Compose key + XKB do not work correctly in KDE

[Ulrich Hobelmann]

Binary package hint: kdebase

(Sorry if this is not an issue of kdebase; it's related to KDE in general.)

I'm using the Dvorak keyboard layout, but I often need to type accented or composed characters, such as é, ä, or ß. For this reason I use the Compose-key, which both Gnome and KDE can set (I set it to the right-alt-key).

With KDE the key works sometimes, for instance I can press compose+" and a to generate ä. But pressing compose+s doesn't work at all, while pressing s a second time should generate ß.

Generating a Euro sign € doesn't work correctly either. In Dvorak I cannot generate the euro sign (even when the advanced XKB options are set) with compose+e, but compose+. works (. in Dvorak is the same key as 'e' on German or US keyboards. Probably that setting is hard-wired into the software, instead of looking up the 'e' key on the current keyboard layout). But this only works for the euro. compose+o doesn't generate ß, even though 'o' in Dvorak is where the 's' key usually is.

Other "advanced XKB" settings don't work, either, in KDE. I set the group-switcher to the "menu" key. KDE doesn't do anything when I press the key, though (I have two layouts for switching; German (for friends) and US-Dvorak). Nor does KDE light up the keyboard caps-lock LED when I switch groups manually, when I enable this setting in the XKB settings (but not all XKB-settings are broken, as compose seems to work for some characters like ä, as I mentioned above).

I wanted to try KDE, but these were real showstoppers for me. I still have KDE installed besides Gnome though, so if there's anything else I can do to help or clarify this issue, I'd be happy to.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

Thanks for your report. Does Gnome works correctly or do you have similar problems?

[Ulrich Hobelmann (u-hobelmann)]

Gnome works great (on Ubuntu 6.10 and also 7.04). I set the compose key in the keyboard preferences->layout options, as well as group switching and even the caps-lock LED to tell me when the second keyboard layout is active.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

I made a test to type euro sign. KDE works with sequence compose key, C and E. In Dvorak the same combination works but keys are obviouvsly different. But I saw that you use a different combination. Why? Have you modified KDE default settings that use these combinations http://webcvs.freedesktop.org/xorg/xc/nls/Compose/en_US.UTF-8?view=co

Thanks again. I'll test soon other problems related to group switching.

[Ulrich Hobelmann (u-hobelmann)]

Oh ok, I did not know KDE has a different combination for the Euro sign. In Gnome (or not sure what exact technology is underlying it) it's compose + = + capital C or e, i.e. it's =C or =e instead of CE after the compose.

Well, the jungle of keyboard layouts is quite deep on all platforms, I guess, and the way to type special letters and accents differs by platform. Anyway, thanks for your time.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

Sorry, you probably don't use compose sequence but use right Alt key to change level in your keyboard. Please don't consider my previous post.

[Ulrich Hobelmann (u-hobelmann)]

I do use compose, but in Gnome's settings I set compose to be right-alt (which was otherwise unused, I think). Maybe in KDE right-alt does something different already, so setting compose to r-alt didn't work for me then.

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

Right Alt is allowed as compose key. However locale settings affect the combinations used to compose characters. I think that default setting should be en_US.UTF-8 so the combinations are listed in /usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/compose.

If you experience other problems, feel free to report. Thanks

[Robert Persson (ireneshusband)]

This is an X11 bug (see #74360). Many compose key combinations just don't work any more.

[Ulrich Hobelmann (u-hobelmann)]

Actually, it does work with Gnome on Ubuntu 7.04 (still using that), and if I'm informed correctly, Gnome uses XKB. Anyway, there's a working solution somewhere out there ;-)

[Marco Maini (maini10)]

May be related with 74360, but probably doesn't have the same effects. However, I think they have to be examined together. For this moment, I'll mark as duplicate of 74360.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for kdebase (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]