Show the Unicode number

Request new features or suggest modifications to existing features of Atlantis.
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rstroud
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Show the Unicode number

Post by rstroud »

I am always a little reluctant to make a feature request, but here is a request for a simple (I think) feature that would be very helpful.

I am sure that a lot of us use characters/glyphs that are not part of the standard keyboard. An example: Right now I am working on a piece of fiction in which I decide to use the "horizontal bar" (it looks like an em dash) for the quotation marks. My reason for this is not really relevant, but for the curious I will say that the horizontal bar (like this ―) is a method in use in some countries for quotations. It is probably less common than a half-century ago, but you see it in some older books. Also, the narrator of my story is a dog, and I thought that the quaintness of the ― glyph would fit the quaintness of the narrative itself.

Anyway, I know that the hex value of the horizontal bar is 2015. But I do not always know the Unicode values of glyphs that I may have used in a document.

It would be nice to be able to display hex values in the manner that Word and LibreOffice do.

In those programs, you can put the cursor right after a character, press ALT+X, and the hex value pops up. You can even make a change to the character by changing the displayed value. It is a really neat and helpful feature.

Could we possibly have this in Atlantis? I am always having to copy some text over to LibreOffice to get the Unicode value of things. Of course, I realize that I could just copy a glyph within Atlantis and paste it where I need it, but having to do that every time is cumbersome. It is easier to enter the hex value on the keyboard once you have determined what it is.
Robert
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Post by Robert »

The Unicode "horizontal bar" corresponds to the HTML Entity "#8213;". As outlandish as it may sound, the Unicode "horizontal bar" is also officially named "QUOTATION DASH". To insert it into a document in Atlantis, press and hold the Alt key down, and type 8213 on the numeric pad. Release the Alt key.

You could use the Insert | Symbols… dialog and add this quotation dash to the list of your favorite characters.

To find out the Unicode values of glyphs, you could also use the online Unicode Character Finder. If you type "horizontal bar" in the search bar, you'll be taken to the corresponding Unicode character.

HTH
Robert
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Post by Robert »

If you add the attached RTF file to your Atlantis Clip Library, you’ll be able to insert 2 quotation dashes into your documents with a single click. You can then type the quoted text in between the quotation dashes.

Note that I have attached non-breaking spaces to the 2 horizontal bars. You can remove them if you want to use the horizontal bars without any intervening space character.
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admin
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Post by admin »

OK, we will see what can be done about this. Possibly Atlantis will soon have the feature. Thanks for the suggestion.
rstroud
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Dash for quotation / Display Unicode

Post by rstroud »

My thanks to Robert and to Admin.

I hope that this feature can be added. :)
rstroud
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More on the Unicode display

Post by rstroud »

I should have added another bit of information.

The main goal in the Unicode display with ALT+X is just to obtain the code easily for unusual glyphs that I have used previously in documents.

I have an Autocorrect option set up so that I type *( to insert the Unicode character 2015. This is very easy to type. It is, of course, possible to use Autocorrect for other unusual characters. (Autocorrect is a really wonderful tool!)

I want to say, too, that if you adopt this feature, please do it so that changing the displayed number in the text will change the character. Please do it in a way that allows the "regular" numbers to be used to make the change (not only the ones on the Numeric Keypad, since many laptops do not have a Numeric Keypad). That is how Word and LibreOffice handle the matter.

Thank you for your responsiveness to my suggestion.

Atlantis rocks!
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Post by admin »

In MS Word, Alt+X is meant primarily for inserting new characters. But as you know, the command can be also used to reveal the code of the current character in the document. And yes, this shortcut does not require the NumLock to be on.
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Post by admin »

rstroud
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It works!

Post by rstroud »

Wow, it works!

Thank you for this feature.
rstroud
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More on 'Reveal Unicode'

Post by rstroud »

Oops! I discovered a problem with the "Reveal Unicode Number" feature.

The problem involves the "no-break space" (hex 00A0; dec 160).

Let's suppose that I have this text somewhere in a document:

'I sent a letter to Mr. Smith' (#1 in graphic below).

I want to put a no-break space between 'Mr.' and 'Smith' so that I can prevent a possible line-wrap after 'Mr.', because it looks dumb to have 'Mr.' at the end of a line. See #1 in the graphic below.

So I use Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar to insert a no-break space at the appropriate place. The sentence has the degree symbol to show that this is a no-break space. See #2 in the graphic below.

If I use Alt+X, after the no-break space, to check the code, I should see the code 00A0, but instead I see the code for a regular space (hex 0020; dec 32). See #3 in the graphic.

And when I use Alt+X again, to revert to the glyph, I now have a regular space (no degree symbol).

Thanks for any help that you can provide with this.
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Post by admin »

The nonbreaking space is a special character in Atlantis Word Processor. You do not need to know its code to insert it to your document. Just press Ctrl+Shift+Space. You also do not need to reveal its code in the document. Just press Ctrl+Shift+8 to enable the "Special symbols" mode, and the nonbreaking spaces in your document would display as small circles.
rstroud
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More on the nonbreaking space

Post by rstroud »

Thank you for your response.

I know how to insert an nonbreaking space with keystrokes and that I do not need to know a code for it. I also know that a user can display the special symbols with Ctrl+Shift+8.

The reason for my original post was that I wanted to point out to you that using Alt+X after a nonbreaking space destroys the nonbreaking space (hex 00A0) and replaces it with an ordinary space (hex 0020).

In the tests that I have conducted, the use of Alt+X after other characters does not result in the destruction of that character. I have only seen this happen with the nonbreaking space.

I assume that using Ctrl+Shift+Space in Atlantis must insert the 00A0 character. I say this because if I perform a copy-and-paste from Atlantis to LibreOffice, the LibreOffice text then displays 00A0 wherever I had a nonbreaking space in Atlantis.

If this is a big issue for you to fix, then I will not worry about it. My only aim was to bring it to your attention.
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