On 01/20/2011 03:51 PM, Dr. Yves Forkl wrote: > David wrote: > >> I can't say I'm a big fan of hidden commands. Where in the GUI would I >> discover this functionality? As a user, I expect that to be a function >> available either through the menubar or a toolbar button on the >> Characters palette. > > Fully agree with that. As a basic rule for GUIs, each function should be > available at least in a menu, without exception. Thus, insertCharByName > should definitely make its way into one of XXE's menus, after having existed > hidden for a long time in the rich list of XXE's commands (available under > "Tools | Execute command"). Making it available on the Characters palette > would be a desirable plus, of course. > >> Hussein Shafie wrote: >>> Please type "Esc n" and you'll be able to pick a character by its >>> commonly used entity name (e.g. mdash). > > David wrote: > >> That said, this >> http://www.unicode.org/charts/charindex.html >> is the lookup table I want to use. > > Being able to insert a character via its DocBook entity name often helps, but > it's just not the same as finding a Unicode character through its true, > unique, standardized, talking, can't-do-without Unicode character name (and > maybe character property etc.) > > I second the RFE to augment XXE with a function that accesses the Unicode > names database (in search or in browse mode) in order to offer character > entry via Unicode character names. > > A possible route towards implementation could perhaps consider Java(TM) > libraries like those from the ICU project [1], and in particular methods like > getCharFromExtendedName [2]. > > [1] http://site.icu-project.org/ > [2] > http://www.docjar.com/docs/api/com/ibm/icu/lang/UCharacter.html#getCharFromExtendedName%28String%29 >
Thank you for all this information. > > To shorten waiting time a bit, I would like to contribute a little helper for > those users interested in lookup (and entry) of Unicode characters in XXE via > Unicode names. > > This macro provides a Web-based search for Unicode character names (or > substrings/regular expression patterns matching them). The characters found > are displayed in your browser and can easily be copied to the clipboard and > inserted into XXE. > > Here's how to install and use it: > > 1) Put the following lines into your *.xxe configuration file (take care to > edit the <property> definition appropriately if already present): > > <property name="WebSearch.searchers"><![CDATA[ > UniView Character Names Search > http://people.w3.org/rishida/scripts/uniview/?utf8=true&search=${searched} > ]]></property> > > <command name="webSearchForUnicodeCharByName"> > <macro> > <sequence> > <command name="prompt" > parameter="'UniView web service - Unicode character lookup' > 'Search for Unicode characters whose name matches:'"/> > <command name="webSearch" > parameter="[UniView Character Names Search] %_"/> > </sequence> > </macro> > </command> > > <binding> > <keyPressed code="F12" /> > <command name="webSearchForUnicodeCharByName"/> > </binding> > > 2) Restart XXE, and open any document that uses the above configuration. > > 3) Pressing F12 opens a dialog and asks for the character name (or pattern) > to search for, then queries Richard Ishida's marvellous UniView web service > (Unicode character database) and displays a list of matching characters, > linked to further information including the character shown in a very big > font size. From there, it is easy to copy and insert into XXE. > > (Hint: In the query URL, "utf8=true" assures that the glyphs are rendered as > real characters, allowing to copy and transfer them to XXE. Otherwise, they > are displayed as graphics, which can help you recognize the character if your > browser is unable to display the real character. Enabling UniView's option > "Use graphics" is equivalent to omitting "utf8=true".) > > See the UniView Help & User Guide [3] if you want to know more about this Web > service. Section "You can tailor the program by..." [4] is very instructive > when you want to control the queries through URL parameters. > > [3] http://people.w3.org/rishida/scripts/uniview/help.php > [4] http://people.w3.org/rishida/scripts/uniview/help.php#tailor > The UniView web service seems very useful and very well-thought and your macro works fine. Thank you for your contribution. > Have fun, > > Yves > > P.S.: I wonder how to include line feeds into the message parameter of the > prompt command so that the message displays with a bit more vertical space. > This is not possible. The message of the prompt cannot contain newline characters. -- XMLmind XML Editor Support List [email protected] http://www.xmlmind.com/mailman/listinfo/xmleditor-support
