AltGr key combination recognition

AltGr key combination recognition

[Michael Rasmussen]

My freshly installed zsh[1] does not accept AltGr character input. 
A search of the list archives shows that other people have successfully
used AltGr keyboard mappings, though the messages were from 2005 - 2008.

The FAQ also states:
   If you have a recent X Window System installation, you might find the
   AltGr key helps you input accented Latin characters; for example on
   my keyboard AltGr-;

I am using the grml zsh config, but a "zsh -d" shell exhibits the same problem.

Would someone with a working AltGr setup please share what was needed to enable it. 


[1] v5.0.2 on Arch Linux, the AltGr keys combinations to produce ñ ¿ ... 
in Xapps like web browsers and Libre Office.

-- 
            Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
          Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
  Other Adventures: http://www.jamhome.us/ or http://gplus.to/MichaelRpdx
A special random fortune cookie fortune:
Just get started.
	~  mlr

Re: AltGr key combination recognition

[René 'Necoro' Neumann]

Am 16.12.2013 22:11, schrieb Michael Rasmussen:
> My freshly installed zsh[1] does not accept AltGr character input. 
> A search of the list archives shows that other people have successfully
> used AltGr keyboard mappings, though the messages were from 2005 - 2008.
> 
> The FAQ also states:
>    If you have a recent X Window System installation, you might find the
>    AltGr key helps you input accented Latin characters; for example on
>    my keyboard AltGr-;
> 
> I am using the grml zsh config, but a "zsh -d" shell exhibits the same problem.
> 
> Would someone with a working AltGr setup please share what was needed to enable it. 

Is it the shell or the terminal that does not work? In other words: Does
another shell in the same terminal work?

- René

Re: AltGr key combination recognition

[Michael Rasmussen]

On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:45:22PM +0100, René 'Necoro' Neumann wrote:
> Am 16.12.2013 22:11, schrieb Michael Rasmussen:
> > My freshly installed zsh[1] does not accept AltGr character input. 
> > A search of the list archives shows that other people have successfully
> > used AltGr keyboard mappings, though the messages were from 2005 - 2008.
> > 
> > The FAQ also states:
> >    If you have a recent X Window System installation, you might find the
> >    AltGr key helps you input accented Latin characters; for example on
> >    my keyboard AltGr-;
> > 
> > I am using the grml zsh config, but a "zsh -d" shell exhibits the same problem.
> > 
> > Would someone with a working AltGr setup please share what was needed to enable it. 
> 
> Is it the shell or the terminal that does not work? In other words: Does
> another shell in the same terminal work?

Switching to bash allows the combinations to work. Even sshing to another host 
where bash is my default allows it to work. Which sounds quite odd because zsh
must be accepting the key codes and sending them on through the ssh tunnel.



-- 
            Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
          Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
  Other Adventures: http://www.jamhome.us/ or http://gplus.to/MichaelRpdx
A special random fortune cookie fortune:
I want to submit patches to Google's Adwords API but they use svn 
and I can't be bothered to hit myself in the head with a hammer.
    ~ Curtis "Ovid" Poe

Re: AltGr key combination recognition

[Peter Stephenson]

On Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:00:17 -0800
Michael Rasmussen <michael@jamhome.us> wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:45:22PM +0100, René 'Necoro' Neumann wrote:
> > Am 16.12.2013 22:11, schrieb Michael Rasmussen:
> > > My freshly installed zsh[1] does not accept AltGr character input. 
> Switching to bash allows the combinations to work.

One possibility is that you might have "bindkey -m" in effect, which
swallows up bytes with the top bit set (that now outputs a warning,
however, unless your initialisation is explicitly suppressing that).
Try starting a vanilla zsh with "zsh -f" and using "bindkey -e" (you
can't undo the effect of "bindkey -m" within a shell without explicitly
unbinding the sequences).

