On computers, I'm a grizzled veteran. On Linux, I'm a useless new guy. If this is a dumb question, I apologize... but I'm still hoping for an answer.
MacOS has solved the problem of typing multiple language with a single keyboard. I write screenplays, and my characters sometimes drop Swedish or German. On a Mac, I just long-press a key... say, "A". The Mac reacts to this long-press by popping up a small window, showing A-acute, A-grave, A-ring, A-umlaut, and so forth. Each special character has a number. To get the A-ring, I'd press its number. The scheme also works on dash vs EN-dash, vs EM-dash. Easy peasy and scandalously simple to understand.
That's an awful thing if you're typing Swedish all day. I don't do that. What Mac gives me is a huge chunk of special characters without too much obvious architecture to get in my way.
Has anybody ever heard of a keyboard app or virtual keyboard that does all that?
Keyboard - looking for easy way to handle special characters
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Keyboard - looking for easy way to handle special characters
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- smurphos
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Re: Keyboard - looking for easy way to handle special characters
Mint version and desktop environment?
Linux will generally have an option to assign a 'compose' key which allows for special characters with 3 key presses. Some desktop environments may have a panel applet or similar that gives a menu of clickable special characters.
The default compose key is shift and right-alt together.
Examples of compose key usage.....
Compose key release e release ` = è
Compose key release e release " = ë
Compose key release n release ~ = ñ
Compose key release o release c = ©
Compose key release ? release ? = ¿
Compose key release ! release ? = ‽
Compose key release ^ release u = û
But to guide you where to find the setting to change the default compose key (e.g just to right-alt) and or an applet we need to know which desktop environment.
Edit to add - another way which is I think common to all Mint desktops is the Character Map application accessible from the menu - it's a bit cumbersome but allows you to select any special characters from installed fonts, copy and then paste them.
Linux will generally have an option to assign a 'compose' key which allows for special characters with 3 key presses. Some desktop environments may have a panel applet or similar that gives a menu of clickable special characters.
The default compose key is shift and right-alt together.
Examples of compose key usage.....
Compose key release e release ` = è
Compose key release e release " = ë
Compose key release n release ~ = ñ
Compose key release o release c = ©
Compose key release ? release ? = ¿
Compose key release ! release ? = ‽
Compose key release ^ release u = û
But to guide you where to find the setting to change the default compose key (e.g just to right-alt) and or an applet we need to know which desktop environment.
Edit to add - another way which is I think common to all Mint desktops is the Character Map application accessible from the menu - it's a bit cumbersome but allows you to select any special characters from installed fonts, copy and then paste them.
For custom Nemo actions, useful scripts for the Cinnamon desktop, and Cinnamox themes visit my Github pages.
- BenTrabetere
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Re: Keyboard - looking for easy way to handle special characters
I do not know of a keyboard app that does that, but AutoKey might a temporary solution.
AutoKey is a desktop automation utility that lets you assign abbreviations and hotkeys to scripts and phrases. It is similar to the Windows AutoHotKey keyboard macro utility. One of the ways I use it is to generate special characters, such as ñ, é, ¶, and §. The shortcuts I use for these characters are n==, e=', @#, and $%.
https://github.com/autokey/autokey
I use a [letter] + [=] + [accent] pattern for accented characters because that combination of key presses is unlikely to come up in normal use. I use a substitute key for the accent itself - ' for acute, ` for grave, = for tilde, " for umlaut, and I would use ; for the ring accent if I needed it, so that A=; would generate an Å.
It is not what you are looking for, but it will give you something to use while you search for something better.
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Re: Keyboard - looking for easy way to handle special characters
I also use the Compose key method. I know it works on Cinnamon and XFCE, but I have never tried it on the other desktop environments.
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- smurphos
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Re: Keyboard - looking for easy way to handle special characters
For a list of compose key combos you can examine the contents of
The en_US.UTF-8 version appears to be shared amongst nearly all UTF-8 languages/locales.
Some interesting ones...
/usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose
The en_US.UTF-8 version appears to be shared amongst nearly all UTF-8 languages/locales.
cat /usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose
Some interesting ones...
Code: Select all
<Multi_key> <C> <C> <C> <P> : "☭" U262D # HAMMER AND SICKLE
<Multi_key> <less> <3> : "♥" U2665 # BLACK HEART SUIT
<Multi_key> <colon> <parenright> : "☺" U263A # WHITE SMILING FACE
<Multi_key> <colon> <parenleft> : "☹" U2639 # WHITE FROWNING FACE
<Multi_key> <F> <U> : "🖕" U1F595 # REVERSED HAND WITH MIDDLE FINGER EXTENDED
<Multi_key> <L> <L> <A> <P> : "🖖" U1F596 # RAISED HAND WITH PART BETWEEN MIDDLE AND RING FINGERS
For custom Nemo actions, useful scripts for the Cinnamon desktop, and Cinnamox themes visit my Github pages.