11 Feb 11 - 12:21 PM (#3093282) Subject: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Grishka CopyUnicode is a utility which helps you enter individual characters in a portable way. To use it, you start the program, scroll to the character you want, click it, then paste to the Mudcat message entry area. Full directions for downloading and running the utility are given here in the second message. I will attempt to keep the script and information up-to-date. I may also remove test posts and eliminate or correct faulty advice in situ. To test your messages, please use the Preview option; submit test messages only if you need someone tech-savvy to check your results (since what you see may not show the same way to other users.) -Artful Codger- [Source script updated 12 Feb 2011.] On the Permathread about HTML character codes, I boastfully offered the following tool, assuming it would be rejected. However, Artful Codger asked me to post it in a separate thread, so here it is, FWIW. I extracted the following Java source code from a larger utility, which has been developped by a group of friends including myself. We donate this to the public domain, anyone is free to improve it.
Those of us who can profit most of this tool are likely not to have a Java compiler at hand. Therefore I suggest that Mudcat offer a compiled version (
When you invoke the program, usually by double-clicking on an icon etc., you will see a scrollable table displaying all the two-byte Unicode characters. If you click on one of these representations, the character resp. its HTML representation (looking like
I tried to keep the code short, so that experts can easily read it. Some bells and whistles may be found lacking. If mnemonic entities are desired, you can easily add this feature, as seen in htmlesc.
Actually I cannot believe that we are the first to invent this tool. If you know another implementation, feel free to post a link to it here; may the best win. Tell us about your experiences.
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11 Feb 11 - 06:32 PM (#3093541) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: Artful Codger CopyUnicode GuideFor info on which characters you should be encoding, see the guide Entering special characters. Basically, if it's not in the following list, encode it:
How to get CopyUnicode Alternative download locations: Joe-web (Joe Offer): 64-bit, 32-bit SkyDrive (Artful Codger): 64-bit, 32-bit You can download the JAR directly to your desktop, or to any convenient location where you typically store programs. It can be run from a shortcut/alias/softlink, so you only need one copy on your system. If you need to run the JAR from the command line, however, you'll need to put it in a directory referenced by your JAVAPATH environment setting. The command-line command to run it is: java -jar CopyUnicode.jar
How to use CopyUnicode
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11 Feb 11 - 06:57 PM (#3093563) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: Bill D It's not cross-platform and java, but for Windows, this program works quite well and is customizable for each person. This one also is very nice, though it requires you to know the code each time. |
11 Feb 11 - 09:37 PM (#3093661) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Jon 64bit version compiled using java-1.6.0-Sun here if anyone wants to grab it. |
11 Feb 11 - 09:42 PM (#3093663) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Jon Ħĕĺļรถ Probably should have added, to run it: java -jar CopyUnicode.jar |
11 Feb 11 - 10:07 PM (#3093669) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Jon 32 bit jar file here |
11 Feb 11 - 10:22 PM (#3093680) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Jon The program is the lines of java code Grishka gave. I copied and pasted that into Netbeans which compiled it and turned out the jar (which is actually like a zip file btw - you can open it and view its contents although most will be binary files...) which you downloaded and double clicked... |
11 Feb 11 - 11:14 PM (#3093702) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: Artful Codger BillD: Unchecking the checkbox (that is, pasting in the raw character) is unsafe, leading in many cases to the very display problems that the escape sequence resolves. It happened to work because those characters weren't in your default codepage, so the input system encoded them for you. But the characters you'd most often use the tool for probably are in your codepage, so you'd be pasting in non-portable values for them. For the full scoop, see my guide (link in the second message). |
12 Feb 11 - 08:47 AM (#3093746) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Grishka Grishka fixed a bug and reposted the code here. Jon has incorporated the changes into the JAR files, so if you fetch them now, they'll have the fix. I've updated the script accordingly above, and deleted the content here for brevity. -Artful Codger- |
12 Feb 11 - 09:11 AM (#3093758) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Grishka The "HTML" checkbox is initially checked (selected) and focused; if you (accidentally or not) press the space bar before clicking elsewhere, it will be deselected. How to make a "jar" on a Windows system without knowing Java, NetBeans, or Eclipse:
something.bat are as follows - important: you may have to change the two occurences of "jdk1.6.0_23 " according to your version. |
12 Feb 11 - 09:24 AM (#3093768) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Grishka Note that if you run anything executable means that you implicitely trust it. It is easy to convince yourself that my code above does no harm, but if you download a "jar", you still have to trust that it actually represents my code. Enjoy the tool. |
12 Feb 11 - 02:28 PM (#3093915) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: Bill D ?? so... do I need to get a slightly revised version of that .jar? I am trying to avoid having to actually type the ampersand codes. Does the revised version allow this without unchecking the box? (I am NOT a programmer and the guides tell me far more than I want to know. I find and use tools. I can drive almost any vehicle, but my mind does not wish to become a mechanic. This is why I loved the idea that I could download a compiled program and enter a character with a couple of clicks.) (I am in awe of those who write code...even when it takes a couple of tries) |
12 Feb 11 - 02:56 PM (#3093937) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: Artful Codger To Grishka: Um, I think you meant "CopyUnicode" rather than "ClipUnicode". No, his instructions are correct as given. It does mean that the JAR file produced will have a different name. Jon takes a different approach, which preserves the CopyUnicode name for the JAR. See Grishka's response below. --AC
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12 Feb 11 - 03:01 PM (#3093943) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: Artful Codger Bill, yes and yes. Get the new version of the JAR, and then when the box is checked and you click/paste, what you'll see in the entry box should be something like "ý" rather than the character itself. If you preview your message, you'll see the desired character in the preview area. Better still, so will everyone else, when your message is posted. |
12 Feb 11 - 03:25 PM (#3093961) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Grishka Bill, the answer is yes. If I understand Jon 11 Feb 11 - 11:09 PM correctly, he has uploaded a version corrected by himself here, for which we owe him a thankyou. If you feel like trusting him (which you did before), just download again; it should now do exactly what you want. Maybe one of the tooltip texts is not quite what it should be, because it also contains that &#x , but this cannot impair the functionality. I guess Jon will do a third shot, in which case we owe him another thankyou. And I owe a Sorry to all of you, which I herewith pay. (That was my second blunder yesterday at Mudcat. If we hadn't known before, we would have learned that anyone can have a bad day. Glad it's weekend now.)BTW: A jar file is one-size-fits-all, Windows 32, 64, 128, Linux, Unix, Solarix, Asterix, MacOsX ... Nevertheless it may look and work slightly differently or even fail on some systems. Please report. The tooltip change is now reflected in the script source shown in the first message. Jon has incorporated the change into the 64-bit JAR. -Artful Codger- |
12 Feb 11 - 03:37 PM (#3093971) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Jon OK. 64bit compilation has been updated for the toolips (using Grishka's second code version). I'm not sure about the need for compiling a 32bit version now. I had thought there could be problems but maybe I'm just thinking of problems I've had with applet plugins and browsers? |
12 Feb 11 - 03:53 PM (#3093977) Subject: RE: Tech: CopyUnicode: Create any char From: GUEST,Grishka On refreshing, I see the other answers. Thank you, Jon. If anyone finds any incompatibilities, let me know. Artful Codger (12 Feb 11 - 02:56 PM), you can call the program as you wish. Ok, let us stick to CopyUnicode in this thread, but the main class is ("historically") called ClipUnicode in the above source code, so if you want to call the source file CopyUnicode.java , the above something.bat should read: |