Re: Shortcuts question

From: Marcel Schneider via Unicode <unicode_at_unicode.org>
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2018 05:27:08 +0200 (CEST)

On 07/09/18 02:32 Shriramana Sharma via Unicode wrote:
>
> Hello. This may be slightly OT for this list but I'm asking it here as it concerns computer usage with multiple scripts and i18n:

It actually belongs on CLDR-users list. But coming from you, it shall remain here while I’m posting a quick answer below.

> 1) Are shortcuts like Ctrl+C changed as per locale? I mean Ctrl+T for "tout" io Ctrl+A for "all"?

No, Ctrl+A remains Ctrl+A on a French keyboard.

> 2) How about when the shortcuts are the Alt+ combinations referring to underlined letters in actual user visible strings?

I don’t know, but the accelerator shortcuts usually process text input, so it would be up to the vendor to keep them in sync.

> 3) In a QWERTZ layout for Undo should one still press the (dislocated wrt the other XCV shortcuts) Z key or the Y key
> which is in the physical position of the QWERTY Z key (and close to the other XCV shortcuts)?

On Windows, that this question refers to, virtual keys move around with graphics on Latin keyboards. While Ctrl+Z on QWERTZ is
not handy, I can tell that it is Ctrl+Z on AZERTY with the key having the Z on it and typing "z". The latter is most relevant on Linux
where graphics are used even to process the Ctrl+ shortcuts.

> 4) How are shortcuts handled in the case of non Latin keyboards like Cyrillic or Japanese?

On Windows as they depend on Virtual Keys, they may be laid out on an underlying QWERTY basis. The same may apply on macOS,
where distinct levels are present in the XML keylayout (and likewise in system-shipped layouts) to map the letters associated with
shortcuts, regardless of the script. On Linux, shortcuts are reported not to work on some non-Latin keyboard layouts (because key names
are based on ISO key positions, and XKB doesn’t appear to use a "Group0" level to map the shortcut letters; needs to be investigated).

> 4a) I mean how are they displayed on screen? 

My short answer is: I’ve got no experience; maybe using Latin letters and locale labels.

> 4b) Like #1 above, are they changed per language?

Non-Latin scripts typically use QWERTY for ASCII input, so shortcuts may not be changed per language.

> 4c) Like #2 above, how about for user visible shortcuts?

Again I’m leaving this over to non-Latin script experts.

> (In India since English is an associate official language, most computer users are at least conversant with basic English
> so we use the English/QWERTY shortcuts even if the keyboard physically shows an Indic script.)

The same applies to virtually any non-Latin locale. Michael Kaplan reported that only on Latin keyboards VKs move around.

> Thanks!

You are welcome.

Marcel
Received on Thu Sep 06 2018 - 22:27:41 CDT

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