Dyalog APL - Disabling APL symbol input

Question

I recently obtained a personal licence for Dyalog APL and started using it (I'm switching over from APLX). I really like it, but whenever I'm not using the IDE, the APL symbol keybindings persist. For example, if I try to undo something in another application by hitting CTRL-Z, I'll instead get ⊂ and the undo will not go through. Similarly, attempting to use CTRL-S to save a document will result in me typing ⌈ instead of saving. The only way I've been able to resolve this is by restarting my computer.

How can I disable APL symbol input after the IDE is either not in focus or has been closed? If there's no way to do that, is it possible to map the symbol shortcut to ALT instead of CTRL? ALT is used far less often than CTRL for shortcuts, so I could live with that.

I'm using Windows 8.1 64 bit and the 64 bit version of Dyalog APL with a US keyboard.

Answer 1

Dyalog uses a standard Windows mechanism called "IME" (Input Method Editor) to enable input of APL-Characters. The advantage is that this enables you to use APL-Symbols anywhere - but obviously there is a 2nd side to that. The "challenge" in your setup is only to change the IME back from APL to regular text-mode and this does not need a reboot. Pls check this article for more info on IME: https://www.google.de/amp/www.thewindowsclub.com/input-method-editors-windows/amp (Sorry, I'm using W10, so I rather refer you to that article than giving wrong info... BTW, the advantage of W10 is that the IME will be default work in application-mode, so you can go to WinWord there and use default hotkeys w/o switching IME.)

Edit: For those using W10 (and probably W11) that article is out of date. The Languages settings are no longer in the Control Panel and are now in Settings. Go to Time and Language>Keyboard>"Input language hot keys" and change the Key sequence for "Between input languages". The "Switch Keyboard Layout" shortcut will be the one that toggles between keyboard layouts (I have Shift+LeftAlt toggling between Dyalog and US). You can also see which keyboard you are using on the taskbar by adjusting "Language bar options" on the same Settings page.

Answer 2

If you want to use AltGr (right side Alt) to enter APL symbols while keeping a normal US layout or an almost normal UK layout, you can use my keyboard layout instead of the IDE. This avoids almost all clashes with other applications, so you can keep the keyboard active at all times and forget about mode switching.