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Re: Re: Primed Symbols in Mathematica

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg93876] Re: [mg93786] Re: Primed Symbols in Mathematica
• From: DrMajorBob <btreat1 at austin.rr.com>
• Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:34:16 -0500 (EST)
• References: <20081126174156.944360@jfultz2winlap>
• Reply-to: drmajorbob at longhorns.com

This:

\[Backslash]0	null byte (code 0)
\[Backslash].nn	a character with hexadecimal code nn
\:nnnn	a character with hexadecimal code nnnn

is copy/pasted from

tutorial/CharacterCodes

Sorry for the mixup on what page I was viewing, but as you see, the null  
byte coding is wrong, above.

> emphasize, this is standard Unicode and system fonts here...nothing  
> specific to Mathematica).

Everything I do is specific to Mathematica. (Or Photoshop Elements, Opera,  
MS Money, or Acrobat Standard 8.)

No other tools here, my friend, Unicode or otherwise!

Bobby

On Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:41:56 -0600, John Fultz <jfultz at wolfram.com> wrote:

> I don't see anything about the null byte discussed on the tutorial page  
> you
> point to (from either v6 or v7 documentation).  I do see a reference to  
> it on
> this page...
>
> tutorial/InputSyntax
>
> where it explicitly mentions that it's \000 (not, as you say, \0).
>
> I don't understand your last remark about Character Map.  There's no  
> reason that
> it or utilities like it on other platforms shouldn't work just fine in
> Mathematica.
>
> Yes, this is somewhat obscure in the documentation, and has been since  
> it was
> originally documented in the version 3 book.  But come on!  It's an  
> obscure
> point!
>
> It ties into the underlying representation of Unicode characters (and  
> let me
> emphasize, this is standard Unicode and system fonts here...nothing  
> specific to
> Mathematica).  If you had a keyboard with such a character on it  
> (assuming such
> a keyboard exists), it would Just Work.  If you use a utility (like  
> Character
> Map) which allows you to look at the full range of supported Unicode  
> characters
> on your system and paste them into applications, it would Just Work.
>
> So in addition to those far easier methods of inserting characters,  
> Mathematica
> additionally exposes this detail of the underlying implementation as an  
> obscure
> way to get any character you want, if you understand Unicode, if you  
> understand
> hex, if you need a character that isn't in the Special Characters  
> palette.  It
> really shouldn't be surprising that this isn't a headline documentation  
> item.
>
> I apologize for not better explaining myself in my earlier email.  My  
> email
> lacked the details mentioned here because I was in a hurry and I knew  
> that David
> would understand precisely what I meant.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> John Fultz
> jfultz at wolfram.com
> User Interface Group
> Wolfram Research, Inc.
>
>
>
> On Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:34:00 -0600, DrMajorBob wrote:
>>> ... I'm sure this is documented somewhere inside the bottom drawer of a
>>> filing cabinet ...
>>>
>> What an optimist you are!!
>>
>> So far I've found this mentioned in the tutorial at
>> tutorial/RawCharacterEncodings.
>>
>> I can, indeed, enter the single quote as \:02b9, but the null byte "\0"
>> from the same page yields a syntax error:
>>
>> \0
>>
>> Syntax::sntoct1: 3 octal digits are required after \ to construct an  
>> 8-bit
>> character.
>>
>> Syntax::sntxi: Incomplete expression; more input is needed.
>>
>>
>> The second method (Character Map) can't work well anywhere, can it, as
>> these characters are visually indistinguishable from others that lack  
>> the
>> desired properties?
>>
>> Bobby
>>
>> On Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:55:13 -0600, Steve Luttrell  
>> <steve at luttrell.org.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> You type exactly the string "\:02b9" (without the "") and just as you
>>> hit the "9" Mathematica will realise what you want and replace it by a
>>> single prime. I'm sure this is documented somewhere inside the bottom
>>> drawer of a filing cabinet ...
>>>
>>> Alternatively, in Windows at least, you can use the Character Map, and
>>> scroll down to find the relevant characters. They come just after the
>>> first
>>> large block of alphabetic characters in the Arial font.
>>>
>>> Stephen Luttrell
>>> West Malvern, UK
>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: DrMajorBob [mailto:btreat1 at austin.rr.com]
>>>> Sent: 26 November 2008 18:30
>>>> To: Steve Luttrell; mathgroup at smc.vnet.net; jfultz at wolfram.com
>>>> Subject: Re: [mg93786] Re: Primed Symbols in Mathematica
>>>>
>>>> Any clue, anyone, how we're supposed to ENTER these characters?
>>>>
>>>> Bobby
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:10:24 -0600, Steve Luttrell
>>>> <steve at _removemefirst_luttrell.org.uk> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I find that both the \:02b9 (single prime) and the \:02ba (double
>>>> prime)
>>>>> display OK on my Vista system. The double prime looks exactly (same
>>>> size
>>>>> and
>>>>> height) like a doubled version of the single prime.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> DrMajorBob at longhorns.com
>
>
>



-- 
DrMajorBob at longhorns.com