elusian

  • 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.

    johano
    huh, ok...
    I'm on budgie too, and I don't remember changing much in the shortcuts. The hard part will be finding out what is grabbing the keys, especially since nothing is actually happening...
    at least I know it's possible, thanks.

    • just replied to this.

      elusian The hard part will be finding out what is grabbing the keys...

      1. 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.

      2. 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-daemon process

      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.

        • just replied to this.

          elusian

          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?

            just
            I won't be able to check this today, I will try in the next days.
            Hoping for the best...
            In any case, ibus is a dependency of budgie, so I'm pretty sure that removing it completely is a no go (would be happy to be proven wrong if ibus is the real cause)

            • just replied to this.

              elusian

              Looks like ibus-daemon is innocent. I'm in Solus Gnome right now. ibus-daemon is running here by default. Nevertheless, Ctrl+Shift+U works nicely: capital Greek psi letter again: Ψ .

              The problem should lie somewhere else.

                just

                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?

                • just replied to this.

                  elusian

                  Ctrl+Shift+U behaves differently in different Solus DEs. Which one do you use?

                  Edit: In Solus Plasma the shortcut does NOT work at all, neither with IBus disabled (default in Plasma) nor with IBus enabled.

                    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.

                    1. Open terminal window

                    2. Bash prompt is shown

                    3. Cursor blinks at the end of the prompt

                    4. 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

                    5. Once the U key has concluded the three-keys-squence, the blinking cursor disappears in terminal

                    6. Three keys may be released

                    7. Terminal cursor not just disappears - it is replaced by the "underlined lower case u letter" in terminal

                    8. It's the Unicode prompt; indicates that a Unicode value is expected to be typed in

                    9. Let's continue the example with the mathematical symbol psi, the Greek capital letter Ψ. Its hex Unicode is 0x03a8.

                    10. Right now you see the Unicode prompt and nothing else in terminal. No key is pressed at the moment.

                    11. 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
                    12. 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

                    13. Finally, you'll see in terminal, at the end of bash prompt, the underlined string of five chars: u03a8

                    14. Hit Enter key

                    15. The Unicode sequence - underlined u03a8 string - is immediately replaced by the corresponding Unicode character

                    16. It's the Ψ letter in your terminal

                    17. Done

                      just

                      I guess I did ask for a detailed explanation 🤣

                      Anyway, it does not work

                      • just replied to this.

                        elusian
                        I'm sorry, can't help you further. Ctrl+Shift+U :

                        • works here in all Gtk-based DEs (Budgie, Mate, Gnome, 2 other unofficial DEs)
                        • does not work in Kde Plasma
                        • looks like doesn't depend on IBus, and - if works - works with both enabled and disabled IBus