Martin Kochanski <unicode at cardbox dot net> wrote:
> Microsoft's Alt+X method: unfortunately, there is no such thing. I
> have seen at least two different Alt+X methods in Microsoft software:
I should have said "one of Microsoft's Alt+X methods."
> Methods specified by ISO 14755: unfortunately, there are no such
> things. As you and others have said, the ISO 14755 specification
> merely specifies properties that conforming methods should have, it
> does not specify the methods themselves [you can imagine a predecessor
> standard specifying that characters should be typed by hitting keys
> but not specifying the keyboard layout itself].
I should have said "methods conforming to ISO 14755." My language may
not have been precise, but my point should have been clear: until the
real world settles on a standard for entry of arbitrary Unicode
characters, as universal as Ctrl+C for copy and Ctrl+V for paste, there
is no need for an application to support only one method.
> Is there any sign of an emerging consensus as to what the beginning
> and ending sequences might be? Addison Phillips mentioned \uXXXXX, but
> that was in a programming context and he says himself it wouldn't be
> suitable for running text. It would be nice if an innocent user faced
> with a new software package did not have to look up manuals or
> experiment to see what the beginning sequence was.
I wouldn't mind seeing the ISO 14755 suggestions, "press and hold
Ctrl+Shift" and "release Ctrl+Shift," take hold. But Ctrl+Shift
sequences could already be assigned by users, as you note. I use
Ctrl+Shift+C myself to launch Character Map..
-Doug Ewell
Fullerton, California
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Mon Jul 22 2002 - 00:53:46 EDT