Unicode input

Common card · No. 274946

Unicode input is a data entry method for specific characters that are not directly available on a physical keyboard. (Unicode is the character encoding system used by virtually all modern computers and smartphones.) Characters can be entered either by selecting them from a display, by typing a certain sequence or a 'chord' of keys on a physical keyboard, or by drawing the symbol by hand on touch-sensitive screen. In contrast to the historic 96 element character set encoded by ASCII (which it contains), Unicode encodes hundreds of thousands of graphemes (characters) from almost all of the world's written languages as well as many other signs and symbols. A comprehensive Unicode input system must provide for a large repertoire of characters, ideally all valid Unicode code points. This is different from a keyboard layout which defines keys and their combinations only for a limited number of characters appropriate for a certain locale. Nevertheless, the latter technique (particularly if an...

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