I'm going to chime in ... > > X, on the other hand, is not supposed to be defining policy. Let's > > assume your solution was implemented. What would you expect to happen > > when you do Alt-227? What symbol would it be, and in what character > > set? Is it the same with a German keyboard layout? > > I do think that this goal is achievable, because the Alt-Numpad > functionality is so limited: all it does is to generate the same symbols > without regard to any codepage, keyboard mapping etc. And that's what > makes it useful im some cases (see below). And exactly because the > functionality is not supposed to be flexible at all, I think that it > doesn't necessarily conflict with the X paradigm. > To play nice, this should only need xkb file interpretation changes (changing the way the code works may get messy). I'm not that hip on how XKB maintains "state", but for Alt-gr type combos it is at least close.
> Yes, with the german (or any other) keyboard Alt-0227 generates an "ã". > But beware: Alt-227 (without the leading 0) is different. This is > because MS added the four-digit mappings in Windows in order to maintain > compatibility with the three-digit ones from DOS. > > > Can we say unconditionally that no X application currently uses > > Alt-Numpad combinations? > > > > Or maybe I'm just scaring up issues where none exist. > > I don't think that one can safely assume that no application ever uses > Alt-Numpad combinations. > My experience says you can never safely assume anything about x apps :) > However, if those applications exist, they are > probably rather rare. So why do I want the Alt-Numpad feature anyway, > you may ask. The reason is simple: some specialized devices like > keyboards with integrated readers for Smartcards or keyboard-wedge style > barcode readers transmit their data via this mechanism. And their reason > to use it, is that it offers a channel which is guaranteed to be > transparent. i.e. unencumbered by keyboard mappings etc. > ummm ... the "to be transparent" is true for windows, but obviously not for unix or mac or ... This really smells like an input method ...so your app that needs to play with "readers for Smartcards or keyboard-wedge style barcode readers" would need to support the input method. Rob _______________________________________________ Devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/devel
