Custom X Compose key combinations

[maximumbawb]

I talked about the Compose Key before

I wanted to add more characters to the list. Specifically, I wanted to enter the Greek character π, as well as having a shortcut to enter ☠.

So I looked around and found an example XCompose file for greek characters.


# Start ~/.XCompose
include "%L" # include the defaults

<3> : "♡" U2661 # white heart suit
<3> : "♥" U2665 # black heart suit

: "☺" # :)

: "☹" # :(

: "☠" # Skull and Crossbones

: "α" U03B1 # GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA
: "β" U03B2 # GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA
: "γ" U03B3 # GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA
: "δ" U03B4 # GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA
: "ε" U03B5 # GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON
: "ζ" U03B6 # GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA
: "η" U03B7 # GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA
: "θ" U03B8 # GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA
: "ι" U03B9 # GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA
: "κ" U03BA # GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA
: "λ" U03BB # GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMBDA
: "μ" U03BC # GREEK SMALL LETTER MU
: "ν" U03BD # GREEK SMALL LETTER NU
: "ξ" U03BE # GREEK SMALL LETTER XI
: "ο" U03BF # GREEK SMALL LETTER OMIKRON

: "π" U03C0 # GREEK SMALL LETTER PI
: "ρ" U03C1 # GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO
: "ς" U03C2 # GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA
: "σ" U03C3 # GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA
: "τ" U03C4 # GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU
: "υ" U03C5 # GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON
: "φ" U03C6 # GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI
: "χ" U03C7 # GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI
: "ψ" U03C8 # GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI
: "ω" U03C9 # GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA

: "Α" U03B1 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA
: "Β" U03B2 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA
: "Γ" U03B3 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA
: "Δ" U03B4 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA
: "Ε" U03B5 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON
: "Ζ" U03B6 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ZETA
: "Η" U03B7 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA
: "Θ" U03B8 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA
: "Ι" U03B9 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA
: "Κ" U03BA # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA
: "Λ" U03BB # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMBDA
: "Μ" U03BC # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU
: "Ν" U03BD # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU
: "Ξ" U03BE # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI
: "Ο" U03BF # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMIKRON

: "Π" U03C0 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI
: "Ρ" U03C1 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO
: "Σ" U03C3 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA
: "Τ" U03C4 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU
: "Υ" U03C5 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON
: "Φ" U03C6 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI
: "Χ" U03C7 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI
: "Ψ" U03C8 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PSI
: "Ω" U03C9 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA
# end ~/.XCompose

This file is loaded at startup, and a copy seems to be loaded in every application. So if you change it, you'll have to restart any programs before they'll see an effect. GTK Applications (like Mozilla) use their own input method by default, so you have to start them with the environment variable GTK_IM_MODULE set to "xim" in order for this to work.

So now, when I hit Compose-g-p, I get "π". When I hit Compose-x-"-"-p, I get "☠". And when I hit Compose-:-(, I get "☹"