Numbering of items during completion

[Gerrit Sangel]

Hello list,

I have several files with unicode characters in the file names. But I am using 
a German keymap, which only has a limited amount of characters mapped to it.

The problem now is, if I want to change into a directory or open a file which 
has, say, a Korean character in it, I have no chance to open this file 
because I can't type in its character (I know, I could change the keyboard 
layout, but this is not convenient and sometimes, if I can't read the script, 
I have no way to input the files - Imagine a Chinese character, even though 
you can read chinese very well, it could happen that you cannot enter the 
character. Also, on the ordinary console, I have no way to change the keymap 
or use a more sophisticated input method).

So I thought, what about  numbering the files and directories? I think, the 
best possibility for this would be when the user types in the file name until 
he can't do it any further because he does not have the character on the 
keyboard. He would then press tab and a list of the directories would appear, 
just like it is now. The difference would be, that maybe every file or 
directory would have a number before it, which could then be accessed by 
maybe pressing an escape key and then by the number.

e.g.:

Several files, maybe

file1
file2
datei1
datei2
directory1
directory2

If the user wants to get into directory2, he types “d”, presses Tab and then 
the following would appear

1| datei1
2| datei2
3| directory1/
4| directory2/

he then types in an escape char and “4” which would result in changing the 
directory to directory2

Maybe there could be an option in a config file where the user would specify 
the characters he is able to input directly. So the mechanism to change by 
inputting numbers would only be displayed if there is a case where a file 
with a inaccessible character is shown. In all other cases, the user could 
change directories like he did all the time.

This would really be good for using the command line. Right now, I sometimes 
have no other option but using a gui file manager where I can click onto the 
files.

Thanks
Gerrit Sangel