Q3.5.7: How can you type in special characters in SXEmacs?

One way is to use the package x-compose. Then you can use sequences like Compose " a to get ä, etc.

Another way is to use the iso-insert package. Then you can use sequences like C-x 8 " a to get ä, etc.

Glynn Clements writes:

It depends upon your X server.

Generally, the simplest way is to define a key as Multi_key with xmodmap, e.g.

        xmodmap -e 'keycode 0xff20 = Multi_key'

You will need to pick an appropriate keycode. Use xev to find out the keycodes for each key.

[NB: On a ‘Windows’ keyboard, recent versions of XFree86 automatically define the right ‘Windows’ key as Multi_key’.]

Once you have Multi_key defined, you can use e.g.

        Multi a '       => á
        Multi e "       => ë
        Multi c ,       => ç

etc.

Also, recent versions of XFree86 define various AltGr-<key> combinations as dead keys, i.e.

        AltGr [         => dead_diaeresis
        AltGr ]         => dead_tilde
        AltGr ;         => dead_acute

etc.

Running ‘xmodmap -pk’ will list all of the defined keysyms.

For the related problem of displaying non-ASCII characters in a non-Mule SXEmacs, See Q3.2.7.