Files

Files in any of the Unicode or ASCII formats can be uploaded to the program. After the file is uploaded, the program will autodetect the type of Greek characters that are present. Files may be downloaded from the program by selecting the desired Unicode file format. If the Byte Order Mark (BOM) box is checked, the BOM will be included in the file, which is preferred for most operating systems. To download an ASCII file (for Beta Code or Symbol+), uncheck the BOM box and choose the UTF-8 format.

Format

Greek characters can be represented in either Unicode, Beta Code, or the Symbol+ format.

• Unicode – computer encoded characters used by most operating systems maintained by the ISO/EIC 10646 standard (see http://www.unicode.org).
• Beta Code – ASCII characters used to represent Greek characters with diacritical marks developed by David W. Packard and adopted by Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (see http://www.tlg.uci.edu/encoding).
• Symbol+ – ASCII characters used to represent Greek characters with the Microsoft Symbol font with extensions added by the CNTR. (see https://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/font.aspx?FMID=1650)

The initial character format can be manually set by choosing the appropriate radio button, or can be automatically detected by clicking on the Autodetect button (this is done automatically if the file is uploaded). The Autodetect function makes a determination based only on the number of Greek characters it detects, so other non-Greek characters may be present as well. After the initial character format is set, the program can convert between any of the character formats by simply selecting a different radio button. A warning is given if the characters are being converted to the Symbol+ format, because all diacritical marks would be lost.

Transform

The Unicode characters can be normalized to their canonical equivalents by clicking on the Normalize button. For example, a Greek vowel using a single oxia accent to represent the acute accent, would be replaced with the tonos accent. Be warned that this process is not automatically reversible. The normalization process will also convert any decomposed characters to precomposed characters whenever possible. The Unicode characters can be decomposed by clicking on the Decompose button. This will separate any of the precomposed characters to use the equivalent combining diacritical marks. These processes do not have any effect on the Beta Code or Symbol+ characters.

Typing

ASCII or GreekKeys characters may be typed by choosing the appropriate radio button. The tying mode may also be changed by hitting <alt>-a for ASCII and <alt>-g for GreekKeys. ASCII characters would be used to type the Beta Code or Symbol+ characters. The GreekKeys characters are generated by typing Beta Code characters on the keyboard. Precomposed characters are generated whenever possible by typing the appropriate Beta Code diacritical mark after the initial letter is typed. Alternatively, individual Greek Unicode characters can be selected by clicking on the Palette button. The characters shown in brown are unnormalized characters that would be changed if the Normalized button were clicked.