Re: unicode values for keyboard keys?

From: Erik Fortune (erik@westworld.engr.sgi.com)
Date: Thu Jul 31 1997 - 10:51:11 EDT


> X keysyms are OK if you don't mind the strings encoded in the host portable
> character set (iso8859-1).

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

> For better coverage of keycap engravings, pick up the "xkeycaps" program
> by Jamie Zawinski from ftp.x.org. Xkeycaps has keycap engravings (and
> physical keyboard geometries as well) for approximately 130 keyboards used
> with machines that run X11. Even those keycap engravings are not complete,
> but it is a good starting point with much broader coverage than the X
> keysyms.

It is not possible for Xkeycaps to have "much broader coverage than the
X keysyms" because it is not possible for Xkeycaps to represent a symbol
for which no X keysym exists.

Xkeycaps might know how to display several different renditions for a single
logical symbol, but the underlying X keysyms _must_ be defined either in
keysymdef.h or in the XKeysymDB.

Note that there are a handful of aliases in keysymdef.h and some ridiculous
duplication in XKeysymDB (e.g. numerous vendors registered private keysyms
for dead keys instead of proposing that they be added to the public set).

-- Erik
+---------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Erik Fortune | Bergman neglects to go to a full close-up when |
| SGI Core I18n Arch. | it is clearly called for. As a result, Demi's |
| ++1 415 933 1922 | face says "my, I'm so sad" while her nipples |
| erik@sgi.com | are screaming, "Turn up the heat!" |
+---------------------+---------------- [ Mr Cranky on "Striptease" ] -+
       All opinions are my own, so leave my employer out of this



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