Unicode Shower

A powerful VSCode extension for viewing Unicode characters from their code points

English | 中文

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Table of Contents

• Unicode Shower
  • Table of Contents
  • Features
  • Supported Formats
  • Quick Start
    • Installation
    • Usage
  • Examples
  • Supported Languages
  • Configuration
  • Development
    • Build from Source
    • Testing
  • Documentation
  • Roadmap
  • Contributing
  • License
  • Acknowledgments
  • Contact

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Features

• Hover to View: Simply hover over a Unicode code to see the character with detailed information
• Keyboard Shortcuts:
  • Cmd+Alt+U / Ctrl+Alt+U - Show Unicode character
  • Cmd+Alt+R / Ctrl+Alt+R - Open Random Unicode Generator
• Right-Click Menu: Show Unicode character from context menu
• Activity Bar Panel: Access Unicode tools from the sidebar
  • Random Unicode Generator - Generate random Unicode characters
  • Unicode Viewer - Look up any Unicode code point
• Multiple Formats: Supports 7 common Unicode notation formats
• Rich Character Info: View character name, category, script, UTF-8/UTF-16 encoding, and more
• Universal Support: Works with emojis, CJK characters, symbols, and more

Supported Formats

Format	Example	Result	Description
U+XXXX	U+1F600	😀	Standard Unicode notation
\uXXXX	\u4E2D	中	JavaScript/JSON style (4 digits)
\UXXXXXXXX	\U0001F600	😀	Python style (8 digits)
\xXX	\x41	A	Hex escape (2 digits)
&#XXX;	😀	😀	HTML decimal entity
&#xXXXX;	😀	😀	HTML hex entity
Pure Hex	1F600	😀	Raw hexadecimal (4+ digits)

Quick Start

Installation

1. Open VSCode
2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X or Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Unicode Shower"
4. Click Install

Usage

Method 1: Hover (Recommended)

1. Select or hover over a Unicode code (e.g., U+1F600)
2. A tooltip will automatically show the character with detailed info

Method 2: Keyboard Shortcut

1. Select a Unicode code
2. Press:
   • macOS: Cmd + Alt + U
   • Windows/Linux: Ctrl + Alt + U

Method 3: Context Menu

1. Select a Unicode code
2. Right-click → "Show Unicode Character"

Method 4: Activity Bar (Sidebar)

1. Click the Unicode Tools icon in the Activity Bar
2. Choose:
   • Random Unicode - Generate random characters
   • Unicode Viewer - Look up specific code points

Examples

Try these in any supported file type (Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Markdown, Plain Text):

U+1F600    → 😀  (Grinning Face emoji)
U+4E2D     → 中  (Chinese character)
\u2764     → ❤   (Red heart)
😀  → 😀  (HTML decimal)
👍  → 👍  (Thumbs up)
1F680      → 🚀  (Rocket)

Supported Languages

The extension works with the following file types:

Category	Languages
Web	JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, JSON
Systems	C, C++, Rust, Go
General	Python, Java, C#, PHP, Ruby, Swift
Other	Markdown, Plain Text

Configuration

Currently, the extension works out of the box with no configuration needed.

Future versions may include customizable options.

Development

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/irisWirisW/unicode-show.git
cd unicode-show

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile
npm run compile

# Run in development mode
# Press F5 in VSCode to open Extension Development Host

Testing

See HOW_TO_TEST.md for detailed testing instructions.

Documentation

• Debug Guide - How to debug the extension
• Test Cases - Complete list of test cases
• How to Test - Testing procedures

Roadmap

• Hover tooltip display
• Support multiple Unicode formats
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Context menu integration
• Activity bar panel with tools
• Random Unicode generator
• Unicode viewer/lookup
• Rich character information display
• Status bar display
• Custom format configuration
• Batch conversion

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest new features
• Submit pull requests

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Inspired by the need to quickly view Unicode characters while coding.

Contact

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Repository: GitHub

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Made by 1ris_W

If you find this extension helpful, please give it a star on GitHub!