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Because of some difficulties in getting Emacs interact correctly with the fcitx input framework on my Ubuntu, I have to use built-in input methods in Emacs. However, I haven't been able to find a way to see the character mapping for each input method that is there. For example, I couldn't find a way to enter ñ in Spanish (input method spanish-prefix), or ' in German (input method german), in my US keyboard. How can I view the character mapping with respect to the current keyboard?

xji
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  • Are you looking for `describe-input-method`? (on `C-h I` by default). – phils Jan 20 '16 at 13:45
  • @phils Thanks. That offers some description, but in some cases it's pretty short, and doesn't seem to have the full keyboard mapping, and for some input methods there's still no way to figure out how to enter the character I want. – xji Jan 20 '16 at 13:49
  • I've always been under the impression that this help listed *all* characters supported by the input method. (Meaning, if I'm right, that you would need to use a different input method to obtain other characters). – phils Jan 20 '16 at 13:54
  • @phils Nope, for example, help on `spanish-prefix` returned this:Input method: spanish-prefix (`ES>' in mode line) for Spanish Spanish (Español) input method with prefix modifiers effect | prefix | examples ------------+--------+---------- acute | ' | 'a -> á diaeresis | " | "u -> ü tilde | ~ | ~n -> ñ symbol | ~ | ~> -> » ~< -> « ~! -> ¡ ~? -> ¿ – xji Jan 20 '16 at 14:11
  • @phils Or on `german` it returns this, only two lines: Input method: german (`DE@' in mode line) for German German (Deutsch) input method simulating SUN German keyboard – xji Jan 20 '16 at 14:11
  • @phils It seems that in the case of `spanish-prefix` it indeed listed all characters but not in `german` – xji Jan 20 '16 at 14:15
  • @XiangJi Why are you using `german` as an input method? For umlauts on a US layout `german-postfix` would suffice wouldn't it? –  Jan 20 '16 at 17:45
  • @lunaryorn Yeah that would suffice but it just feels weird and not as efficient, since I'm used to directly inputting umlauts with the corresponding keys on OSX and Windows. I know the prefix method is essentially the same as the typing accent in Spanish input but still I'd like to have an experience similar to normal input methods outside of Emacs. Also this question itself might apply to all input methods, not only German. – xji Jan 20 '16 at 18:45
  • Is this a bug, then? `M-x report-emacs-bug` ? – phils Jan 21 '16 at 00:06
  • `C-h i g` `(emacs) Select Input Method` mentions "You can use the command `M-x quail-show-key` to show what key (or key sequence) to type in order to input the character following point, using the selected keyboard layout. The command `C-u C-x =` also shows that information, in addition to other information about the character." – phils Jan 21 '16 at 00:14

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