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Unable to use Alt+Codes and the numeric pad to input accented characters

Michel Mullejans

I am a French translator working in the United States; I have recently been experiencing (intermittently though) the same problem Hector Martinez described in another question (in the Installation forum). This only appeared about a month into my use of Studio 2015 (I started using Studio in May or June of 2016), and now it only appears after about 30 + minutes of use of Studio. Closing the file and reopening it again allows for approximately half hour of keying in characters with Alt + Code normally, using the numeric pad. Then, abruptly, the message "Cannot access a disposed object..." reappears.

I have been using the "Alt+code" method using the Numeric Pad (Num Lock engaged) to write in the French language for over thirty years now. This technique is compatible with every other environment, including Trados 7.5, Word 2007, Word 2013, memoQ, Notepad, browsers... everything I have tried.

Walter Blaser from LTconsult answered Hector Martinez, saying that this is standard in MS Office, and that Word does not accept the use of Alt+codes to input foreign characters either. I have never experienced this; on any Windows system (I run Windows 10 on mine), I am able to use Alt/codes and the numeric pad in Excel, Word and PowerPoint, as well as everywhere else, as I have been doing for years.

Is it truly impossible to input foreign characters this way in Studio 2015? This would constitute what they call here a "Show Stopper."

This is a serious problem. I work in the US and need to use Studio on several different platforms--all using US, QWERTY keyboards of course. Do you have any suggestions? Are all future versions of Studio going to have this feature?

Thank you in advance for your constructive answers, let me know if anyone else has experienced this, and how to circumvent the problem to use Studio normally.
Michel Mullejans, Stayton, Oregon, USA
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  • 0

    Hi Michel,

    I've been using Alt+NumPad for special characters each and every day without any problems for ages and in all Studio versions (now in Studio 2015). Are you sure that you haven't accidentially disabled Numlock?

    Regards,
    Stefan
  • 0 in reply to Stefan Keller
    Hi Stefan, thank you for your prompt reply to my post. I agree with you that Alt+NumPad works in all environments, has worked forever and always--and I was expecting it to work in Studio 2015 as well. But Studio behaves exactly as I have described: it will "let me" use the NumPad to write my accented French characters normally for some time, about half an hour. Eventually, the message "Cannot access a disposed object..." will reappear, and from that moment on, I am unable to enter any accented characters, although nothing has changed, and Num Lock is still activated (it is activated by default). As I wrote above, closing the document and reopening it allows another "grace period" of approximately half an hour to 45 minutes, and so on... This did not use to be the case; at the beginning of my use of Studio 2015, everything was normal--I was able to write accented characters without problems or limitations. This started to occur just a few weeks ago. It sounds as if you have never heard of this problem; perhaps you can suggest another forum or party to contact. Thanks again!
  • 0 in reply to Michel Mullejans

    Unknown said:
    "Cannot access a disposed object..."

    Hi Michel,

    Is there a more detailed error message with this we could see?  I haven't seen this one either so it would be good to try and investigate it a little if we can.

    Regards

    Paul

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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  • 0 in reply to Paul
    Hi Paul, thanks for responding to my post. The complete message is: Cannot access a disposed object. Object name: 'UltraToolbarsDockArea' - this problem is still going on, this time the message pops up a little sooner, in the first few segments of the file... Any help you will offer will be most welcome, as I am unable to use Studio 2015 at the present time.
  • 0 in reply to Michel Mullejans

    Hi Michel,

    Apologies for the late response.  Maybe try resetting the view layout will help.  Bit of a guess based on the error message, but go to View -> Reset Window Layout and see whether this helps.

    Regards

    Paul

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

    ________________________
    Design your own training!
    You've done the courses and still need to go a little further, or still not clear? 
    Tell us what you need in our Community Solutions Hub

  • 0 in reply to Paul
    Hi Paul, I tried the View - Reset Window Layout immediately after reading your reply. It doesn't help, unfortunately. Anything else?
  • 0 in reply to Michel Mullejans
    Can you try a reset? I can't recall the path (on my phone) but if you search for "Studio reset" you'll find it.

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

    ________________________
    Design your own training!
    You've done the courses and still need to go a little further, or still not clear? 
    Tell us what you need in our Community Solutions Hub

  • 0 in reply to Paul
    Thank you Paul. I found an answer you gave to Aiga, a German translator, last May. You also advised her to do a "Studio Reset" to solve a different problem. I am not sure how to do what you suggest.
    You wrote to Aiga:

    "Can you try a Studio reset, it's not the same as a reinstall as that can leave some files behind. Rename this folder (just add _old to the end or something, it's not important what you rename it to) and restart Studio:
    c:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\SDL\SDL Trados Studio\12.0.0.0 "
    I am afraid I need more details... Could you be more specific, perhaps walk me through a "Studio reset?" Which part of the folder exactly do you advise to rename? Do you mean to add _old, as in "12.0.0.0_old?" Can you provide a step-by-step, from the very start to finish? Thank you.
  • 0 in reply to Michel Mullejans
    Exactly.... just rename it as you did so it is no longer recognized. Then restart Studio.

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

    ________________________
    Design your own training!
    You've done the courses and still need to go a little further, or still not clear? 
    Tell us what you need in our Community Solutions Hub

  • 0 in reply to Paul
    Thanks for the tip, Paul. I will try this as soon as I am done with my current project... Studio lets me type foreign characters for a finite amount of time, half an hour, 45 minutes, then the Error pops up again and I cannot continue my work. I then close the program and restart my machine; upon restart I can look forward to another finite period of "normal" use... I will let you know the results of the Studio Reset after Thanksgiving, when my project is due... Thanks again, have a good weekend!
  • 0 in reply to Paul
    Paul, the Resetting of the Windows Layout answer did not help, but another answer you provided, containing a suggestion to rename a critical file (by adding a .002 suffix, for example) seems to have worked, I say this cautiously of course (!) for three projects now... Thanks!
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