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
