On 08/04/2011 11:13 PM, George OLson wrote:

Howdy all,

I am working with a minority language group (a spoken language, not a programming language :) ) which does not have language support of any kind in any platform. However, for the script we are using, all I need to be able to do is put 1 of 3 characters over the vowels - a right accent (don't know how to insert, as here it only goes straight down like this ' but I want it to go to the right), a grave accent `, and a carat ^.

Here are some examples I have cut and pasted from old data I typed in using microsoft office:

binoó - means piled tùpa - means to share equally lugtâ - means dirt or land

When I used windows, I installed the english international keyboard in the operating system, as this has those 3 characters. However, since I am trying to migrate over to suse linux, how can I do something comparable?

All I need to do is to be able to use the keyboard to enter the characters without having to take a mouse and clicking on an insert special character function when I type out data in a word processor like libre office, or when I enter text in a cell in a spreadsheet or database.

Thanks, G Here's a copy of a message I sent to the PCLOS Forum just a day or two ago, regarding Spanish accents. The answer should apply equally well with your foreign language, and you may find it useful other places. It works in any kind of word processor or editor, and even works in the Konsole (CLI). (For your purposes,see álamo, più, and hôtel.) To wit:

I don't know what kind of keyboard you're typing on, but if you have a standard American k/b, you can map a seldom used key to be a Compose key.* I have an IBM model M k/b that has no Microsoft keys, so I made the right CTRL key to be the Compose key. You could use the right ALT key, or the right Microsoft key, if you have one. Then a combination of two keystrokes after--not simultaneous with--the Compose key will produce the foreign characters, assuming your loaded fonts have them. (Most do.) I can type cañon, álamo. ¡Verdad! ¿Es bueno, no? (CMP !! or CMP ??) I can also type ß, ä, ö, ü (German characters) garçon, hôtel, (French orthography) più (Italian accent) € £, ¢ and various other things. (½, ¼, ⅓, ¥, µ) The compose key is not the same as the Alt-Gr key. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compose_key * Make compose key according to this url: http://fsymbols.com/keyboard/linux/compose/ Good luck--doug ********************************************************************************************************************************* PS: I suspect that another answer might be just to change the location to France--French has all three accent marks you want, but then you would have to learn the whole French keyboard. Use of the Compose key allows you to keep a normal American k/b. -- Blessed are the peacemakers...for they shall be shot at from both sides. --A. M. Greeley -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Fri, 2011-08-05 at 11:13 +0800, George OLson wrote:

Howdy all,

I am working with a minority language group (a spoken language, not a programming language :) ) which does not have language support of any kind in any platform. However, for the script we are using, all I need to be able to do is put 1 of 3 characters over the vowels - a right accent (don't know how to insert, as here it only goes straight down like this ' but I want it to go to the right), a grave accent `, and a carat ^.

Here are some examples I have cut and pasted from old data I typed in using microsoft office:

binoó - means piled tùpa - means to share equally lugtâ - means dirt or land

When I used windows, I installed the english international keyboard in the operating system, as this has those 3 characters. However, since I am trying to migrate over to suse linux, how can I do something comparable?

All I need to do is to be able to use the keyboard to enter the characters without having to take a mouse and clicking on an insert special character function when I type out data in a word processor like libre office, or when I enter text in a cell in a spreadsheet or database.

Use the ALT character as follows: - Press the ALT key and the symbol you want above the character. The accents are, for example, the forward and backward quote. Nothing will be printed (yet). It is important that you press ALT first, keep it down, and then press the key corresponding to the accent. Then let go of both keys. - Press the letter you want. You should see the character with the accent above. To get ó: Press ALT and then the forward quote keys at the same time. Let go of these keys Press o I can use these keys as accents: ' ` ^ ¨ ~ They do not work above all characters. I guess it is up to which font you use. It should show up as you want. I just tried this with LibreOffice 3.3.2 on openSUSE (New Times Roman font). This also works at the command prompt (Monospace font). My LibreOffice is pretty much out-of-the-box. I do have a Swedish keyboard. Not sure if that has enabled something. Good luck. Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems / Ramböll RST Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 9:13 PM, George OLson wrote:

All I need to do is to be able to use the keyboard to enter the characters without having to take a mouse and clicking on an insert special character function when I type out data in a word processor like libre office, or when I enter text in a cell in a spreadsheet or database.

This is called the Compose Key or Multi_key (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Compose_key) and you can influence which key is used by adding an item to your xorg.conf, such as: Option "XkbOptions" "compose:rwin" in the Section "InputDevice". In openSUSE, it has long been set to the right Ctrl+Shift key combination. Here is an excerpt from my Instructions to Users, which I give to my students: "Fonts: To produce accented characters, use the right Ctrl+Shift keys as Compose keys. Press the combination first, then press the accent key, then press the accented letter key. Within KMail, if Shift is pressed first, the text becomes flush-right (press Left Shift then Left Shift+Ctrl to fix). By starting with the Ctrl key, this conflicting behaviour is avoided. If you have problems displaying foreign characters (accented letters) in any text editor, try changing the font encoding method from utf-8 to iso8859-1. " -- Carlos F Lange -- Recursive: Adj. See Recursive. -- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org