ZipChord is a customizable hybrid keyboard input method for Windows that augments regular typing with chorded entry. For a discussion of why that might be useful, see ZipChord: Hybrid Chorded Keyboard.
Download and save the executable zipchord.exe of the latest release in a folder where you have read and write access, and run it. (Optionally, download a dictionary from the dictionaries folder to use as a starting point.)
(Note that ZipChord has not been ported to MacOS because of its dependency on AutoHotKey.)
Type normally using individual keystrokes in combination with predefined chords (several keys pressed at the same time which type out either whole words or prefixes and suffixes). ZipChord uses smart spaces and capitalization to add (or remove) spaces as needed to separate words, whether they were typed using individual strokes or chords, and to capitalize words as selected.
To define a new chord, select the word you want to define a chord for, and press and hold Ctrl-C until a dialog box appears. Next, type the individual keys (without pressing Shift or any function keys) and click OK.
Note that if the selected text is already defined in the chord dictionary, holding Ctrl-C will remind you of its chord.
To open the menu, click the ZipChord icon in the Windows tray or press and hold Ctrl-Shift-C until it appears.
The dictionary group shows the currently loaded chord dictionary and the number of chords it contains. You can select a different dictionary file using the Open button, edit its chords directly in default text editor (Edit), and Reload the dictionary when you make changes to the chord file directly in an editor.
Notes:
- See below for more details about the chord dictionary file and advanced features.
- When you add chords by selecting text and pressing and holding Ctrl-C, the new chord is added automatically, and you do not need to open the menu to edit or reload the dictionary.
This group allows you to adjust the sensitivity of the chord recognition and add a delay to the output of the chords.
Input delay: Depending on your regular typing, you might be holding two or more keys pressed at the same time for longer than the threshold that triggers the chord recognition. This can result in some intended key presses in your regular typing being deleted or misinterpreted as chords. In that case, you can increase the number of milliseconds under Input delay.
Output delay: In some situations, the window you are typing in might be outputting the chords with some distortions (where keystrokes are replaced incorrectly). In that case, you can try setting the Output delay to 50ms, which can solve the issue.
The Chord Behavior group allows you to change how spaces and punctuation are handled around chords.
Smart punctuation offers three options:
- Off: Spaces and capitalization are never adjusted around punctuation.
- For chords only: Spaces are added and words are capitalized only when punctuation precedes or follows chorded entry.
- For all input: Spaces are always added after punctuation and words are capitalized even for regular typing.
Delete mistyped chords: This option allows you to automatically remove unrecognized chords. If you are encountering situations where your intended key presses are being deleted, either do not use this option or increase the number of milliseconds under Input delay.
You can temporarily disable the chord recognition by unchecking the Recognition enabled checkbox.
ZipChord uses a separate text file with a dictionary of chords and the full words. ZipChord will remember the last used dictionary. (Note: When you run ZipChord for the first time or the dictionary isn't available, it will either open a chord*.txt file in its working folder or create a new chord.txt.)
Chord dictionaries are text files which define each chord on a separate line. Each entry is defined as follows:
- Lowercase keys that form the chord (the key order does not matter, space bar is represented by a single space)
- A single Tab character (note that spaces cannot be used instead of tabulator)
- The word that the chord produces. (Lowercase unless it is a proper name.)
Blank lines and lines without a tab are ignored and can be used as comments.
ZipChord will notify you if two words are attempting to use the same chord, such as in the following example where two words are using the chord W N.
wn win
ths this
nw new
Note that if you edit the dictionary file directly in a text editor, you need to click the Reload button from the ZipChord menu for the changes to be loaded.
Key that activate a chord can only consist of alphanumerical keys, including space bar (simply type a space in the chord, e.g. " w"), number keys, and keys for comma, semicolon etc. (,./;'[]-=\). Note that Shift, Control, Tab and other function keys cannot be used in a chord.
The words entered using a chord can include the following special features:
- Suffixes: To define suffixes that can be entered using a chord and joined to the last word, start the word definition with ~. Example:
;g ~ing(pressing ; and G together will add "ing" to the last word). Note that~~ingwould also remove the last character of the preceding word. - Prefixes: For prefixes, place the
~at the end of the prefix (such aspre~). This will ensure there will be no space after the chord. - Special keys: Other keys can be entered using expressions in curly braces: {Left}, {Right}, {Up}, {Down} for cursor, {Tab} and {Enter} can all be used.
If you have any feedback, feature requests, or encounter a bug, please file an issue. You can contact write to me on Twitter at @pavel_soukenik.