This topic describes techniques that can be used to display special characters or symbols while running ISPF in GUI mode. Although some are similar, the techniques are platform specific. In each case, the text refers to a number (sometimes in hexadecimal form) which is the code point of the character or symbol within the current (in use) code page. Note that the code point for a symbol may have different values depending on the code page being used.

Windows

Use Microsoft's Character Map program to find the special character that you want to insert into your document or entry field. The Character Map program is available from the Start menu under the Accessories folder.

After you have found the special character, select it by clicking with your mouse. Notice that the key sequence used to generate the character displays in the lower right portion of the window. You can use this key sequence in an entry field or GUI editor to display the character. Alternatively, you can use the Character Map program to copy the character to the clipboard, then paste it into your document.

When entering a character using its key sequence, remember that you must use the numeric keypad. For example, the key sequence for the host 'not' sign (¬) is ALT+0172. To enter this key sequence, press and hold the ALT key, then press the numbers 0172 on the keypad, then release the ALT key. Note that the leading zero is important and must be specified in order to display the character using the current (in use) character set. Without the leading zero, the OEM (or DOS) character set is used. Also note that within an entry field, some key sequences only work if NumLock is ON.

See the online help for the Character Map program for more information about using the program.

UNIX (AIX®)

On AIX you can enter a key sequence to generate a special character or symbol. For example, the key sequence for the host 'not' sign (¬) is ALT+172. To enter this key sequence, press and hold the ALT key, then press the numbers 172 on the keypad, then release the ALT key. Note that within an entry field, some key sequences only work if NumLock is ON.

UNIX (SOLARIS and HP)

SOLARIS and HP do not support this transformation technique. Instead, you can remap the keyboard. Remapping the keyboard works on all UNIX systems (AIX, SOLARIS, and HP). This example shows how to remap shift 6 to be the host 'not' sign (¬).

1. Execute this command:

   /usr/openwin/bin/xmodmap -pke > output.file

   This will dump the current mapping into the file named output.file.
2. Edit output.file and replace keycode 42 = 6 asciicircum with keycode 42 = 6 0XAC (AC is the ASCII equivalent of the not symbol)
3. Execute /usr/openwin/bin/xmodmap output.file.

Once the keycode you are going to change is known, the change can also be made by executing this command: /usr/openwin/bin/xmodmap -e 'keycode 42 = 6 0XAC' (the single quotes are required).

Note: The remap only affects new windows created after the command is run. Any existing windows will not honor the change. Also note that the change is only for the life of the current session. You might want to put the commands into some kind of startup that executes when you start a session. For more information about xmodmap, check the online documentation on your system.