this post was submitted on 21 May 2024
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Linux 101 stuff. Questions are encouraged, noobs are welcome!

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How can I insert/type a blank character using my keyboard? (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 months ago by BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world to c/linux4noobs@lemmy.world
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Sometimes adding a blank character helps with formatting. For example on Lemmy, it helps me separate lines of text if I insert a blank character between other lines. Currently, do that by copy-and-pasting the blank character from elsewhere. Here is an example

Is there a way I can do this on Linux easily from the keyboard? I am using KDE Neon and have the compose key enabled so that I can easily type uncommon characters like ‽, ñ, and é easily.

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[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I believe Lemmy removed your blank character?
At least, it doesn't seem to show up when I try to select it or navigate around it with arrow keys, nor does the formatting look unusual.

It's usually possible to type Unicode characters by just inputting their codepoint/number. This kind of varies between desktop environments, but how it works for GNOME (and possibly others) is described here: https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/tips-specialchars.html.en#ctrlshiftu

Alternatively, you can also change your keyboard layout to include it. On X11, you'd do that with Xmodmap. Looks like there are some alternatives for Wayland, but I don't know what to recommend there.

Well, and another option would be to write a script which copies that character to your clipboard and then create a keyboard shortcut to call that script.
For copying to the clipboard, you can use xclip on X11 and wl-clipboard on Wayland.

[–] BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Thank you very much! I'll try this when I get home tonight.