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Unicode hex input problem

I have a MBP running Yosemite. My partner has a MBAir running OSX 10.8.5 (M-Lion?)


He needs to use some medieval characters in his writing as a grad student in ENglish.


On both machines, we installed the Unicde Hex Input source and selected it.


On my machine, I can use the OPTION-KEY + 4-digit-hex-code to produce the characters as desired.


On his machine, with the OPTION-KEY held down, as you type each digit of the hex code, you get a different character, instead of one character after typing the 4-digit code.


Any suggestions?


Thanks,

Dave

Posted on Apr 16, 2015 6:49 AM

Reply
9 replies

Apr 16, 2015 8:53 AM in response to davidfromspencer

davidfromspencer wrote:


On his machine, with the OPTION-KEY held down, as you type each digit of the hex code, you get a different character, instead of one character after typing the 4-digit code.



It sounds like the Unicode Hex layout is not actually the active one. You should see in the top right corner of the screen a little black flag that says U+.


It may be easier to use the Charcter Viewer for such work


OS X Mountain Lion: Enter special characters and symbols

Apr 17, 2015 4:22 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thanks, Tom -- I'll check it again as soon as I have access to the MBAir, but I'm pretty sure I checked that the U+ input source was selected.


Also, regarding character viewer, even on my own machine (where U+ input works fine) I don't see any of the medieval charcaters in the character viewer, no matter which font (?) I pick from the left-hand list.


For instance, here's a medieval character, produced through the OPTION+ method: (blown up to 18 pts to make it easier to see). But I can't find it using the character viewer in Latin or character-like symbols. I think I may not understand how to use the character viewer correctly(?) What is the relationship between the list of symbol-sets (if that's the right word) in the character viewer and the font that's selected in the editor I'm using?


Thanks again,

- dave

Apr 17, 2015 9:35 AM in response to davidfromspencer

In Character Viewer, go to the gear wheel at upper left and select Customize and make sure you have the boxes for Latin and Unicode checked.


There's no connection between the symbol sets at the left and fonts you select in apps, but over at the right you can see (in Font Variation) which fonts have any character you have selected in the middle part.


If you select Unicode at the left, you can choose any of the hex code ranges you are interested in. The is in Latin Extended D, A720 onward. Seems like it should also be found under the "Latin" symbol category, but this is not always up to date.

Apr 17, 2015 9:42 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

That's a major help, Tom. What's interesting is that, now I can see the character sets, the MacBook Air is missing many symbols in the same positions that my MBPro has them in. Like A751 is blank on the MBAir. WHen I use the OPTION+ method on the MBAir, A751 gives me a little question-mark in a box, which I assume means "no such character" but at least it now accepts the 4-digit code. And, if I choose a code that does have a valid symbol in the chracter set, it displays it correctly.


So it seems like the Unicode character set is out of date(?) on the MBAir. I'm going to check to see if there's a way to update the symbol set.


Thanks for all your help on this - I think we're almost there.

Apr 17, 2015 9:48 AM in response to davidfromspencer

davidfromspencer wrote:



So it seems like the Unicode character set is out of date(?) on the MBAir.


Character Viewer only shows characters that are contained in your fonts. Presumably your MBAir is missing a special font you have installed on your other machine. To input A751 requires that you install Quivira or some other font that has it.

Apr 17, 2015 11:56 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

I found that out eventually. On my system, the characters worked in Geneva, but on the old system, they didn't. I installed a TruType version of Quivira on the MBAir and it works, at least for many of the characters. SOme don't show up, but I imagine that's the limit of how many characters can be mapped onto a font (?)


Thanks again for all your help!


Best,

Dave

Unicode hex input problem

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