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<article id="index"> <!-- please do not change the id -->

 <artheader>
  <title>GNOME Character Map Manual</title>
  <copyright>
   <year>2000</year>
   <holder>Hongli Lai</holder>
  </copyright>

  <!-- translators: uncomment this:

  <copyright>
   <year>2000</year>
   <holder>ME-THE-TRANSLATOR (Latin translation)</holder>
  </copyright>

   -->

  <!-- do not put authorname in the header except in copyright - use
  section "authors" below -->

  <legalnotice id="legalnotice">
      <para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
	under the terms of the <ulink type="help"
	url="gnome-help:fdl"><citetitle>GNU Free Documentation
	    License</citetitle></ulink>, Version 1.1 or any later version 
	published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, 
	no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license
	can be found <ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:fdl">here</ulink>.
      </para>
      <para>Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and
	services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any
	GNOME documentation, and those trademarks are made aware to the members
	of the GNOME Documentation Project, the names have been printed in caps
	or initial caps.
      </para>
    </legalnotice>


  <!-- this is version of manual, not application --> <releaseinfo>
  This is version 1.0 of the GNOME Character Map manual.
  </releaseinfo>

 </artheader>

 <!-- ============= Document Body ============================= -->

 <!-- ============= Introduction ============================== -->
 <sect1 id="intro">
  <title>Introduction</title>

  <para>
   <application>GNOME Character Map</application> is a program that
   allows you to select any character available in your current
   font. With <application>GNOME Character Map</application>, you can
   also use characters that you cannot type with your keybord (such as
   "extended ASCII characters", or characters with codes greater than
   127, for example the copyright symbol). It's similar to Microsoft
   Windows' <application>Character Map</application>. The difference
   is that <application>Gnome Character Map</application> is better
   ;-)
  </para>

  <para>
   Why did I write <application>GNOME Character Map</application>?
   Because there wasn't such a program available for Linux, until 
   now. When I write documents, sometimes I want to use special
   characters like an E-circumflex. To do that, I have to write a
   program that prints all font characters to stdout (how mad can you be? ;-) and copy the
   character to clipboard . I like the Windows' <application>Character
   Map</application>, because it's easy and fast to use. So I wrote
   one myself for Linux.
  </para>

   <note>
    <title>Cross-Platform Support</title>
    <para>
     <application>GNOME Character Map</application> will also
     work in other Unix platforms like FreeBSD, Solaris, etc., as long as Gnome is
     available for that platform.
    </para>
   </note>

  <para>
   To run <application>GNOME Character Map</application>, select
   <guimenuitem>GNOME Character Map</guimenuitem> from the
   <guisubmenu>Utilities</guisubmenu> submenu of the <guimenu>Main
   Menu</guimenu>, or type <command>gcharmap</command> on the
   command line. 
  </para>

  <para>
   <application>GNOME Character Map</application> is included in the
   <filename>gnome-utils</filename> package, which is part of the
   GNOME desktop environment. This document describes version
   &version; of <application>GNOME Character Map</application>.
  </para>

 </sect1>


 <!-- ================ Usage ================================ -->
 <!-- This section should describe basic usage of the application. -->

 <sect1 id="usage">
  <title>Using GNOME Character Map</title>

  <!-- ========= Basic Usage =========================== -->
  <sect2 id="mainwin">
   <title>Basic usage</title>
   <para>
    Starting <application>GNOME Character Map</application> opens 
    the <interface>Main window</interface>, shown in <xref
    linkend="mainwindow-fig">.

    <!-- ==== Figure ==== -->
    <figure id="mainwindow-fig">
     <title>GNOME Character Map Main Window</title>
     <screenshot>
      <screeninfo>GNOME Character Map Main Window</screeninfo>
      <graphic fileref="figures/gcharmap" format="png"
       srccredit="muet">
      </graphic>
     </screenshot>
    </figure>
    <!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->
   </para>

   <para>
    Create the desired text by clicking on the character buttons.
    Notice that as your mouse moves over each character, the character
    is shown in the <interface>Previewer</interface> (the black box to
    the right).  You may also enter standard keyboard text by typing
    on the keyboard. (You may have to click in the entry to bring the
    cursor focus to the entry.)  If you cannot find a character you
    would like to type, you may specify the character by its code
    (a number between 0 and 255)
    by using the <interface>Insert Character Dialog</interface>,
    which is accessible under the <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> menu. 
   </para>

