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Lori J Brown
Participant
October 27, 2011
Answered

Arrow characters in Frame 9

  • October 27, 2011
  • 1 reply
  • 4564 views

Greetings,

Trying to create a right arrow in Frame 9. The ADOBE® FRAMEMAKER ®9 Character Sets document page 15 says this:

0174 \xae Control+q . → arrowright

Pressing Alt (with NumLock on) plus 0174 doesn't work. Neither does the keyboard shortcut. What is the best way? The File -> Utilities -> Hex Input doesn't work either. The Character palette shows the item I need, but it inserts something else other than the picture. I've tried various fonts.

Thanks!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Arnis Gubins

    Try this:

    1. Insert the code, e.g. alt+0174, and you should see the Register symbol: ®

    2. Select that character.

    3. Apply the Symbol character style that you created.

    4. You should now see the right arrow.

    1 reply

    Arnis Gubins
    Arnis Gubins
    Inspiring
    October 27, 2011

    Lori,

    You need to set that specific character to the Symbol font for this to work, e.g. create a Character style.

    L
    Lori J BrownAuthor
    Participant
    October 27, 2011

    Greetings--I created a Character style with the Symbol font, but am still getting the wrong symbol. Am doing something wrong...

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 28, 2011

    Error,

    This topic caught my eye. Thanks for the technical tips.

    1. I was able to figure out how to create the variable so as to insert the right arrow. You might have said "First, you need to create a character format named "Symbol" (Family:Symbol and all other font settings "as-is") so that it's selectable from the Character Formats list in the Create Variable dialog box."

    When you said "... where Character Format "Symbol" already exists,"

    I looked at my list and it did not yet exist. I then re-read your reply and realized I needed to create it.

    2. When you mentioned Unicode arrows, how exactly do you enter the code? I checked the Framemaker Character Sets doc and it does not explain how to enter them. (Framemaker 7.2)

    Yours,

    Michael F

    =======


    When you mentioned Unicode arrows, how exactly do you enter the code? I checked the Framemaker Character Sets doc and it does not explain how to enter them. (Framemaker 7.2)

    You don't. Frame didn't get Unicode support until 8.0. For prior versions (including the 7.1/Unix I use most of the time), you have to stick with the legacy technique.

    For FM8 and later on Windows, an easy way to enter a known code point, such as

    U+2794➔Heavy wide-headed rightward arrow

    is to hold down the [ Alt ] key and type 2794 on the numpad.

    If the current font is populated with that glyph, it appears, otherwise, you may get nothing or a surprise. When I type U+2794 into FM9 using Arial Unicode MS, I get a U+03A9 omega instead of an arrow. Windows Character Map shows the arrow for U+2794, so I'm not sure who* is mapping an omega instead. If I select that arrow from CM and paste it into FM9, it's correct.

    FM9 also has Hex Input and Character Map tools, but they seem to merely show the code point, and provide no obvious way to insert the entered or selected character.

    ________

    * On further research, entering 4-character Unicode hex values on newer Windows versions is not enabled by default. It requires a Registry hack, a re-boot, and the use of the [+] key in addtion to the numpad keys (and the A-E keys). It would seem that anyone using Unicode in Window Frame for the first time is probably in for a typical Mr.Bill [mis]adventure.

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