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How to Create a APL or Math Symbols Keyboard Layout ⌨

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This page shows you how to create a APL (programming language) keyboard layout, for {Windows, Mac OS X, Linux}. Or, you can create a math symbols layout for computer languages such as Fortress, Scheme Lisp, Haskell, LaTeX/XeTeX, or simply as a system to type math symbols in plain text.

APL Keyboard Layout

APL keyboard layout
APL keyboard layout. img src
APL2 keyboard layout
APL2 keyboard layout. img src

APL Symbols in Unicode

Here's a complete list of Unicode chars of APL.

¯ × ÷ ∘ ∣ ∼ ≠ ≤ ≥ ≬ ⌶ ⋆ ⌾ ⍟ ⌽ ⍉ ⍝ ⍦ ⍧ ⍪ ⍫ ⍬ ⍭ ← ↑ → ↓ ∆ ∇ ∧ ∨ ∩ ∪ ⌈ ⌊ ⊤ ⊥ ⊂ ⊃ ⌿ ⍀ ⍅ ⍆ ⍏ ⍖ ⍊ ⍑ ⍋ ⍒ ⍎ ⍕ ⍱ ⍲ ○

⍳ ⍴ ⍵ ⍺

⍶ ⍷ ⍸ ⍹ ⍘ ⍙ ⍚ ⍛ ⍜ ⍮

¨ ⍡ ⍢ ⍣ ⍤ ⍥ ⍨ ⍩

⎕ ⍞ ⍠ ⍯ ⍰ ⍌ ⍍ ⍐ ⍓ ⍔ ⍗ ⌷ ⌸ ⌹ ⌺ ⌻ ⌼ ⍁ ⍂ ⍃ ⍄ ⍇ ⍈

For the meaning of the symbols, see: APL Symbol Meaning.

For other math symbols, such as ∑ ∫ ⊕ ⇒ ↦, see: Math Symbols in Unicode and Arrows in Unicode.

Unicode Font

First you need to have Unicode font. The DejaVu font has all APL symbols. See: Best Unicode Fonts for Programing.

Creating Your Own Unicode Layout for {Windows, Mac, Linux}

Using Emacs

Insert by Key Combo

You can set your keys to inserts a math symbol. Here's a example:

;; example of systematic keys to insert math symbols
(global-set-key (kbd "<f9> <right>") "→")
(global-set-key (kbd "<f9> a") "α")
(global-set-key (kbd "<f9> b") "β")
(global-set-key (kbd "<f9> t") "θ")

this method is good if you have a few symbols. It's also the fastest to input. This method doesn't work well if you need to input hundreds of symbols sometimes, because it's hard to remember what key they are.

For more detail, see: Emacs: How to Define Keys.

Insert by Abbrev

You can insert Unicode by abbrev. ⁖ typing alpha becomes α. For how, see: Using Emacs's Abbrev Mode for Abbreviation.

This method is good if you need to insert lots of symbols, some only occasionally, because this method lets you type the name of the symbol, and is easy to remember, but more keystrokes per symbol. (one flaw with this solution is that emacs abbrev only allow sequence of English letters to be used as input. So, you cannot define -> as abbrev for →.)

Insert by Short Code and a Activation Key

This package lets you type a short code, from 1 to 4 letters, then press 【⇧ Shift+Space】 to change it to a math symbol. See: Math Symbols Input Mode (xmsi-mode).

Pre-defined APL Layout for {Windows, Mac, Linux}

I haven't tried the following.

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