<html><head><title>Inserting Special Characters</title><meta name="filename" content="text/common/guide/insert_specialchar"/><meta name="language" content="en-US"/><help:css-file-link xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"/><!--The CSS style header method for setting styles--><style type="text/css">
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<p class="Head1"><help:key-word value="characters; adding special" tag="kw68279_1" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"/><help:key-word value="inserting; special characters" tag="kw68279_6" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"/><help:key-word value="special characters; inserting" tag="kw68279_5" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"/><help:key-word value="text; inserting special characters" tag="kw68279_4" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"/><help:to-be-embedded Eid="insert_specialchar" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"><help:link Id="68279">Inserting Special Characters</help:link></help:to-be-embedded></p>
<p class="Paragraph">This is how to insert special characters (such as check marks, boxes, telephone symbols etc.) in your text.</p>
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<p class="P2">To view a selection of all characters, choose <span class="T1">Insert - Special Characters</span>.</p>
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<p class="P2">In the large selection field click the desired character or several characters in succession. The characters are displayed at the bottom of the dialog. When you close the dialog with OK, all displayed characters in the selected font are inserted in the current document.</p>
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<p class="P2">In any text input field (e.g. in the URL field of the function bar or in the input fields in the Find&Replace dialog) you can press Shift+<help:switch select="System" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"><help:case select="MAC">Command</help:case><help:default>Ctrl</help:default></help:switch>+S to call the <span class="T1">Special Characters</span> dialog.</p>
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<p class="Paragraph"><help:switch select="System" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"><help:case select="UNIX">At present there are three ways of entering letters with accents directly from the keyboard.<help:key-word value="accents; inserting" tag="kw68279_3"/><help:key-word value="compose key; special characters" tag="kw68279_2"/></help:case></help:switch></p>
<p class="Paragraph"><help:switch select="System" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"><help:case select="UNIX"><span class="T1">Sun Solaris:</span> Using a Sun keyboard. First press the Compose key to the right of the space bar, then enter the first and second modifiers.</help:case></help:switch></p>
<p class="Paragraph"><help:switch select="System" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"><help:case select="UNIX"><span class="T1">Linux / NetBSD:</span> Using the dead-keys. In an xterm window first press the 'or' key. It should not appear on the screen. Now press, for example, e. The e is given an accent é or è. If not, then check in the XF86Config file if a "nodeadkeys" XkbdVariant has been loaded there and replace it. You may also have set the environment-variable SAL_NO_DEADKEYS, that deactivates the dead-keys.</help:case></help:switch></p>
<p class="Paragraph"><help:switch select="System" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"><help:case select="UNIX"><span class="T1">All Unix systems:</span> (Alt Gr) as additional compose key. The (Alt Gr) key can work in <help:productname>%PRODUCTNAME</help:productname> like the Compose key, if you set the environment variable SAL_ALTGR_COMPOSE. The Alt Gr key must trigger a mode_switch, so, for example, xmodmap -e "keysym Alt_R = Mode_switch" must be set. First press (Alt Gr), then the first modifier, then the second modifier. The characters are combined as described on a Solaris system in the file /usr/openwin/include/X11/Suncompose.h.</help:case></help:switch></p>
