NAME

char, ½char, rschar - browse the Unicode Standard

SYNOPSIS

char [ font ]
½char [ -s file ] [ font ]
rschar [ -bgj ] [ -s file ] [ font ]

DESCRIPTION

Char displays two square arrays of characters on the screen. The left square shows the first character of each 256-character page of the Unicode Standard. The right square shows the contents of one page. Using button 1 or 2 to select a character in the left square changes the right square to display the corresponding page and displays the offset and name of the page in the upper left corner of the screen. Selecting a character in the right square displays its hexadecimal value and name. In addition, any characters selected with button 2 are added to the end of 8½'s snarf buffer. Button 3 pops up a menu containing an exit button, whose selection must be confirmed by pressing button 3 again and a clear snarf button that empties the snarf buffer.

The optional argument indicates which font to use (default $font).

½char is intended for a smaller window and displays only a single 256-character panel. Clicking button 1 on a character displays its code and, if possible, description; button 2 works similarly, but also writes the character to file, default /dev/snarf (8½'s snarf buffer), which it displays near the bottom of the window. Clicking button 3 selects the page corresponding to the cursor position in the panel. Typed characters are added to the file, except: backspace deletes the last character; control-U clears the buffer; control-D exits.

Rschar is the radical/stroke chart from Volume 2 of the Unicode Standard. Flags can be used to restrict the display to one or more Asian character sets:

-b

Big Five (traditional Chinese).

-g

GB 2312-80 (simplified Chinese).

-j

JIS X 0208-1990 (Japanese).

By default, all characters are shown. Button 3 controls a menu to change flag selections. Radicals are shown in a panel on the left side of the window. Clicking on a radical with button 1 or 2 brings up, on the right, a panel of characters ordered by stroke count. If the window is too small to contain them all, one may scroll through successive panels by clicking on arrows that appear at the top. Clicking on a character with button 1 displays its code; clicking with button 2 adds the character to the snarf buffer. Typed characters behave as in ½char.

FILES

/lib/unicode contains the names of the unicode characters. Many characters have no name.

SOURCE

/sys/src/cmd/char.c
/sys/src/cmd/½char.c
/sys/src/cmd/rschar

SEE ALSO

8½(1), 8½(4)

BUGS

Char needs a largish window to work properly and doesn't complain if it doesn't get it.