• Character Map Manual V2.1

Character Map Manual V2.1

1. Introduction

The Character Map application is a Unicode character map. Unicode is a character set standard with the goal to include all of the characters that are used in all of the written languages in the world.

You can use Character Map to select characters from a character table, then combine the characters into a text string with standard characters. You can insert the text string that you create into other applications, such as text editor documents.

Character Map provides accented characters, mathematical symbols, special symbols, and punctuation marks. Many of the characters provided by Character Map are not available on a standard keyboard.

2. Getting Started

2.1. To Start Character Map

You can start Character Map in the following ways:

Applications menu

Choose Accessories ▸ Character Map.

Command line

Execute the following command: gnome-character-map

2.2. When You Start Character Map

When you start Character Map, the following window is displayed.

Figure 1 Character Map Window

The Character Map window contains the following elements:

Menubar

The menus on the menubar contain most of the commands that you need to work with Character Map.

Toolbar

The toolbar contains a drop-down list of fonts, font style buttons, and a zoom spin box.

Display area

The display area contains the following components:

  • Script or Unicode Block list box
  • Character Table tabbed section
  • Character Details tabbed section
  • Text to copy text box
  • Copy button
Statusbar

The statusbar displays information about the selected character.

3. Usage

3.1. To Change the Character-Set List

To list the character sets by script name, choose View ▸ By Script.

To list the character sets by Unicode block, choose View ▸ By Unicode Block.

3.2. To Create a Text String

To create a text string in the Text to copy field, perform the following steps:

  1. Select a character set from the Script or Unicode Block list box.

  2. Insert characters in one of the following ways:

    • Double-click on a character button in the Character Table tabbed section, to insert the character in the Text to copy field.
    • Click on a character button in the Character Table tabbed section, then press Return to insert the character in the Text to copy field.
    • Click on a character button in the Character Table tabbed section, then drag the character to the Text to copy field.
    • Click on the Text to copy field to give focus to the field. If a text string is already in the field, click on the text string at the point where you want to insert the character. Press a character key on your keyboard to insert that character into the field.

3.3. To Copy and Paste Your Text String into an Application

To copy and paste the text string from the Text to copy field into an application, perform the following steps:

  1. Drag the pointer to select the text string in the Text to copy field, then click Copy. The selected text string appears highlighted.
  2. Point to the location in an application where you want to put the text string and middle-click to insert the text string. You can also paste the text string into the application if a Paste facility is available. You can repeat the insertion as many times as you want while the text string is selected. Click on the Text to copy field to deselect the text string.

When you paste the contents of the Text to copy field into other applications, the text string appears in the current character set of the application.

If your text string contains non-visible characters, you can only insert the text string into applications that support the full character set.

If you quit Character Map before you paste the text string into an application, your text string is lost.

3.4. To Search for a Character

To search for a character, perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Search ▸ Find.

  2. Enter the search string in the Search field in the Find dialog.

  3. Click Next.

    Character Map highlights the first character that matches the search criteria, in the Character Table tabbed section. Character Map also displays the Unicode code point and Unicode character name in the status bar.

    If no matching character is found, Character Map displays an information alert.

  4. Click Next to find the next matching character. Alternatively, choose Search ▸ Find Next.

  5. Click Previous to find the previous matching character. Alternatively, choose Search ▸ Find Previous.

3.5. To Browse Through all Characters

You can browse through the characters in the Character Table tabbed section in the following ways:

  • Choose Go ▸ Next Script or Go ▸ Next Block to select the next character set.
  • Choose Go ▸ Previous Script or Go ▸ Previous Block to select the previous character set.
  • Use the scrollbar for the Script or Unicode Block list box to select any character set.
  • Choose Go ▸ Next Character to select the next character in the Unicode sequence.
  • Choose Go ▸ Previous Character to select the previous character in the Unicode sequence.
  • Press the arrow keys on the keyboard to browse through the characters.
  • Use the Character Table scrollbar to browse through the characters.
  • Press the Page Up and Page Down keys to browse through the characters page by page.
  • Press the Home key to select the first character in the Unicode sequence. To select the last character, press the End key.

3.6. To Display Detailed Information About a Character

To display detailed information about a character, perform the following steps:

  1. Select a character set from the Script or Unicode Block list box. Example: Basic Latin
  2. Select a character from the Character Table tabbed section. Example: B
  3. Click on the Character Details tabbed section.

The Character Details tabbed section displays the following information about the selected character:

  • Unicode code point

    Example: U+0042

  • Unicode character name

    Example: LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B

  • General Character Properties

    • Unicode category

      Example: Letter, Uppercase

  • Various Useful Representations

    • UTF-8 encoding

      Example: 0x42

    • Octal escaped UTF-8 encoding

      Example: \102

    • Decimal entity reference

      Example: "B"

  • Annotations and Cross References

    Example: U+212C SCRIPT CAPITAL B

    Click on the link to display the details for the referenced character.

3.7. To Change the Format of a Character

To change the format of a character, perform any of the following steps:

  • To change the font, select a font from the font drop-down list.
  • To change the font type to bold type, click on the Bold button.
  • To change the font type to italic type, click on the Italic button.
  • To increase the font size, choose View ▸ Zoom In or use the zoom spin box.
  • To decrease the font size, choose View ▸ Zoom Out or use the zoom spin box.
  • To display normal font size, choose View ▸ Normal Size.
  • To magnify the selected character, press Shift.

3.8. To Change the Format of the Character Table

To change the format of the character table, choose View ▸ Snap Columns to Power of Two.

Character Map changes the Character Table tabbed section so that the number of columns is a power of two, for example, two columns, four columns, eight columns, and so on. The number of columns depends on the size of the window and the size of the font.