compose(5)

     NAME
          compose - International compose key input

     SYNOPSIS
          <Shift> + <AltGr> <two key sequence>
          or
          <dead-key sequence>

     DESCRIPTION
          compose is a mechanism for inputting accented international
          Latin characters through an international keyboard.  A US
          keyboard with ASCII or compose specification can also be
          utilized for the international key input by using xmodmap(1)
          to assign the Right-Alt key or dead-key.

          To enter a composed character (consisting of a plain
          character and combining accent character) or a special
          symbol such as "copyright" through a keyboard, the following
          two methods are supported:

          <Shift> + <AltGr> <two key sequence>
               For example,

                    <Shift> + <AltGr> a:


               produces the adiaeresis (i.e., Latin small letter "a"
               with diaeresis).

               The <Shift> + <AltGr> expression denotes pressing
               either of the <Shift> keys and the <AltGr> key
               simultaneously.  This key combination places the
               keyboard into a mode which accepts the next <two key
               sequence> to form a composed character.  It is not
               necessary to hold these keys while entering the <two
               key sequence>.  Normally, the Right-Alt key is already
               assigned to <AltGr> on an international keyboard.  If
               <AltGr> is not available on the keyboard, such as a US
               ASCII keyboard, any of the keys on the keyboard can be
               assigned as <AltGr> by using xmodmap(1).

                    xmodmap -e "keysym Alt_R = Mode_switch Multi_key"

               sets the Right-Alt key to be <AltGr>.

               See composetable(5) for a detail list of valid <two key
               sequence>.

          <dead-key sequence>
               Some of the diacritical (accent) keys on the
               international keyboards do not generate a character
               directly but combine with the following key to produce
               an accented character; such non-spacing diacritical
               keys are also called "dead" keys.  For keyboards that
               do not contain dead-keys, any of the keys on the
               keyboard can be assigned as a dead-key by using
               xmodmap(1).  For example, to assign F1 key to be the
               diaeresis key, enter

                    xmodmap -e "keysym F1 = dead_diaeresis"

               Once the F1 key has been assign to be the
               dead_diaeresis key, entering the two key sequence

                    <F1> a

               will now produce adiaeresis.

               In <dead-key sequence>, you must enter a dead-key
               before a plain character key.  See composetable(5) for
               a detail list of valid <dead-key sequence>.

          Theoretically, any composed character can be created by
          combining a plain character with an accent key.  However,
          the new combined character must be a valid character and
          supported by the font for the locale. For example, a
          diacritical mark and a dollar sign ($) yields two characters
          (a diaeresis followed by a dollar sign) instead of a dollar
          sign with two dots, which is not a valid character.  For an
          example of font dependency, the composed character
          consisting of a Latin letter "a" with a ring above is
          supported in the US English locale using Latin 1 (ANSI) code
          page but not in the Hungarian locale with Latin 2 (Central
          Europe) code page.

     FILES
          /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h - key name definitions

     SEE ALSO
          xmodmap(1), composetable(5), locale(1)

     NOTE
          Some pre-composed keys are directly available on many
          international keyboard and do not require compose key input,
          when individual keys are accessible in one of its Normal,
          Shift, AltGr and Shift-AltGr states.  For example, a French
          keyboard contains a Latin small letter "e" with acute as
          part of its keyboard layout.

          In some keyboard configurations, <AltGr> instead of <Shift>
          + <AltGr> is sufficient for performing the first of the two
          methods.