Avoid typing backticks twice (on Linux and Windows)

Backtick Behaviour.md

Avoid typing backticks twice (on Linux and Windows) using the instructions below :)

Linux.md

The backtick is called grave If the backtick is not typed on your first keyboard button press, but on the second it is a dead grave.

So, find the backtick button keycode for your layout:

xmodmap -pke | grep "grave"

which returns (for my german keyboard layout):

keycode  21 = dead_acute dead_grave dead_acute dead_grave
keycode  49 = dead_circumflex degree asciicircum degree U2032 U2033 notsign notsign grave asciitilde
keycode  51 = numbersign apostrophe numbersign apostrophe rightsinglequotemark dead_breve rightsinglequotemark grave backslash bar

The first entry (keycode 21) is the correct one (the one I physically use), with the acute (forwardtick?) and grave (backtick) symbols. Both have a dead_ prefix, meaning they wait for another keypress.

So all you have to do, is to change the symbols for this keycode. I will keep the dead behaviour for acute (to write Café), but not for grave, so:

xmodmap -e 'keycode 21 = dead_acute grave'

Note that your keycode may be different (e.g., 49 on uk/us keyboards). If you want to have consistent behaviour, remove the dead prefix from acute aswell.

Windows.md

This AHK script inserts backticks directly and provides the dead key behaviour via CTRL+Backtick:

#SingleInstance force
#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.


; Diable Backtick's dead key behaviour
;escape backtick with dollar sign ($`), send ecape backtick with backtick (``=`), send space to insert
$`::send ``{space} 

; Provide dead key behaviour via CTRL+backtick
; if ctrl+backtick (^`), use normal dead key behaviour
^`::send ``

Thank you so much ! I didn't know about AutoHotkey, I just discovered a world of possibilities.

Happy to hear 😄