Hello
I discovered today that an useful shortcut I used to have on Ubuntu, ctrl+shift+u + hex code expanding to the corresponding unicode character in an editor, is not working on Solus.
Was this something Ubuntu specific or something that was removed from gtk?
In any case, is there a way to do something similar in Solus?
Thanks in advance
Shortcut to insert a special character
- Press and release Ctrl+Shift+U
- Enter the hexadecimal code of the symbol
- Press Enter
works here on Solus Budgie. So I guess something must be amiss on your setup. Something else grabbing those keys?
I don't recall having to set it up that way, it seems to just work globally by default.
Not much help to you I'm afraid, except to confirm it is possible. Good luck.
- Edited
elusian The hard part will be finding out what is grabbing the keys...
In other distros, once Ctrl+Shift+U is pressed, the "underlined lower case u" character appears, indicating that hexadecimal Unicode value is expected. Hex digits also appear as you type them in.
The "underlined lower case u" does not appear in Solus. Hex digits do not appear as you type them in. Nevertheless, as @johano says, the shortcut works. Try to enter Unicode value without expecting that "underlined lower case u" will appear, exactly as @johano suggests.
This is Greek capital "psi" character Ψ, Unicode = 0x03A8, typed in in Σολυς using Ctrl+Shift+U shortcut.
IBus, specifically
ibus-daemon, is known to be in conflict with Unicode shortcut. Make sure that IBus is not running in your system. It is not running if the command below returns nothing but the command itself:$ ps aux | grep -i ibus just 2167 0.0 0.0 216132 2420 pts/1 S+ 10:50 0:00 grep -i ibus $If appropriate, then try to:
change "Keyboard input method system" from "IBus" to "None"
kill running
ibus-daemonprocess
Good luck
just
Thanks for the infos!
Problem is, digits DO appear and the final enter only inserts a newline.
Ibus is running, the running processes are
enrico 1067 0.0 0.0 518064 9020 ? Sl 08:43 0:02 ibus-daemon --xim --panel disable
enrico 1075 0.0 0.0 442940 7148 ? Sl 08:43 0:00 /usr/lib64/ibus/ibus-dconf
enrico 1077 0.0 0.1 407160 30096 ? Sl 08:43 0:00 /usr/lib64/ibus/ibus-x11 --kill-daemon
enrico 1079 0.0 0.0 516572 7020 ? Sl 08:43 0:00 /usr/lib64/ibus/ibus-portal
enrico 1091 0.0 0.0 369044 7120 ? Sl 08:43 0:00 /usr/lib64/ibus/ibus-engine-simple(and of course, grep is there too like in you example).
Before killing all of that I would prefer knowing what that would imply...
Also, where would I change the "Keyboard input method system"? Or more generally, the keyboard settings? I feel stupid, but I can't find them in gnome-settings, only the shortcuts.
I'm not familiar enough with Solus yet to say exactly how it is possible to switch the input method from IBus to None.
There's IBus Preferences menu entry in Solus Plasma. If clicked, the dialog immediately pops up:
The IBus daemon is not running. Do you wish to start it?
[No] [Yes]I hate IBus and never use it. My answer is always No.
Start with one small step at a time - kill running ibus-daemon process. It will be killed in the current X-session only. It won't affect system's behaviour after logout-login (or reboot):
killall ibus-daemon
Do not logout-login, do not reboot. Remain in the same X-session. Check with ps aux... that IBus is not running anymore.
Does Ctrl+Shift+U work now, without IBus?
Good thing I hadn't tried yet then.
To avoid basic misunderstanding from my part, can you describe exactly how you use the shortcut? I tried doing it like @johano described (prints digits and newline), holding ctrl+shift while typing u + hex code in sequence (nothing happens, then enter inserts newline), and also holding just ctrl , which I saw described in an ibus issue (which I found to be unrelated sadly).
Is this the correct way?
- Edited
elusian Ok, let's go with Budgie.
Ctrl+Shift+U behaves slightly differently in various applications, even within the same DE. I'll use gnome-terminal (or simply "terminal") in the example.
Open terminal window
Bash prompt is shown
Cursor blinks at the end of the prompt
Press Ctrl+Shift+U. More exactly, I use Left Ctrl and Left Shift, so in sequence:
press and hold down the Left Ctrl with left pinky
press and hold down the Left Shift with ring finger
finally, hit the U key with right index finger
At the end of the sequence, three keys were pressed, held down and entered in action - Left Ctrl, Left Shift, and U
Once the U key has concluded the three-keys-squence, the blinking cursor disappears in terminal
Three keys may be released
Terminal cursor not just disappears - it is replaced by the "underlined lower case u letter" in terminal
It's the Unicode prompt; indicates that a Unicode value is expected to be typed in
Let's continue the example with the mathematical symbol psi, the Greek capital letter Ψ. Its hex Unicode is 0x03a8.
Right now you see the Unicode prompt and nothing else in terminal. No key is pressed at the moment.
With right index finger (or with any finger you prefer
) slowly hit four hex digits (keys):- 0
- 3
- a
- 8
Only four keys have been pressed: 0 3 a 8
As you press and release hex digits, Unicode prompt - the "underlined lower case u letter" - extends to the right with the digits you press. They are also underlined in terrminal, along with the initial u letter
Finally, you'll see in terminal, at the end of bash prompt, the underlined string of five chars: u03a8
Hit Enter key
The Unicode sequence - underlined u03a8 string - is immediately replaced by the corresponding Unicode character
It's the Ψ letter in your terminal
Done
