Unicode Explained

• Select

a shortcut that has some connection with the character. For example, Alt-P

for a circled P is easy to remember. See Table 2-3 for some additional ideas. You

cannot use normal keys as such; you need to involve Ctrl, Alt, or AltGr (and op-

tionally Shift). However, as a second key, you can use a normal key as such (ex-

ample: Ctrl‑/ a).

• Check that you are not going to override any existing shortcut you may need. The

existing setting, if any, can be seen under the text “Currently assigned to.”

• Check that you are defining a shortcut for the right character (shown under Sym-

bol).

• Remember to click on Assign before clicking on Close.

• After defining the shortcut, check immediately that it works in the desired way.

You will be in a good position to fix things if needed; later, you might not remember

what you were really about to do.

• It is a good idea to write down the assignments you have defined. You can, however,

check them later: select the character from the map and enter the dialog, and look

under “Current keys.”

• As the plural “Current keys” suggests, you can define several alternative shortcuts

for a character. This can be a good idea especially if you are designing a working

environment for other people, who might not understand and remember quite

clearly whether they need to use Alt-P, AltGr-P, or Ctrl-P. However, there is then

a risk of overriding some shortcut definitions ...