XMODMAP(1) AIX XMODMAP(1) NAME xmodmap - utility for modifying keymaps in X SYNOPSIS xxxxmmmmooooddddmmmmaaaapppp [-options ...] [filename] DESCRIPTION The _x_m_o_d_m_a_p program is used to edit and display the keyboard _m_o_d_i_f_i_e_r _m_a_p and _k_e_y_m_a_p _t_a_b_l_e that are used by client appli- cations to convert event keycodes into keysyms. It is usu- ally run from the user's session startup script to configure the keyboard according to personal tastes. OPTIONS The following options may be used with _x_m_o_d_m_a_p: ----ddddiiiissssppppllllaaaayyyy _d_i_s_p_l_a_y This option specifies the host and display to use. ----hhhheeeellllpppp This option indicates that a brief description of the command line arguments should be printed on the standard error channel. This will be done whenever an unhandled argument is given to _x_m_o_d_m_a_p. ----ggggrrrraaaammmmmmmmaaaarrrr This option indicates that a help message describing the expression grammar used in files and with -e expressions should be printed on the standard error. ----vvvveeeerrrrbbbboooosssseeee This option indicates that _x_m_o_d_m_a_p should print log- ging information as it parses its input. ----qqqquuuuiiiieeeetttt This option turns off the verbose logging. This is the default. ----nnnn This option indicates that _x_m_o_d_m_a_p should not change the mappings, but should display what it would do, like _m_a_k_e(_1) does when given this option. ----eeee _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n This option specifies an expression to be executed. Any number of expressions may be specified from the command line. ----ppppmmmm This option indicates that the current modifier map should be printed on the standard output. ----ppppkkkk This option indicates that the current keymap table should be printed on the standard output. ----ppppkkkkeeee This option indicates that the current keymap table should be printed on the standard output in the form Rev. Release 5 Page 1 XMODMAP(1) AIX XMODMAP(1) of expressions that can be fed back to _x_m_o_d_m_a_p. ----pppppppp This option indicates that the current pointer map should be printed on the standard output. ---- A lone dash means that the standard input should be used as the input file. The _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e specifies a file containing _x_m_o_d_m_a_p expressions to be executed. This file is usually kept in the user's home directory with a name like ._x_m_o_d_m_a_p_r_c. EXPRESSION GRAMMAR The _x_m_o_d_m_a_p program reads a list of expressions and parses them all before attempting to execute any of them. This makes it possible to refer to keysyms that are being rede- fined in a natural way without having to worry as much about name conflicts. kkkkeeeeyyyyccccooooddddeeee _N_U_M_B_E_R ==== _K_E_Y_S_Y_M_N_A_M_E ... The list of keysyms is assigned to the indicated keycode (which may be specified in decimal, hex or octal and can be determined by running the _x_e_v pro- gram in the examples directory). kkkkeeeeyyyyssssyyyymmmm _K_E_Y_S_Y_M_N_A_M_E ==== _K_E_Y_S_Y_M_N_A_M_E ... The _K_E_Y_S_Y_M_N_A_M_E on the left hand side is translated into matching keycodes used to perform the corresponding set of kkkkeeeeyyyyccccooooddddeeee expressions. The list of keysym names may be found in the header file <_X_1_1/_k_e_y_s_y_m_d_e_f._h> (without the _X_K_ prefix) or the keysym database /_u_s_r/_l_i_b/_X_1_1/_X_K_e_y_s_y_m_D_B. Note that if the same keysym is bound to multiple keys, the expression is executed for each matching keycode. cccclllleeeeaaaarrrr _M_O_D_I_F_I_E_R_N_A_M_E This removes all entries in the modifier map for the given modifier, where valid name are: SSSShhhhiiiifffftttt, LLLLoooocccckkkk, CCCCoooonnnnttttrrrroooollll, MMMMoooodddd1111, MMMMoooodddd2222, MMMMoooodddd3333, MMMMoooodddd4444, and MMMMoooodddd5555 (case does not matter in modifier names, although it does matter for all other names). For example, ``clear Lock'' will remove all any keys that were bound to the shift lock modifier. aaaadddddddd _M_O_D_I_F_I_E_R_N_A_M_E ==== _K_E_Y_S_Y_M_N_A_M_E ... This adds all keys containing the given keysyms to the indicated modifier map. The keysym names are evaluated after all input expressions are read to make it easy to write expressions to swap keys (see the EXAMPLES section). rrrreeeemmmmoooovvvveeee _M_O_D_I_F_I_E_R_N_A_M_E ==== _K_E_Y_S_Y_M_N_A_M_E ... This removes all keys containing the given keysyms Rev. Release 5 Page 2 XMODMAP(1) AIX XMODMAP(1) from the indicated modifier map. Unlike aaaadddddddd,,,, the keysym names are evaluated as the line is read in. This allows you to remove keys from a modifier without having to worry about whether or not they have been reassigned. ppppooooiiiinnnntttteeeerrrr ==== ddddeeeeffffaaaauuuulllltttt