   <para>
    After you are finished creating the text, click on the
    <guibutton>Copy</guibutton> button to copy the text in the entry
    to the clipboard.  Alternately, you can click on the
    <guibutton>Cut</guibutton> button to both copy the text to the
    clipboard and erase it from the entry.  You can also use the items
    in the <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> menu or the keyboard shortcuts
    shown in this menu to cut, copy, and paste.
   </para>

   <para>
    To paste the text, first switch to your text editor, word processor, or
    whatever. Then press the middle mouse button (or emulate it by
    pressing both the left and right mouse buttons together) to paste
    the text.
   </para>

   <note>
    <title>Situations Where Pasting Text Won't Work</title>
    <para>
     If you try to paste the text from the clipboard but it does not
     appear, then there are several possible reasons why:  
     <itemizedlist>

      <listitem>
       <para>
        You closed <application>GNOME Character Map</application>
        after you copied the text. X is not like Microsoft Windows; if
        you shut down an application, any data written to the clipboard
        by that application is lost. The golden rule: paste the text
        first, then shut down <application>Gnome Character
        Map</application>.
       </para>
      </listitem>      

      <listitem>
       <para>
        You clicked at the wrong place in your editor/whatever! You should
        click in the text-editing area.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     
      <listitem>
       <para>
        You have inadvertantly replaced the copied text with other
        text.  In X, any time you highlight text, the text is copied
        into the clipboard and can be pasted.  Thus, if you highlight
        text after copying the text in <application>GNOME Character
        Map</application>, the new highlighted text will replace the
        text in the clipboard from <application>GNOME Character
        Map</application>. Just go back to <application>GNOME
        Character Map</application> and copy the text again.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     
     </itemizedlist>
    </para>
   </note>

  </sect2>

  <!-- ========= Menus =========================== -->
  <sect2 id="menubar">
   <title>Menus</title>
   <para>
    The menu bar, located at the top of the <interface>Main
    Window</interface>, contains the following menus:
   </para>

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><guimenu>File</guimenu></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This menu contains:
       <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <shortcut>
            <keysym>Ctrl-Q</keysym>
           </shortcut>
           <guimenuitem>Exit</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          which closes <application>GNOME Character Map</application>.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </itemizedlist>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><guimenu>Edit</guimenu></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This menu contains:
       <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <shortcut>
            <keysym>Ctrl-X</keysym>
           </shortcut>
           <guimenuitem>Cut</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          which cuts (removes) the text from the entry and places it in the
          clipboard.
         </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <shortcut>
            <keysym>Ctrl-C</keysym>
           </shortcut>
           <guimenuitem>Copy</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          which copies the text from the entry and places it in the
          clipboard, while leaving the original text in the entry.
         </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <shortcut>
            <keysym>Ctrl-V</keysym>
           </shortcut>
           <guimenuitem>Paste</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          which pastes any text in the clipboard (which was placed
          there by a previous cut or copy) into the entry.
         </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <guimenuitem>Clear</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          clear all text in the entry.
         </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <guimenuitem>Select All</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          which selects all text in the entry.
         </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <guimenuitem>Insert Character</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          which opens the <interface>Insert
          Character</interface> Dialog (see <xref
          linkend="insertascii-fig"> which allows
          you to specify the code  for the character you wish to
          insert.
         </para>
         <figure id="insertascii-fig">
          <title>Insert ASCII Character Dialog</title>
          <screenshot>
           <screeninfo>Insert ASCII Character Dialog</screeninfo>
           <graphic fileref="figures/gcharmap_insertascii" format="png"
            srccredit="muet">
           </graphic>
          </screenshot>
         </figure>
        </listitem>
       </itemizedlist>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><guimenu>View</guimenu></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This menu contains:
       <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <guimenuitem>Action Toolbar</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          determines whether the icon-based toolbar below the top menu
          bar and above the text entry is shown.
         </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <guimenuitem>Text Toolbar</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          determines whether the toolbar below the action toolbar
          and above the character table is shown.
         </para>
        </listitem>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <menuchoice>
           <guimenuitem>Statusbar</guimenuitem>
          </menuchoice>
          determines whether the <interface>status bar</interface> is
          shown at the bottom of the window. The <interface>status
          bar</interface> shows character below the mouse pointer and
          the corresponding character code.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </itemizedlist>
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><guimenu>Settings</guimenu></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This menu contains:
       <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <guimenuitem>Character Table's Font...</guimenuitem>
          sets the character table's font.
         </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
         <para>
          <guimenuitem>Insert at End</guimenuitem>
          sets whenether a character should be inserted at the end of the entry, when you
          click on a button in the character table.
         </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
         <para>
          <guimenuitem>Focusable Buttons</guimenuitem> sets
          whenether the buttons in the character table are focusable or not.
          This is useful in times when you want to select a character from the character table
          and use the keyboard to insert a character in the entry, but don't want to
          click on the entry everytime you clicked on a button.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </itemizedlist>

