On 1 Nov 2005, at 5:33, Constantine 'Gus' Fantanas wrote:

> > If you use KDE you can configure the keyboard applet to change
> > keyboard layouts on the fly.

<chaing direction of thread a bit>

I use Gnome (Ubuntu-64 Breezy), but this interests me. Is it 
possible to make a custom keyboard where each of the 47 keys 
(plus the shift+key, the alt+key and the ctrl+key) are mapped to 
Unicode slots in the upper area? OK, maybe I couldn't use all 47 x 
4 possibilities because some of the alt+ and ctrl+ keys would have 
to remain as they are for system use, but I could still access a lot 
of Unicode slots that are not on the normal keyboard.

The reason I am interested in this is because I need to type in the 
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Now, some of the free IPA 
fonts out there have the IPA characters deliberately mapped 
incorrectly. The purpose is so the user can type the characters 
using caps and other keys. But doing so means that the font lacks 
regular caps, which means you essentially have to use two fonts 
and switch back and forth, and both fonts have to look the same.

I have been using Gentium which is coded correctly. But the only 
way to enter characters is via Insert Special Character in 
OpenOffice.org Writer, or via Character Map. If I could create a 
custom keyboard I could have a couple hundred characters 
assigned to the different keys. Then all I'd need to do is make 
myself a printout of the key assignments I created and lay it down 
in front of me as I work.

And, assuming I could create a custom keyboard, would it be 
possible to copy it and distribute it as a file to others like me? Is a 
keyboard layout maintained in a file, or is it buried somewhere in 
the kernel?
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