This sets the pointer map back to its default set- tings (button 1 generates a code of 1, button 2 gen- erates a 2, etc.). ppppooooiiiinnnntttteeeerrrr ==== _N_U_M_B_E_R ... This sets to pointer map to contain the indicated button codes. The list always starts with the first physical button. Lines that begin with an exclamation point (!) are taken as comments. If you want to change the binding of a modifier key, you must also remove it from the appropriate modifier map. EXAMPLES Many pointers are designed such that the first button is pressed using the index finger of the right hand. People who are left-handed frequently find that it is more comfort- able to reverse the button codes that get generated so that the primary button is pressed using the index finger of the left hand. This could be done on a 3 button pointer as fol- lows: % xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1" Many editor applications support the notion of Meta keys (similar to Control keys except that Meta is held down instead of Control). However, some servers do not have a Meta keysym in the default keymap table, so one needs to be added by hand. The following command will attach Meta to the Multi-language key (sometimes labeled Compose Charac- ter). It also takes advantage of the fact that applications that need a Meta key simply need to get the keycode and don't require the keysym to be in the first column of the keymap table. This means that applications that are looking for a Multi_key (including the default modifier map) won't notice any change. % xmodmap -e "keysym Multi_key = Multi_key Meta_L" One of the more simple, yet convenient, uses of _x_m_o_d_m_a_p is to set the keyboard's "rubout" key to generate an alternate keysym. This frequently involves exchanging Backspace with Rev. Release 5 Page 3 XMODMAP(1) AIX XMODMAP(1) Delete to be more comfortable to the user. If the _t_t_y_M_o_d_e_s resource in _x_t_e_r_m is set as well, all terminal emulator win- dows will use the same key for erasing characters: % xmodmap -e "keysym BackSpace = Delete" % echo "XTerm*ttyModes: erase ^?" | xrdb -merge Some keyboards do not automatically generate less than and greater than characters when the comma and period keys are shifted. This can be remedied with _x_m_o_d_m_a_p by resetting the bindings for the comma and period with the following scripts: ! ! make shift-, be < and shift-. be > ! keysym comma = comma less keysym period = period greater One of the more irritating differences between keyboards is the location of the Control and Shift Lock keys. A common use of _x_m_o_d_m_a_p is to swap these two keys as follows: ! ! Swap Caps_Lock and Control_L ! remove Lock = Caps_Lock remove Control = Control_L keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L add Lock = Caps_Lock add Control = Control_L The _k_e_y_c_o_d_e command is useful for assigning the same keysym to multiple keycodes. Although unportable, it also makes it possible to write scripts that can reset the keyboard to a known state. The following script sets the backspace key to generate Delete (as shown above), flushes all existing caps lock bindings, makes the CapsLock key be a control key, make F5 generate Escape, and makes Break/Reset be a shift lock. ! ! On the HP, the following keycodes have key caps as listed: ! ! 101 Backspace ! 55 Caps ! 14 Ctrl ! 15 Break/Reset ! 86 Stop ! 89 F5 Rev. Release 5 Page 4 XMODMAP(1) AIX XMODMAP(1) ! keycode 101 = Delete keycode 55 = Control_R clear Lock add Control = Control_R keycode 89 = Escape keycode 15 = Caps_Lock add Lock = Caps_Lock ENVIRONMENT DDDDIIIISSSSPPPPLLLLAAAAYYYY to get default host and display number. SEE ALSO X(1), xev(1), _X_l_i_b documentation on key and pointer events BUGS Every time a kkkkeeeeyyyyccccooooddddeeee expression is evaluated, the server generates a _M_a_p_p_i_n_g_N_o_t_i_f_y event on every client. This can cause some thrashing. All of the changes should be batched together and done at once. Clients that receive keyboard input and ignore _M_a_p_p_i_n_g_N_o_t_i_f_y events will not notice any changes made to keyboard mappings. _X_m_o_d_m_a_p should generate "add" and "remove" expressions automatically whenever a keycode that is already bound to a modifier is changed. There should be a way to have the _r_e_m_o_v_e expression accept keycodes as well as keysyms for those times when you really mess up your mappings. COPYRIGHT Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990 Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology. Copyright 1987 Sun Microsystems, Inc. See _X(_1) for a full statement of rights and permissions. AUTHOR Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium, rewritten from an earlier ver- sion by David Rosenthal of Sun Microsystems. Rev. Release 5 Page 5