Keyboard Configuration

Compose Character Sequences

Compose character sequences can be used to generate codes for characters not shown on your keyboard. The characters that can be composed depend on the setting of the Character Set Mode option in the Emulation Settings dialog box and the Preferred Char. Set option in the Terminal Settings dialog box.

When Character Set Mode is is set to National, only characters found in the character set that corresponds to the selected keyboard nationality can be composed. When Multinational is selected, the emulator is in Multinational mode and characters from all national keyboard layouts may be composed.

The tables of characters that are used in Multinational mode depend on the setting of the Preferred Char. Set option. When this is set to DEC-MCS, the ASCII (7-bit) and DEC Additional (8-bit) character sets are used. When this option is set to ISO Latin-1, the ASCII (7-bit) and ISO Latin-1 Additional (8-bit) character sets are used. The Character Sets appendix shows all the tables of characters that may be selected.

If a character is a diacritical symbol (e.g. ´ or ¨) and this symbol does not appear on the keyboard, an equivalent character can be used in some cases. The diacritical symbols and the possible substitutes are shown below. There are no equivalents for the circumflex accent and tilde mark.

Diacritical Mark

Equivalent Character

´

Acute accent

'

Apostrophe

¨

Umlaut

"

Double quote

`

Grave accent

'

Single quote

°

Ring mark

*

Asterisk or degree sign

To compose a character, first find the character you wish to compose in the left hand column of the following tables. The two characters shown in the right hand column are the keys that are used to create it. Several alternatives may be given for generating the same character. A compose sequence is initiated by pressing the keys Alt + C together, followed by the key bearing the first character then the key bearing the second character.

Note: The compose character sequence can also be initiated by pressing a key defined with the COMPOSE virtual key name.

A compose character sequence may be abandoned before completion by pressing the Delete key. Pressing Alt + C (or the key defined with the COMPOSE virtual key name) again before completing a compose character sequence will cause it to be abandoned and a second sequence to be started. An invalid compose character sequence will cause the bell to sound.

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