Unicode Explained

• Character selection errors are reduced, since the user does not have to choose

between, say, ă and ǎ, as in more general methods. A particular language or other

context seldom contains both characters.

The virtual key idea is easy and quick to implement. Thus, it can be applied even on

an individual basis, to create a convenient input form for someone’s personal needs

and preferences. On the other hand, this approach is normally application dependent:

the method needs to be implemented separately for each data entry form. For imple-

mentation issues, see “Character Input and Output” in Chapter 11.

Along similar lines, we could use virtual keys that correspond to writing several char-

acters. If user input is expected to contain some fixed strings rather often, a form de-

signer can set up keys (buttons) that add those strings. This is particularly useful if the

strings contain characters that cannot be directly typed on users’ keyboards.

Program Commands

We often need program-specific ways of entering characters from a keyboard, either

because there is no key for a character we need or there is but it does not work. The

program involved might be part of system software, or it might be an application pro-

gram. We describe here some typical cases.

Copying via the Clipboard

In typical computer systems, you can copy data from one program to another through

an internal storage area called the ...