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Hints, Tips and Solutions (Do NOT post requests for help here) If you have any useful general hints and tips for vintage technology repair and restoration, please share them here. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE!

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Old 5th Jun 2017, 12:59 pm   #1
Oldcodger
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Default CAPS - how to change to lower case

Something simple, I hope admin will not object to .
Not technical, and possibly teaching a few grans how to suck eggs .
If other posters are anything like me and TRY to keep the cases of letters correct, then it's annoying to find that you've not noticed that you've left cap lock on.
To save deleting ( and it usually is ) large bits of text, I use Word .
In Word , it's possible to set a shortcut ( description below is for 2003) to sit on the menu.
Options / Tools/Customise and choose commands.
Select Format on the left and scroll down on the right till "change case " appears .
Left click and drag to the menu ( or in my case the line above).
To use - cut the offending text & paste into Word.
Highlight and use change case. Cut & paste back into post.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 1:06 pm   #2
Station X
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

Why not just look at the screen while you're typing? If you can't touch type, a quick glance at the screen now and again will do. You need to do it anyway to check for typos etc.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 1:11 pm   #3
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

Never learnt how to touch type. I use FF and let Dictionary cure my typos. It's always a case of "when you least expect it".
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 1:21 pm   #4
David G4EBT
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

A useful tip! I knew it was possible the change the case, but haven't looked into how to do it.

It's very easy when pressing the 'a' key while typing, to inadvertently catch the caps lock key, then when you look at the screen you find that you've typed a line in upper case. On my keyboard there is at least an LED that lights up 'A' in green to show that the caps lock is on, but not always noticed till it's too late. A bit of a nuisance at times for windbags like me, being better at verbosity than brevity. A sort of self-inflicted punishment I guess.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 1:53 pm   #5
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

So ,I'm not the only non touch typist. I've got a light that lights up, but I never notice it. I'm always looking for those letters that the "letter Gnome " keeps moving around.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 1:57 pm   #6
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

There are a few addons for Firefox that do case conversion. You just select the text, right click on it, and choose the conversion you want.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 2:30 pm   #7
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

This is a useful site for case changing, copy/paste in - change - copy/paste back in seconds: http://decapitalize.eu/
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 2:55 pm   #8
John M0GLN
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

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Originally Posted by Oldcodger View Post
then it's annoying to find that you've not noticed that you've left cap lock on.
I can't remember when I last used the 'caps lock', I just use the 'shift' when I want upper case.

John
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 2:59 pm   #9
paulsherwin
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

I usually remove the caps lock key when using a full sized keyboard. It makes it much more difficult to press it by mistake.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 3:05 pm   #10
Hartley118
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

I suspect that the caps lock key is an anachronism left over from manual typewriter days, when presumably it aided the touch typist with capitalized headings.

Today it just lurks there as a trap, inviting the unwary amateur typist to make a timewasting blunder. Can it be disabled in software?

Martin
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 3:24 pm   #11
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

There is no trivially easy way to disable caps lock. For Windows there are free utilities to remap keys, or you can use a registry edit. For Linux systems you need to change the keyboard mappings. Google for more info.

As I said, I just take the keycap off.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 3:31 pm   #12
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

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Originally Posted by Hartley118 View Post
I suspect that the caps lock key is an anachronism left over from manual typewriter days, when presumably it aided the touch typist with capitalized headings.

Martin
I think you're correct. Holding down the shift key on a manual typewriter takes a lot of force and it's supposed to be pressed with your little finger.

On the other the shift lock key can be useful on a PC keyboard when typing capitalised headings. You don't have to keep changing shift key depending on which side of the keyboard the upper case letter you want to type is located on.

Other things which seem to have died a death are indented paragraphs and using a single space after a comma and two spaces after a full stop. Not forgetting the end of line bell of course!
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 4:35 pm   #13
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

Like Paul, I have for many years removed the CAPS LOCK key cap from the discrete keyboards I have used, both at home and at work. They usually just click into place. If necessary, the key can still be used by pushing a pencil in the recess to operate the switch.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 4:39 pm   #14
Dave Moll
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

Personally, I am very glad that the "end of line bell" has been superseded by word wrap.

I must admit to avoiding the use of indented paragraphs, as I dislike the solid blocks of text that result from not having a blank line between paragraphs - and, of course, the indent is superfluous when a paragraph is denoted by a blank line.

The afermentioned spacing after commas and full stops (along with the absence of a space before punctuation marks!) is alive and well in this household. Regrettably, however, my double spaces are always removed by the time my posts appear on this forum, even though I always type them as a matter of course.

Returning to the thread's subject of accidental capitalisation, I find that either I accidentally catch the CAPS LOCK key when pressing SHIFT or else I miss when attempting to press TAB. I do, however, check the screen fairly frequently, even when typing from script (where I'm primarily looking at the script rather than the screen), so I find it far quicker to delete a few capitalised letters and retype them than to go into some other software to decapitalise them.

There are (albeit rare) occasions when I do find CAPS LOCK useful, so I won't be decapitating the key any time soon.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 4:46 pm   #15
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

You can enable a tone warning, thus:
Enable Caps Lock notification or warning. ... In Windows 10/8/7, you can set it so that a warning tone is heard when you press the Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock keys. To enable this feature, open Control Panel > Ease of Access Center > Make the keyboard easier to use.

I've just set it on mine! It doesn't look like my caps lock keytop will come off easily so this is the next best thing.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 4:48 pm   #16
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

Quote:
Originally Posted by Station X View Post
On the other the shift lock key can be useful on a PC keyboard when typing capitalised headings.
Surely the correct way is to type the heading normally and let the stylesheet or template make it look like all caps?

If you type it in all caps there's no easy way to de-cap it properly and automatically if you want normal capitalisation in the table of contents etc.

Now what would be useful is to reassign ` to change between black and red ribbon
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 4:58 pm   #17
Mike Phelan
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

As others have said, I have no use for Caps Lock and never use it.
When using WhatsApp on my phone it automatically inserts a space after a comma, full stop, question or exclamation mark and capitalises the next letter when you start a sencence.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 5:25 pm   #18
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

If you type it in all caps there's no easy way to de-cap it properly and automatically ..

WORD does have a "Sentence Case" option in the "Change Case" menu.
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 7:11 pm   #19
John M0GLN
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

Quote:
Originally Posted by paulsherwin View Post
I usually remove the caps lock key when using a full sized keyboard. It makes it much more difficult to press it by mistake.
Thanks for that tip, the 'sleep' key is now in the bin.

John
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Old 5th Jun 2017, 8:27 pm   #20
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Default Re: CAPS - how to change to lower case

In Word etc. select the text in question, then Shift+F3 offers case options.
I actually quite like caps lock for some purposes; unlike shift lock, it doesn't select shifted numeral characters, so things like reference numbers can be typed easily.
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