Re: Weird problem in xvile - I can't enter a '>' character

[Chris Green]

On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 02:37:56PM +0000, Chris Green wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 10:26:07AM -0400, Thomas Dickey wrote:
> > On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 10:16:08AM -0400, Paul Fox wrote:
> > > chris wrote:
> > >  > I don't use xvile all that much, I use vile in a terminal window most
> > >  > of the time, however I do sometimes find I need to use xvile.
> > >  > 
> > >  > I've just found that the > character doesn't work in xvile.  This
> > >  > seems to be the same on both version 9.8v and 9.8y running on two
> > >  > different xubuntu systems.
> > >  > 
> > >  > The > character works fine everwhere else, in vile, in the terminal
> > >  > window, in browser windows, etc.
> > >  > 
> > >  > I've tried changing font selection but that didn't help.
> > >  > 
> > >  > I *can* enter a > by typing x3e.
> > >  > 
> > >  > Any ideas how to diagnose this?
> > > 
> > > Perhaps not much help, but:  works for me, 9.8v on Ubuntu.
> > 
> > same here.
> > 
> > I'd suspect locale-related problems (e.g., the keyboard configuration).
> > Some environments tend to switch my keyboard settings to UK - perhaps
> > you have the complementary problem of switching to US?
> 
> Yes, it really has to be something in my environment as otherwise I'm
> sure other people would be reporting the same problem. I've tried
> changing user and that hasn't helped though.
> 
Well I have found what causes the problem but I don't understand why
or how to fix it.

I have a .Xmodmap file as follows:-

    ! pointer = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
    !
    !
    ! Set 'Windows' key to Multi_key, for accented characters etc.
    !
    keycode 133 = Multi_key
    !
    !
    ! Set AltGr to be Mode_switch key
    !
    keycode 108 = Mode_switch Mode_switch
    !
    !
    ! Add a few special characters using the Mode_switch key (which is
    'Alt Gr')
    !
    keysym period = period rightcaret U25B6 NoSymbol
    keysym slash = slash question U2714 U2714
    keysym 3 = 3 U00A3 U20AC U20AC
    !
    !
    ! Prevent shifted space from giving nobreakspace, but leave with
    Mode_switch key
    !
    keycode 65 = space space nobreakspace nobreakspace
    !
    !
    ! Stop CapsLock from doing CapsLock (xbindkeys makes it paste)
    !
    clear lock
    keycode 66 = NoSymbol NoSymbol NoSymbol NoSymbol


If I comment out the line:-

    keysym period = period rightcaret U25B6 NoSymbol

then the > key works again in xvile.  However I really don't see why
the above line breaks xvile, no other programs (or none I can find
anyway) are affected in the same way.  The U25B6 character works in
xvile as does 'period' (I'd really miss that one!).

The 'keysym slash = slash question U2714 U2714' works as expected in
xvile so it's not a general problem with using keysym.

I don't actually use the added ▶ character much so I won't really miss
that line all that much.  It's still rather puzzling though!

-- 
Chris Green