accessing unicode pi via "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard is not working

Question

accessing unicode pi via "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard is not working

I am trying to set up keyboard macros for various unicode symbols. In order to do this systematically, I have switched from "U.S." keyboard to the "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard (this was achieved by accessing [System Preferences] -> [keyboard] -> + and then adding the "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard). This works quite well to input many unicode symbols like lower case Greek letters, however it does not seem to work for the symbol π. That is, I enter the unicode macro ([option]-03c0) but no character appears. I can only create the symbol by switching back to the "U.S." keyboard, typing [option]-p, and then switching back to the "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard. I would like to be able to access that symbol with the "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard though. Is this possible?

My system information:

MacOS Monterey

Version 12.1

MacBook Pro (16 inch, 2019)

MacBook

Posted on Jan 29, 2022 1:53 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

116,254 points

Jan 29, 2022 6:55 AM in response to joelwatsonfish

Thanks for the explanation!

You have perhaps discovered another Monterey bug with the Unicode Hex system. Another user has reported that OOEO does not work.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253435504

Could you explain further why you need to actually use that layout to create your macro? Normally when programming something you can just type in the Unicode hex values using any keyboard layout. Or the program will accept copy/paste of the character directly from Apple's Character Viewer. I frequently make custom software layouts with Ukelele this way.

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

116,254 points

Feb 28, 2022 10:10 AM in response to boris58

boris58 wrote:

Unicode character input is failing for me with and 0 in the code 0301 207f 02b0 all of which are used for diacritics in Umóⁿhoⁿ.

I don't see any 02b0 in your example. But anything which does not work with the Unicode Hex keyboard you should report to Apple via

http://www.apple.com/feedback

If you need things like 207f and 02b0 often, you can use Character Viewer or make a text replacement for them. Or make a custom keyboard layout which has them. That's pretty easy with Ukelele.

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Answer 3

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

116,254 points

Jan 29, 2022 4:53 AM in response to joelwatsonfish

joelwatsonfish wrote: I am trying to set up keyboard macros for various unicode symbols.

Can you explain what you mean by that? Are you setting up replacements in system preferences > keyboard > text > replace with? Or using some other app/system?

Can you create π right here in the forum text box via Unicode hex option 03c0? π

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Answer 4

Jan 29, 2022 5:40 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

The keyboard macros are for an external programmable keyboard. The only reason I mention this is to note that I need to use the "Unicode Hex Input" and not the "U.S." keyboard to create the key. In any case, if I unplug the external keyboard and type option 03c0 using the MacBook keyboard nothing appears in the forum text box I am currently writing in (using Firefox). The same thing (i.e. nothing) happens if I type option 03c0 in Safari or Note. In contrast, in this textbox, when I type option 03c1 I get the symbol ρ. I can get this symbol in Safari and Note as well. For lower case Greek letters, the problem only appears for pi, and for upper case Greek letters I also only have the problem with Pi. In particular, option 03a0 produces nothing, but option 0393 produces Γ.

Also, oddly, if I switch from "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard to "U.S." keyboard, I can use option p to produce π. But this is not a solution for my problem, as I need to access that symbol with the "Unicode Hex Input" keyboard.

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Answer 5

Jan 29, 2022 12:12 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Lovely. Such a strange feature to break in an OS change.

Well, thank you for the link. I also appreciate the question about why I *need* that keyboard layout. Technically I don't; I just can't use the "U.S." keyboard *only* because it doesn't have all the symbols I need. In any case, your question prompted me to figure out a kludgey workaround: create a macro to output π: ctrl-space option-p ctrl-space which switches to and from the "U.S." layout to use the MacOS macro for π. It will work for now.

Despite being unable to fix the underlying issue, this conversation helped me find a temporary solution. Thank you very much!

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