Questions tagged [special-characters]

If a character has a meaning beyond its literal meaning, a meta-meaning, then we refer to it as a special character.

If a character has a meaning beyond its literal meaning then we refer to it as a special character.

For example, space characters are normally used in the shell to separate arguments. Preceding a space character with a backslash \ makes the shell interpret it as a literal space character.

169 questions
48
votes
10 answers

How do I insert an umlaut on the u in ubuntu?

I have already activated the compose key (left CTRL). According to all the forums I've read, I have to punch in Compose, followed by "u. This is what I get as a result: ´u' I am really stuck here. Any help will be most appreciated.
35
votes
3 answers

Why do *nix folk like to use ``...'' rather than the " character?

At the risk of being flamed, I'd like to understand why some people prefer to use a ``construction'' of accent and single quote characters rather than the "double-quote" character when quoting things? Example: Why do some users write quotes…
Torben Gundtofte-Bruun
  • 10,354
  • 26
  • 73
  • 113
33
votes
7 answers

How to type the Indian Rupee Symbol?

I want to type the Indian Rupee Symbol. So I went to System Settings >> Keyboard Layout and clicked on the Options button. Under the Adding Currency signs to keys sections, I checked the Rupee on 4 option. Later when I opened the Layout Chart of…
TheLoneKing
  • 1,417
  • 4
  • 19
  • 29
20
votes
2 answers

How do I use filenames that start with a dash "-" as command arguments?

This may be a simple question, but how do I use files starting with "-" with command line programs? For example, I am trying to use pdfgrep on a file named -2013-01-01.pdf but it complains that there are no options defined for 2, 0, 1, 3 and so…
Kristoffer
  • 365
  • 1
  • 9
17
votes
1 answer

How do I produce a É character in the tty login prompt?

TL;DR : How can I produce a É character in the tty login prompt ? Long story : Ok so I was playing with the application "Unity Tweak Tool" to discover some nice features but at some point the whole interface froze and I had to restart my computer…
15
votes
4 answers

Apt-get update with an @ in password error

I want to update ubuntu 11.04 throught apt-get. So I added the following lines in apt.conf export http_proxy=http://username:password@proxyserver.net:port/ export ftp_proxy=http://username:password@proxyserver.netport/ export…
Deepak Rajput
  • 6,887
  • 9
  • 29
  • 37
14
votes
1 answer

type French accents with US international keyboard

I am running Lubuntu on my laptop and would like to write French accents with a US keyboard. I find the compose key solution ([Alt]+[accent] at the same time, followed by a [letter]) not that handy... On Windows, there is a better solution: switch…
rom
  • 341
  • 2
  • 3
  • 13
13
votes
2 answers

How to type half Hindi character with Hindi (Bolnagri) layout?

I'm using Hindi (Bolnagri) layout to type in Hindi. I'm typing in Hindi for first time. My problem is, I want to type स्वाद. How do I type that half स? EDIT 1: How to type औ with this layout? EDIT 2: How to type र्श as in आदर्श?
Santosh Kumar
  • 1,660
  • 6
  • 22
  • 41
11
votes
1 answer

How do I force folder view sort order to not ignore special characters?

I have many folders in my home directory that have names that begin with special characters such as _OLD_500GB_HD or !FolderIWantToSeeAtTheTop, but for some reason these folders are sorted according to their first alphanumeric character rather than…
Jason Hartley
  • 525
  • 1
  • 7
  • 14
10
votes
1 answer

How do I enter the Euro symbol in vim?

I am running vim 7.4: andrew@athens:~$ vim --version | head -n 2 VIM - Vi IMproved 7.4 (2013 Aug 10, compiled Jun 16 2016 10:50:38) Included patches: 1-1689 And I need to routinely type in the Euro symbol. How do I do this easily and efficiently?
andrew.46
  • 37,085
  • 25
  • 149
  • 228
10
votes
5 answers

How do I make Cedilla (ç) character available in English USA?

I need the character Cedilla working my English USA Ubuntu Natty but when use the normal combination ' then c I get this ć. In the previous versions I used this solution: [SOLVED] Getting ç cedilla instead of c acute with american keyboards but it…
10
votes
1 answer

ubuntu å vs osx å?

Not sure if this is a ubuntu or osx question, but I'll start here. I'll leave it to the mods to move the question to AskDifferent if more apropriate. I moved a file from ubuntu to osx using scp on the apple machine. I edited the file on the apple…
azzid
  • 844
  • 1
  • 10
  • 20
9
votes
2 answers

How to type special character on ubuntu

A bit silly, but I can't type this character ಠ, on ubuntu. Some page say it should be this way Ctrl+Shift type u0CA0 But it doesnt do anything. Even I find a shortcut for sublime that I didn't know that exist before try this.
raulricardo21
  • 693
  • 1
  • 8
  • 18
9
votes
3 answers

How can I type Japanese characters?

What is the way to be able to type Japanese characters? Could someone make a how-to in order to explain the few steps to get it?
Agmenor
  • 15,924
  • 18
  • 67
  • 103
9
votes
2 answers

How do I complete the Gnome Character Map with missing Unicode characters?

I often use the Gnome Character Map accessory to find characters I didn't know, with a view to surprising friends with exclusive drawings. However the program is not complete and lacks some characters like the Mongol or the Birman ones. How do I…
Agmenor
  • 15,924
  • 18
  • 67
  • 103
1
2 3
11 12