Overview

This is a simple little program for viewing the entire character set available in a font. Characters can be selected with the mouse and copied to the clipboard for pasting into another document or application.

Background

This is an application which exists in other window managers and operating systems, and probably doesn't get used much. I find myself reaching for it when I'm writing technical documents and need a greek symbol, or if I am writing a document/letter in a foreign language and need special symbols. These symbols are not easily accessed via the keyboard, and even if they were, I probably wouldn't remember the ascii code.

I wrote this program for two reasons. One, as I said above, this is a common program for desktop environments, yet I was unable to find one for KDE. My implimentation here is a bit rough, but I think some version of this program, mine or a complete rewrite, should be included in the regular KDE distribution. The second reason for writing this program was to familiarize myself with the QT/KDE APIs. Since this is the first thing I've done with those APIs, some of my code may look a little strange. Feel free to make changes, or let me know where I did something rediculous.

The Obligatory Screenshot

This is what the program looks like (click on the image to view full-size).

Where To Get It and Installation Notes

KCharMap can be downloaded here. This is a source distribution, but should compile and install easily if you have QT/KDE set up correctly on your system.

So I Installed It - Where Is It And What Do I Do With It?

KCharMap will install an icon on your Utilities menu in KDE. You will need to restart your KPanel (right-click and select restart), or just log out and log in again. To use it, just start it up, select the font you want to use, then use your mouse to click on the characters you want to copy (or you can type on your keyboard). When you have all the characters, hit the copy button (only highlighted characters will be copied). This places them on the clipboard. In most QT/KDE applications, you can select Edit->Paste or use CTRL-V to paste the characters. In other X applications, try using your middle mouse button to paste (their paste menu items probably won't work directly).

Contacting The Author

If you would like to reach me regarding this program (or for any other reason), my email address is ceckak@alumni.washington.edu.