Fixes and changes to Lokalize, request for feedback

[Karl Ove Hufthammer]

Eloy Cuadra skreiv 28.07.2024 18:08:
> Something really useful would be the ability to automatically convert three
> dots in a row to the Unicode ellipsis character in the editor. The use of this
> character has recently been encouraged in the KDE HIG guidelines, but it is
> really cumbersome for translators to include it naturally without having to
> resort to key combinations that often do not work as they should.

Some keyboard layouts have the character easily accessible. For example, 
the ‘nodeadkeys’ variant of the Spanish layout has it on ‘AltGr + -’ 
(‘AltGr’ is the *right* ‘Alt’ key). To test it, you can load the 
keyboard layout like this (or use the keyboard layout options in system 
settings):

setxkbmap -layout es -variant nodeadkeys

If your preferred keyboard layout doesn’t have a key for ‘…’, you can 
add it yourself. Here’s a recipe:

Create a file ~/.xmodmaprc containing this line:

keycode 60 = period colon ellipsis periodcentered ellipsis periodcentered

Run this command to load the settings

xmodmap ~/.xmodmaprc

Now ‘Alt Gr + .’ should insert an ellipsis character. (I think it’s more 
logical to have the character on the . key, as it’s a variant/extension 
of this character.)


> On the other hand, using Ctrl+Space to copy the original text in English and then replacing
> the parts that must be translated while maintaining the ellipsis characters is
> extremely artificial and very unproductive.
I agree that this can be made simpler. On the other hand, I’m not sure 
adding support for this in Lokalize is the best way forward. Easy access 
to special characters is really the domain of the input method (e.g., 
ibus or fcitx5). And when using the correct input method, inserting 
these characters will be easy in *all* applications, not just in Lokalize.


-- 
Karl Ove Hufthammer