thanks everybody for the input!
i have FL_SHORTCUTs working the way they were intended now.
I have figured out how to unmap & remap key functions in Fl_Text_Editor
the apparent multiple/missing un/focus vents were caused by a shortcut
that wended its way thru a good bit of code and hit a window->hide() followed by ->show
which was just there for aesthetics and which turned out to be unnecessary.
re event_key vs event_text: i am aware different countries/language use many symbols not found on US keyboards.
What i need to see is whether event_key will report them as unique integers, maybe not across the whole world (altho it could)
but within a user's installation, which i hope is not too much to ask.
regardless, the app is fleshing out nicely. Still looking for somewhere to be hosted. NOT the git.
-dave