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NAME

       Compose - X client mappings for multi-key input sequences

DESCRIPTION

       The  X  library,  libX11, provides a simple input method for characters
       beyond those represented on typical keyboards using  sequences  of  key
       strokes that are combined to enter a single character.

       The compose file is searched for in  the following order:

       -      If  the  environment variable $XCOMPOSEFILE is set, its value is
              used as the name of the Compose file.

       -      If the user’s home directory has a file named .XCompose,  it  is
              used as the Compose file.

       -      The  system  provided compose file is used by mapping the locale
              to     a     compose     file     from     the      list      in
              /usr/share/X11/locale/compose.dir.

       Compose  files  can  use  an  "include" instruction.  This allows local
       modifications to be made to existing compose  files  without  including
       all  of  the  content  directly.   For  example, the system’s iso8859-1
       compose file can be included with a line like this:
           include "%S/iso8859-1/Compose"

       There are several substitutions that can be made in the  file  name  of
       the include instruction:

       %H  expands  to  the  user’s  home  directory  (the  $HOME  environment
           variable)

       %L  expands to the name of the  locale  specific  Compose  file  (i.e.,
           "/usr/share/X11/locale/<localename>/Compose")

       %S  expands  to  the  name  of  the  system directory for Compose files
           (i.e., "/usr/share/X11/locale")

       For example, you can include in your compose file the  default  Compose
       file by using:
              include "%L"
       and  then  rewrite  only  the  few  rules that you need to change.  New
       compose rules can be added, and previous ones replaced.

FILE FORMAT

       Compose files are plain text files,  with  a  separate  line  for  each
       compose  sequence.    Comments  begin with # characters.   Each compose
       sequence specifies one or more events and a resulting  input  sequence,
       with an optional comment at the end of the line:
              EVENT [EVENT...] : RESULT [# COMMENT]

       Each  event consists of a specified input keysym, and optional modifier
       states:
              [MODIFIER_LIST] <keysym>

       Each modifier consists of a specified modifier and a state:
              (! MODIFIER ) | None
       Modifiers may be preceded by a  "~"  character  to  indicate  that  the
       modifier must not be present.

       The  result  specifies  a  string,  keysym,  or both, that the X client
       receives as input when the sequence of events is input:
              "STRING" | keysym | "STRING" keysym

       Keysyms are specified without the XK_ prefix.

       Strings may be direct text encoded in the locale for which the  compose
       file  is to be used, or an escaped octal or hexadecimal character code.
       Octal codes are specified as "\123" and hexadecimal codes as "\0x123a".
       It  is  not  necessary  to specify in the right part of a rule a locale
       encoded string in addition to  the  keysym  name.   If  the  string  is
       omitted,  Xlib  figures it out from the keysym according to the current
       locale.  I.e., if a rule looks like:
              <dead_grave> <A> : "\300" Agrave
       the result of the composition is always  the  letter  with  the  "\300"
       code.  But if the rule is:
              <dead_grave> <A> : Agrave
       the result depends on how Agrave is mapped in the current locale.

ENVIRONMENT

       XCOMPOSEFILE
              File to use for compose sequences.

       XCOMPOSECACHE
              Directory to use for caching compiled compose files.

FILES

       $HOME/.Xcompose
              User default compose file if XCOMPOSEFILE is not set.

       /usr/share/X11/locale/compose.dir
              File listing the compose file path to use for each locale.

       /usr/share/X11/locale/<localemapping>/Compose
              System   default   compose  file  for  the  locale,  mapped  via
              compose.dir.

       /var/cache/libx11/compose/
              System-wide cache directory for compiled compose files.

       $HOME/.compose-cache/
              Per-user cache directory for compiled compose files.

SEE ALSO

       XLookupString(3),        XmbLookupString(3),        XwcLookupString(3),
       Xutf8LookupString(3), mkcomposecache(1), locale(7).
       Xlib - C Language X Interface

                               __vendorversion__                    Compose(5)