Computers & Writing Systems
| SIL HOME | SIL SOFTWARE | SUPPORT | DONATE | PRIVACY POLICY |
You are here: Input > Tutorials
Short URL: https://scripts.sil.org/KeymanVsMSKLC
Comparing Keyman and Microsoft Windows Keyboard Layout Creator
Note:
This page may be out of date. For the latest information about Keyman, please go to the 
Keyman site.
This table offers a comparison of the capabilities between Keyman and Microsoft Windows Keyboard Layout Creator.
| Features | MSKLC | Keyman |
|---|---|---|
Can map a single key (with various shift states) to any single Unicode value For example 'd' -> U+0E01 |
yes | yes |
Can map a single key to multiple Unicode values For example '&' -> ั่ U+0E31 U+0E48 |
yes | yes |
Any key can be designated a dead key and any single key following the dead key can be mapped to a single Unicode code point For example '-r' -> U+024D |
yes | yes |
Can map two or more keystrokes to a single Unicode code point (without the dead key approach) For example 'r' -> 'r' and 'r-' -> U+024D |
no | yes |
| Can map keystrokes to Unicode code points above Plane 0 (the application must also be able to handle Plane 0 and higher) | yes | yes |
Context sensitive input For example '0' -> U+02E9 if after another pitch character |
no | yes |
Can replace previously output characters For example 'r' -> 'r' and 'r-' -> U+024D |
no | yes |
Can do reordering, for example so that a prevowel is typed before a |
no | yes |
| Can enforce normalization in keyboard | no | yes |
| Works with: SIL FieldWorks (Data Notebook, FLEx), MS Office, OpenOffice, ZEdit, Toolbox 1.5, etc. |
yes | yes |
| Works with: Paratext and older Toolbox |
no | yes |
| Freely downloadable | yes | yes |
| Use any existing Windows system keyboard as a starting point | yes | yes |
| Functions on Win9x | no | yes |
Related Resources
Some tools and resources for character input
Links to useful tools for character input.
Page History
2008-03-26 MH: added examples
2007-04-25 LP: added Related Resources
2007-04-19 LP: Page created
© 2003-2024 SIL International, all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted elsewhere on this page.
Provided by SIL's Writing Systems Technology team (formerly known as NRSI). Read our Privacy Policy. Contact us here.