Using Digraphs In X

(Contributed by Mandrake Linux user Stewart Midwinter)

I've long wondered how to get accented characters in Mandrake Linux, on my US keyboard. In Windows I was accustomed to typing "Alt-160" for á, for example. But clearly this doesn't work in Linux. So, for others who may be wondering, here are three separate ways to do it.

1. Use the Character Picker panel applet (available in Gnome and KDE). This gives you one-click access to common accented characters. How to modify the selection it provides? Use file ascii.txt or method 2 (below). The KDE applet allows configuration via the right-click context menu.

2. Use the GKB Keyboard Switcher panel applet (works in Gnome). In KDE, use 'Peripherals - Keyboard' in the KDE Control Center (uncheck 'Disable keyboard layouts).
   In addition to your default keyboard, which may likely be "US 105 key keyboard (with Windows Keys)", you should select one like "US International kxb keymap". My keyboard appears to have only 104 keys but works on the 105-key map. When you want to enter some text that has international characters, click on the panel icon to switch keyboards, then follow these suggestions: type the accent key, then the letter that goes with it. The accent keys are <'> <"> <`><~> and the combinations are the following:

   • <' a> gives you á
   • <` a> gives you à
   • <" a> gives you ä
   • <^ a> gives you â
   • <~ a> gives you ã

   With this method, I haven't yet figured out a way to make the upside-down punctuation marks ( ¡ and ¿) that Spanish uses, but that brings me to the last method.

3. Use the file ascii.txt. Put a shortcut to it on your desktop and bind that shortcut to a text editor like 'gedit'. When you need an accented character, simply open the file ascii.txt, select and copy the desired character, then paste into your document.

Summing up, method 1 is the quickest for the commonly-used characters, method 2 is a better choice for more regular use, and method 3 gives you access to all the characters you'll need.

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Creating PDFs With SO 5.2

(Contributed by Mandrake Linux user Nev Cobb)

Apart from the other methods of creating PDF files, there is another method that originally came into existence for StarOffice 5.0. I have managed to get it to work with StarOffice 5.2 under Mandrake 7.2GPL - here's how:

You need to get hold of a small script file called tclpdf and (as 'root') place it in the 'program' directory where you installed StarOffice 5.2. Make it executable (chmod +x tclpdf)
Next you need to edit the 'Xpdefaults' file located in the 'share/xp3' directory where you installed StarOffice. For instance I installed StarOffice in the '/opt/office52' directory, and the file I need to edit is '/opt/office52/share/xp3/Xpdefaults'. You need to add the following lines to Xpdefaults: Under the [devices] section add

pdf=GENERIC PostScript,pdf_queue

Under the [ports] section add

pdf_queue=/opt/office52/program/tclpdf

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Accessing SSH Accounts With 'Konqueror'

The kio_fish plugin allows Konqueror to browse and handle remote SSH accounts very much like FTP directories. Get the RPM, install it and point 'Konqueror' to your remote account like this:

fish://account@ssh_server

If you have loaded your SSH key into system memory, you won't even have to provide your password.

'kio_fish' will be part of KDE 3.1, to be released in fall this year.

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