How do I type a decimal point on my PC keyboard?

[Rrose_Selavy]

This is weird after all these years of using PCs I can’t find it anywhere using shift, entrol , num pad etc
Google isn’t helping either
I’ve got a standard full sized PC keyboard
How do i type a floating decimal point
ie one that is centred upway between top & bottom as you might write it
**not **positioned like a full stop/period) ?

[Crafter_Man]

You mean something like this?

123·456

If so, just bring up the Character Map utility. It’s in there. Select, copy, paste…

[Fear_Itself]

@Rrose_Selavy

ie one that is centred upway between top & bottom as you might write it
**not **positioned like a full stop/period) ?

I don’t understand. Where are you from? In the US, the decimal point is at the bottom, the same as a period. We use the decimal that is provided in the numerical keypad to the right of the alpha keyboard, but it is in all ways the same as a period.

[shijinn]

you can also use ALT+0183

[fubbleskag]

Interpunct

[Rrose_Selavy]

@Fear_Itself

I don’t understand. Where are you from? In the US, the decimal point is at the bottom, the same as a period. We use the decimal that is provided in the numerical keypad to the right of the alpha keyboard, but it is in all ways the same as a period.

Not it’s not the same , that’s why I asked the question. I’m NOT from the US , I’m in the UK. Even though for most purposes the full spot would have sufficed and we use it in the same way.
In fact 'm not typing decimals as such but I want a word separator that looks exactly like a floating decimal as I described . I’ll try the suggestions offered.

[Rrose_Selavy]

@fubbleskag

Interpunct - Wikipedia

Thanks. so it’s called an "interpoint/interpuct " and given my location and age it’s not surprising I was still looking for it.

In British publications up to the mid-1970s, especially scientific and mathematical texts, the decimal point was commonly typeset as a middle dot. When the British currency was decimalised in 1971, the official advice issued was to write decimal amounts with a raised point (thus: £21·48) and to use a decimal point “on the line” only when typesetting constraints made it unavoidable. The widespread introduction of electronic typewriters and calculators soon afterwards was probably a major factor contributing to the decline of the raised decimal point, although it can still sometimes be encountered in academic circles (e.g., Cambridge University History Faculty Style Guide 2010[7]) and its use is still enforced by some UK-based academic journals such as The Lancet.[8]

[Markxxx]

@shijinn

you can also use ALT+0183

It works for me 3·4159265

···:D···

[Keeve]

@Rrose_Selavy

Even though for most purposes the full spot would have sufficed …

Are you saying that for most purposes in the UK, it is sufficient to put a decimal point at the bottom, but it is preferred to put it in the middle? I’m not all that worldly, but I don’t recall EVER seeing it like that.

[Rrose_Selavy]

Thanks but I can’t use the alt + 0183 shortcut
I get a windows exclamation sound etc
Maybe it’s just for US keyboard settings?

[naita]

@Markxxx

It works for me 3·4159265

···:D···

That’s a big pi.

[shijinn]

i always put the decimal point in the middle when writing.

@Rrose_Selavy

Thanks but I can’t use the alt + 0183 shortcut
I get a windows exclamation sound etc
Maybe it’s just for US keyboard settings?

type it in this order -

[ol]
[li]hold ALT[/li][li]press 0[/li][li]press 1[/li][li]press 8[/li][li]press 3[/li][li]let go of ALT[/li][/ol]

[kferr]

@Rrose_Selavy

Thanks but I can’t use the alt + 0183 shortcut
I get a windows exclamation sound etc
Maybe it’s just for US keyboard settings?

I’m · on · a · UK · keyboard · and · alt 0183 · works · for · me Remember to use the keypad for the numbers, not the top row.

[Sunspace]

I’m on a Mac. What do I do?

Use Character Viewer! (I have to put middle dots between metric units: kW·h.) Looking at Keyboard Viewer, it also seems to be Option-Shift-9. ··· Yep!

[beowulff]

For·those·using·OS X, it’s·opt-shift-9
ETA · I see Sunspace figured it out while I was typing.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Rrose_Selavy

Thanks but I can’t use the alt + 0183 shortcut
I get a windows exclamation sound etc
Maybe it’s just for US keyboard settings?

Note that you have to have NUMLOCK turned on for this to work.

[Rrose_Selavy]

Ok ·I ·got·it·now
Thanks

[Johanna]

When I was taught math in the USA, we learned that the raised dot · stood for multiplication. It meant the same as the more familiar multiplication sign ×. Why use the raised dot when multiplication already had a sign? I’m guessing that was to avoid confusion of × with the letter x in algebra.

Obviously, in such a universe the same raised dot as a decimal point could not work. It would make figures turn out wayyy the heck different, speaking of confusion.

[Asympotically_fat]

In the UK ‘.’ e.g. ‘5.101’ is the standard way of writing decimal points.

Using ‘·’ e.g. ‘5·101’ can be confusing as it’s often used to indicate multiplcation.

[Malacandra]

@Markxxx

It works for me 3·4159265

···:D···

You accidentally a whole digit. When come back… you know.