-- 
Peter Stephenson <p.w.stephenson@ntlworld.com>
Web page now at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/p.w.stephenson/

Re: AltGr key combination recognition

[Michael Rasmussen]

On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:34:24PM +0000, Peter Stephenson wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:00:17 -0800
> Michael Rasmussen <michael@jamhome.us> wrote:
> > On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:45:22PM +0100, René 'Necoro' Neumann wrote:
> > > Am 16.12.2013 22:11, schrieb Michael Rasmussen:
> > > > My freshly installed zsh[1] does not accept AltGr character input. 
> > Switching to bash allows the combinations to work.
> 
> One possibility is that you might have "bindkey -m" in effect, which
> swallows up bytes with the top bit set (that now outputs a warning,
> however, unless your initialisation is explicitly suppressing that).
> Try starting a vanilla zsh with "zsh -f" and using "bindkey -e" (you
> can't undo the effect of "bindkey -m" within a shell without explicitly
> unbinding the sequences).

The "zsh -f" and "bindkey -e" did not resolve.

Went beyond just those steps and removed all /etc/zsh and personal ~/.zsh*
The issue stays with me. 

My work around for now is `exec bash` and doing what needs doing.


-- 
            Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
          Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
  Other Adventures: http://www.jamhome.us/ or http://gplus.to/MichaelRpdx
A special random fortune cookie fortune:
Show respect for age. Drink good Scotch for a change.

Re: AltGr key combination recognition - resolved

[Michael Rasmussen]

My locale, somehow, was set to C.
Resetting to en_US.UTF8 resolved the issue.


On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 04:57:08PM -0800, Michael Rasmussen wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:34:24PM +0000, Peter Stephenson wrote:
> > On Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:00:17 -0800
> > Michael Rasmussen <michael@jamhome.us> wrote:
> > > On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:45:22PM +0100, René 'Necoro' Neumann wrote:
> > > > Am 16.12.2013 22:11, schrieb Michael Rasmussen:
> > > > > My freshly installed zsh[1] does not accept AltGr character input. 
> > > Switching to bash allows the combinations to work.
> > 
> > One possibility is that you might have "bindkey -m" in effect, which
> > swallows up bytes with the top bit set (that now outputs a warning,
> > however, unless your initialisation is explicitly suppressing that).
> > Try starting a vanilla zsh with "zsh -f" and using "bindkey -e" (you
> > can't undo the effect of "bindkey -m" within a shell without explicitly
> > unbinding the sequences).
> 
> The "zsh -f" and "bindkey -e" did not resolve.
> 
> Went beyond just those steps and removed all /etc/zsh and personal ~/.zsh*
> The issue stays with me. 
> 
> My work around for now is `exec bash` and doing what needs doing.
> 
> 
> -- 
>             Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
>           Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
>   Other Adventures: http://www.jamhome.us/ or http://gplus.to/MichaelRpdx
> A special random fortune cookie fortune:
> Show respect for age. Drink good Scotch for a change.
> 

-- 
            Michael Rasmussen, Portland Oregon  
          Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity
  Other Adventures: http://www.jamhome.us/ or http://gplus.to/MichaelRpdx
A special random fortune cookie fortune:
Apples  have  meant  trouble  since  eden.
                ~ MaDsen Wikholm, mwikholm@at8.abo.fi

Re: AltGr key combination recognition

[Aaron Schrab]

At 14:00 -0800 16 Dec 2013, Michael Rasmussen <michael@jamhome.us> wrote:
>Switching to bash allows the combinations to work. Even sshing to 
>another host where bash is my default allows it to work. Which sounds 
>quite odd because zsh must be accepting the key codes and sending them 
>on through the ssh tunnel.

That isn't the way that it works.  Once you start a program (such as 
ssh), the shell isn't involved in directing the input or output between 
your terminal and that program.  Other than some special cases for 
control keys which send signals, character input goes directly from your 
terminal to whatever program you are using at the time.