[libreoffice-users] RE: A toolbar option that makes it easier to type using unicode

Frank, *


CVAlkan wrote
> I, for one, am totally opposed to any perpetuation of this absurd
> distinction between "typing" and "unicode" as it only perpetuates the
> silly idea that somehow western character sets are "normal" and other
> scripts are "complex text". Are Arabic, Japanese, Hebrew, Hindi, Korean,
> Laotian and Thai-speaking users not "typing" simply because they use a
> different alphabet? 

Thank you, well put!


> ...
>
> Having said all that, Writer certainly could use some UI elements that
> could help: an indication as to what font is actually being used at any
> given time (and no: the displayed font is NOT always the one in use even
> when single non-Latin glyphs are used); an indication as to what Unicode
> plane a character is in, and so forth. Some of the poster's suggestions
> would certainly be welcome. The ability to pick a font based on the
> unicode ranges desired would be wonderful - but it strikes me that this
> really isn't the responsibility of an application ...  Being able to
> select a font and be able to determine which planes are implemented might
> be more practical, although there are many fonts which "support" a given
> plane without including all of its defined glyphs. It's a tough call by
> any measure.
> ...

Which raises the question, where in the LibreOffice GUI would this belong? 
IMEs (like iBUS) are implemented in the OS, but at the application level
within LibreOffice more remains to be done.  

As you've noted on multiple occasions the CJK and CTL "modes" in LibreOffice
still need considerable attention ( tdf#96255
<https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=92655>  ). 

As LibreOffice has now implemented the :Emoji: auto-correct glyph
replacements, and the <Alt>+x Unicode toggle, we now exposed a lot of users
to use of glyphs contained in the Unicode SMP--which the default typeface
for the script in use is often not covered--nor in an often broken
fallback--resulting in some interesting visual glitches during editing.
Also, integral to LibreOffice, we need to examine the Unicode page
maps--searching by codepoint names or even graphic composition of glyphs
which requires efficient extraction of coverage.  

All of which lands us back on LibreOffices GUI for Special Characters. A UI
element already consistent across script in use, but which is lacking some
essential features for better composition of multi-script text. 
Specifically for managing the tables of Unicode codepoints, and search for
and display of typeface coverage of those tables.

A number of suggested enhancements to the Special Character dialog have
already been implemented

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=34882
http://user-prompt.com/libreoffice-design-session-special-character/

But there is much more that could be done to enhance the Special Character
dialog as an application component of LibreOffice for multi-script Unicode
beyond the core handling in "Western", CJK and CTL scripts  that admittedly
need developer attention.  

But, frankly this discussion does not belong on the User list--rather with
the Design and UX-Advise channel.

Stuart



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