      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><guimenu>Help</guimenu></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       This menu contains:
       <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          <guimenuitem>Manual</guimenuitem> shows this manual.
         </para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
         <para>
          <guimenuitem>About</guimenuitem> shows
          basic information about
          <application>GNOME Character Map</application>, such as
          the author's name and the application version number.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </itemizedlist>

      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </sect2>
 </sect1>


 <!-- ============= Bugs ================================== -->
 <!-- This section should describe known bugs and limitations of
      the program if there are any - please be frank and list all
      problems you know of -->
 <sect1 id="bugs">
  <title>Known Bugs and Limitations</title>
  <para>
  Guess what? I burned all the bugs! :-)
  </para>
 </sect1>


<!-- ============= Authors ================================ -->

 <sect1 id="authors">
  <title>Authors</title>
  <para>
   <application>GNOME Character Map</application> was written by Hongli Lai
   (<email>hongli@telekabel.nl</email>). To find more information about
   <application>GNOME Character Map</application>, please visit the <ulink
   url="http://users.telekabel.nl/hongli/eng/software/gcharmap/index.html"
   type="http">GNOME Character Map Web
   page</ulink>.  Please send all comments, suggestions, and bug
   reports to the <ulink url="http://bugzilla.gnome.org" type="http">GNOME
   bug tracking database</ulink>. (Instructions for submitting bug
   reports can be found <ulink
   url="http://bugs.gnome.org/Reporting.html" type="http">
   on-line</ulink>.) If you are using
   GNOME 1.1 or later, you can also use <application>Bug Report
   Tool</application> (<command>bug-buddy</command>), available in the
   <guisubmenu>Utilities</guisubmenu> submenu of <guimenu>Main
   Menu</guimenu>, for submitting bug reports.
  </para>

  <para>
   This manual was written by Hongli Lai
   (<email>hongli@telekabel.nl</email>). Conversion to DocBook and
   minor modification was done by Dan Mueth
   (<email>dan@eazel.com</email>). Please send all comments and
   suggestions regarding this manual to the <ulink type="http"
   url="http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/">GNOME Documentation Project</ulink> 
   by sending an email to <email>docs@gnome.org</email>. You can also
   add your comments online by using the <ulink type="http"
   url="http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/doctable/">GNOME Documentation Status
   Table</ulink>.
  </para>

  <!-- For translations: uncomment this:

  <para>
   Latin translation was done by ME
   (<email>MYNAME@MYADDRESS</email>). Please send all  comments  and
   suggestions regarding this translation to SOMEWHERE.
  </para>

  -->

 </sect1>


 <!-- ============= Application License ============================= -->

 <sect1 id="license">
  <title>License</title>
<para>
   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
      modify it under the terms of the <ulink url="gnome-help:gpl"><citetitle>GNU General Public
   License</citetitle></ulink> as published by the Free Software Foundation;
   either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
   version.
  </para>
  <para>
   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
   <citetitle>GNU General Public License</citetitle> for more details.
  </para>
  <para>You also obtain a copy of the
   <citetitle>GNU General Public License</citetitle> from the Free
   Software Foundation by visiting <ulink type="http"
   url="http://www.fsf.org">their Web site</ulink> or by writing to
   <address>
    Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    <street>59 Temple Place</street> - Suite 330
    <city>Boston</city>, <state>MA</state> <postcode>02111-1307</postcode>
    <country>USA</country>
   </address>
  </para>

 </sect1>
</article>




