Inverse of CharacterName

Question

Is there an inverse function to CharacterName? For example, CharacterName["ε"] gives "CurlyEpsilon". I'm looking for a function to do the reverse, given "CurlyEpsilon", output "ε". The best I could come up with was ToString[ToExpression[ "\[" <> # <> "]" ]]&, but I feel there must be a better way.

marginally better I suppose from the docs, ToExpression["\"\\[" <> # <> "]\""] & (eliminating the ToString ) — george2079, Feb 08 '17 at 21:57
at least closely related: How do I construct a “named character” programmatically? — Kuba, Feb 08 '17 at 22:36
@Kuba I closed the question as a duplicate of that seconds before you commented. :^) — Mr.Wizard, Feb 08 '17 at 22:37
You could create a look-up table using the code in (102079) if you find that cleaner. — Mr.Wizard, Feb 08 '17 at 22:55
In versions 10.2-11.0.1, there is the following undocumented expression: System`Private`LookupCodeByName["CurlyEpsilon"] // FromCharacterCode. — WReach, Feb 09 '17 at 00:14

David G. Stork · Answer 1 · 2017-02-08T22:19:21.127

-2

Just put FullForm in front to go one way:

FullForm[ε]

(* \[Epsilon] *)

and \[Epsilon]

to go the other

(* ε *)

edited Feb 08 '17 at 22:19

answered Feb 08 '17 at 22:00

David G. Stork

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That's not what OP asks. The "better" way would be using WolframLanguageData or some kind of Entity to extract the symbol from its name. – swish Feb 08 '17 at 22:21

Inverse of CharacterName

1 Answers1