Greater/Less Than or Equal To Symbols

[Rina J]

Hello and Happy New Year!

I'm working on a document that has a lot of instances of "greater than/less than or equal to" symbols. From what I can figure out, there are two ways to do these in FrameMaker

1) Ctrl+q # / Ctrl+q 3

2) Alt+0163 / Alt+0179

Neither of these are working for me. Both sets result in symbols, but not the symbols I'm looking for.

I can't find either of these symbols on the character palette. It's possible that they're there, but my aging eyes can't see the small type. If someone can tell me where they're located there, I would appreciate it.

Ideally, I'd like to know what, if any, combination of keys I can type to get these two symbols.

I am in FrameMaker 15, using Windows 10.

Thanks!

[Bob_Niland · Accepted solution]

The keyboard short cuts, and the Windows Alt codes may have changed with Unicode (and FM8 and later).

In Unicode these two characters are at ≤ (U+2264) and ≥ (U+2265).

When I need a character not on the keyboard, I've found it easier to do & maintain by using FM Variables. For these I would use:
Name: U+2264 LESS-THAN OR EQUAL TO
Definition: \u2264
Name: U+2265 GREATER-THAN OR EQUAL TO
Definition: \u2265

Name is the Unicode U+ code point and formal descriptor. These sink to the bottom of the Variables pod, so don't get in the way, and self-organize by code point.

This technique is also useful where your font doesn't actually populate the desired glyph, yet. The Definition might then have to invoke some other Character Format to invoke a font that does, or even be \x## hex code and legacy overlay font Character Format. But the variable Name memorializes the intent, for future document stewards.

[Rina J]

Bob, that makes so much sense, and it works!! Thank you! I appreciate your clear explanation -- very helpful!

[Bob_Niland]

I might add that when you re-open the Variable def dialog, FM will have converted your \u or \x markup to a glyph, which might not be terribly obvious (or could even be invisible, for spaces & such). Having the U+ code point in the name is handy.

Also, doing these as vars makes them easy to fix if some future font change results in a lot of unexpected "?" chars appearing in the doc. As plain text, so what was this ? supposed to be, then? Being a variable gives you a leg up on debugging it.

[LinSims]

Most of the time this is an issue when the font you chose doesn't support the symbol you want. You need to be sure your font supports Unicode. The Frame shortcuts will work then. I know, because I've used them. 🙂

This page will show you all the glyphs supported in the font you chose.

This site, although it hasn't been updated in a while, will provide you with the names of fonts that support particular ranges of Unicode. When in doubt, use Arial Unicode MS. It has over 38K glyphs.

Whatever font you pick needs to include the Mathematical Operators unicode range. The site I gave you provides a list of fonts with math operators here.

[Rina J]

I use Arial for just about everything, which is part of why I was scratching my head. Thanks for the links!

[LinSims]

That is peculiar.

<tests>

Wait. FM uses ANSI codes, not ASCII. My shortcuts document says the ANSI codes are 242 and 243 for the less than or equal to and the greater than or equal to symbols, and if you use the Ctrl + q shortcut, you have to apply the Symbol font.

<tests>

The ANSI codes (242 and 243) work in Arial.  If you apply the Symbol font, the Ctrl q +3 and Ctrl q + 8 (NOT #) work.

[LinSims]

Oh, yeah, and what Bob said. For things I use frequently that aren't easily found on the keyboard (or for which I haven't memorized the ANSI code), I create a variable and paste the symbol in to the definition from the Windows character map (after making sure that the correct font is selected—we use Source Sans Pro at my current job). Or a combination of characters: I have a lot of the standard fractions defined in a separate template file so I can import them when necessary.

[Rina J]

OK, the ANSI codes are working! I've already created the variables, but it's good to know that there's another shortcut that works. Thanks for your help!

[LinSims]

I have a shortcut compendium that, amongst other things, lists the shortcuts for a whole bunch of glyphs. It's a bit idiosyncratic, but if you want a copy, you can find it here. Scroll down to Keyboard Shortcuts and Special Characters for a link to the zip file. There's both a PDF and a .fm file in the zip, so you can adjust as needed for your own use.