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Is there a good way to do custom typing hotkeys on Mint? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Recent convert from Windows here, and for the most part everything has been smooth, but I've run into a brick wall with this one.

I write a lot and often like to use non-standard characters. On Windows I was using AutoHotKey to convert e.g. a ctrl-shift-hyphen into an em dash (—) or ctrl-e to type an é.

I haven't been able to find any good way to do this on Mint thus far. AutoHotKey doesn't seem to work, and the built-in Keyboard Shortcuts interface is incredibly clunky and slow (i.e. pasting the character maybe 2/3rds of the time, with noticeable delay).

I'd really like to be able to just seamlessly hit a hotkey and type a character like —/é. Does anyone have any suggestions for this? Thanks.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Have you tried setting up the compose key?

It seems like it can do the em dash and any other special characters you want:

https://tstarling.com/stuff/ComposeKeys.html

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

A compose key is a great option. You can also use something like Kanata to make a custom layout that's the same as your normal one, but with extra characters on the AltGr layer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

While not as powerful (i just miss Autohotkey) xdotool is a good alternative for ahk. Create your script with it and use a hotkey to run it. Like:

xdotool type "é"