Unicode input methods

nyraghu · Post by **nyraghu** » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:51 am

I want to type characters like 𝕌 and ↪ in my XML documents all of which are about mathematics. Because there are many such characters in the text, cutting and pasting or the character map method are not options for me. The only way seems to be to install a Java input method, and activate it in Oxygen XML editor. Are there any suggestions about where I can find a suitable input method jar, and how to tell Oxygen XML editor to use that?

Post by **adrian** » Mon Nov 18, 2019 6:34 pm

Hi,

We can't really recommend a custom input method just for a few characters. If you have only a handful of special characters, you could use the workaround proposed here via code templates:
Insert character shortcut

- to define code templates (Options > Preferences, Editor > Templates > Code Templates) for each special character. Since v17.0 they also have shortcuts and are also easily accessible by pressing Ctrl+Space (shows the list of available code templates).

Regards,
Adrian

nyraghu · Post by **nyraghu** » Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:07 pm

No I am not talking about a few characters or a handful of characters. As I'd mentioned, my documents use many of these characters. Here is an example: http://www.retrotexts.net/agda/ (The text there were typed in Emacs using the Agda input method for Emacs). Here is a partial list of some of the characters used in texts about the mathematics I am dealing with: https://people.inf.elte.hu/divip/AgdaTu ... mbols.html
I don't think I want to create templates for so many characters. Without the ability to easily type a large number of mathematical characters, the usability of the editor is considerably reduced for me.

Post by **adrian** » Tue Nov 19, 2019 2:14 pm

Hi,

I cannot find references on the web of any Java input method that does this.

On what platform/OS are you editing with Oxygen (Windows, macOS, Linux)?
One solution would be to find/create an OS input method (or custom keyboard layout) that supports mathematical symbols.
How to Create APL or Math Symbols Keyboard Layout

What type of XML documents are you editing (DocBook, DITA, TEI, other)?
Since we are discussing XML editing, have you considered using character entity references for those mathematical symbols?
https://wikiowl.com/en/wiki/List_of_XML ... references
https://www.w3.org/TR/xml-entity-names/
Entities are harder to read in Text mode, but you can always switch to Author mode to see the actual character they reference.
You can see the full list of named character references in the Entities view, or after typing '&' the list gets filtered as you type the name.
e.g. XHTML + MathML

Text mode:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html SYSTEM "http://www.w3.org/2002/04/xhtml-math-svg/xhtml-math-svg.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
    <head>
        <title>Sample</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <p>&Uopf;</p>
        <p>&rarrhk;</p>
    </body>
</html>

Author mode:

Sample
𝕌
↪

Regards,
Adrian

nyraghu · Post by **nyraghu** » Wed Nov 20, 2019 8:57 am

My OS is Linux, and I am using a local extension of DocBook 5.1 to accommodate some mathematical elements. The keyboard layout solution isn't workable for me, will think about using character entities. Thanks for your help.

Unicode input methods

Unicode input methods

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Re: Unicode input methods

Re: Unicode input methods

Re: Unicode input methods