Re: SDL terminal type

> From: Johan Myréen <[email protected]>
> Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2026 21:12:47 +0300
> Cc: [email protected]
> 
> On Sat, 22 Aug 2026 at 18:08, Po Lu <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>  > I have never had any problem with C-> on PGTK Emacs. Is there a bug
>  > report describing how to reproduce this problem? Maybe people should
>  > stop repeating this rumor, if it is not true.
> 
>  It is true, or there would not be an item for both of these cases in
>  etc/PROBLEMS.
> 
> I find the text a bit vague. "This is known to happen", "we are told"... Where does it happen, in which
> environment? Who told? With no proper bug report containing a recipe on how to reproduce this problem I
> don't see what else anybody can do but to submit to the authority of the PROBLEMS file.

"C-x v h" is your friend, if you want to know.  Find the dates when
this text was added or modified, and then look for related discussions
on Emacs forums.

> The PROBLEMS file entry from 2022 is not entirely correct. Here are the relevant parts: 
> 
>  Some keys with modifiers such as Shift and Control might not be
>  reported correctly due to incorrectly written GTK input method
>  modules.  This is known to happen to 'C-S-u' and 'C->', which are
>  misreported as 'C-u' and '>'.
> 
>  To disable the use of GTK input methods, evaluate:
>    (pgtk-use-im-context nil)
> 
> C-S-u is reported as C-u only if I evaluate (pgtk-use-im-context nil).

Which is why the text says "might".  I see no reason to describe all
the details of the situations where this happens, because that doesn't
help users when they bump into this.

> Later in 2025 the following paragraph was added to etc/PROBLEMS:
> 
>  We are told that 'C-S-u' is misinterpreted due to the GTK "feature"
>  whereby 'C-S-u' is used to input characters by their Unicode codepoints,
>  and that this can be changed or turned off using the 'ibus-setup'
>  program under the Emoji tab, or by changing the setting of the dconf key
>  'org.freedesktop.ibus.panel.emoji'.
> 
> Besides the opinionated wording ("feature"), the text blames GTK for the handling of C-S-u. This key
> combination is a de facto standard for Unix-like operating systems. From Wikipedia: "However, numeric entry of
> Unicode characters is possible in most Unix or Unix-like OSs by pressing and releasing Ctrl+⇧ Shift+U, and
> typing the hex number followed by the space bar or enter key." This key combination is the Unix equivalent to
> the MS-DOS/Windows Alt-numpad entry style.

It is still implemented in GTK in this case, isn't it?  Then "GTK
feature" is not really misleading, is it?

> The text also seems to be written for some specific desktop environment (GNOME?), talking about the "Emoji
> tab" (where?) and dconf keys. As far as I understand, the same thing can be accomplished with the
> (pgtk-use-im-context nil) as above, and doing it this way restricts the effect to Emacs and not every other
> application on the machine. Thus, the old text could be clarified to explain the situation better, and the new text
> could be axed.

We will not remove anything, but if you want to suggest another
workaround for these problems, please do: additions in that directions
are always welcome.

P.S. IMNSHO, our PROBLEMS need more useful entries, not fewer of them,
so bad-mouthing what we already have is not appreciated.