces are not accessible (exception: see 3).
2. The other entries combine the row-heuristic with the column-heuristic (in pink). So if one finds these modifiers useful, to know all of them one needs to memorize only 6 entries — the pink part of the table.
3. When accessing companion layouts via modifier keys, if the base key in the companion gives the same character, the AltGr-binding of the companion face may be used instead. For example, " produces the same character in all layouts, so Mnu-rCtrl-" accesses AltGr-"=״ of the Hebrew layout.
3a. If AltGr-binding is also the same, an “extra” binding (comparing to accessing via “Green” and “Ripe” prefixes) may appear. For example, it may simplify access to satellite layouts of the companion personalities. Examples: Mnu-; (and lCtrl-lAlt-: and rCtrl-AltGr-: and lCtrl-Mnu-/) for “third tier” of Cyrillic and fractions (as AltGr-' of the Cyrillic layout); pressing these keys twice, or using the Shifted version (as in Mnu-:) is a “Bizzare Cyrillic” prefix.
4. Another example of extra bindings: multi-character strings may be inserted this way.