Writing special characters with Unicode values in MS Word/ Converting Unicode values to corresponding (special) characters in MS-Word :
(NOTE: This method is tried and tested with MS-Word 2007 and 2010)
MS Word provides a special facility of putting in special symbols in your document. You can go to “Insert tab → Symbol → More symbols”, find your desired special character over there and use it in your document. However, for someone like me who hates using mouse while typing any document, such a “Go to Menu and find this” type of task is particularly irritating. So here is the keyboard only method to type those special characters whose Unicode values you know.
To convert a Unicode value to corresponding special character in MS Word just type the code for the symbol, select it and press ‘Alt + x’. The code will be converted to its corresponding special character.
For example, the Unicode value for the logical AND (conjunction) symbol ∧ is U+2227. To have it in your word document, just type 2227, select it and press “Alt + x” keys. Voila, there you have it, a beautiful conjunction symbol ‘∧’ on your document page.
Some commonly used mathematical symbols; there meaning and corresponding Unicode values are presented in the table below:
|
Symbol |
Common term of use | Unicode value |
|
∨ |
Logical OR/ disjunction | U+2228 |
|
→ |
Logical implication | U+2192 |
|
¬ |
Negation | U+00AC |
|
∧ |
Logical AND/ conjunction | U+2227 |
|
≡ |
Logical equivalence | U+2261 |
|
≢ |
Logical non-equivalence | U+2262 |
|
↔ |
If and only if/ iff/ bi-implication | U+2194 |
|
∑ |
Sigma/ Summation | U+2211 |
|
∀ |
For All | U+2200 |
|
∃ |
Exists | U+2203 |
|
δ |
Delta/ Del function | U+03B4 |
|
ϵ |
Epsilon/ belongs to | U+03F5 |
|
⊂ |
Subset of | U+2282 |
|
⊆ |
Subset of or equal to | U+2286 |
|
⊄ |
Not a subset of | U+2284 |
|
⊈ |
Neither a subset nor equal to | U+2288 |
|
α |
Commonly used as a variable | U+03B1 |
|
Β |
Same as above | U+03B2 |
|
∴ |
Therefore/ hence | U+2234 |
|
∵ |
because/ since | U+2235 |
To use these ‘Alt Codes’, simply press and hold the ‘Alt’ key, then type the ‘Alt Code’ for the character (when it is defined), and release the ‘Alt’ key. The corresponding special character should be there.
For example, the ‘Alt Code’ corresponding to the negation symbol ‘¬’ (Unicode value U+00AC) is defined to be ‘0172’. To type this symbol in your open-office document simply type 0172 while holding the ‘Alt’ key pressed. When you release the ‘Alt’ key afterwards the symbol is inserted in your document.
NOTE: As we mentioned earlier, the approach for handling special characters in open-office is still pretty naive, the whole range of Unicode characters is not mapped to a corresponding ‘Alt code’. Hence, we are unable to put up any sort of list for symbols of common use in mathematics/ engineering. However, you might wish to map your own shortcuts in the form of ‘Alt codes’/ macros for the special symbols of your common use. Wish you luck for that.
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