loadkeys - phpMan

LOADKEYS(1) LOADKEYS(1)

NAME
loadkeys - load keyboard translation tables

SYNOPSIS
loadkeys [ -c --clearcompose ] [ -d --default ] [ -h --help ] [ -m --mktable ] [ -s
--clearstrings ] [ -v --verbose ] [ filename... ]

DESCRIPTION
The program loadkeys reads the file or files specified by filename.... Its main
purpose is to load the kernel keymap for the console.

RESET TO DEFAULT
If the -d (or --default ) option is given, loadkeys loads a default keymap, proba-
bly the file defkeymap.map either in /lib/kbd/keymaps or in
/usr/src/linux/drivers/char. (Probably the former was user-defined, while the lat-
ter is a qwerty keyboard map for PCs - maybe not what was desired.) Sometimes,
with a strange keymap loaded (with the minus on some obscure unknown modifier com-
bination) it is easier to type ‘loadkeys defkeymap’.

LOAD KERNEL KEYMAP
The main function of loadkeys is to load or modify the keyboard driver’s transla-
tion tables. When specifying the file names, standard input can be denoted by dash
(-). If no file is specified, the data is read from the standard input.

For many countries and keyboard types appropriate keymaps are available already,
and a command like ‘loadkeys uk’ might do what you want. On the other hand, it is
easy to construct one’s own keymap. The user has to tell what symbols belong to
each key. She can find the keycode for a key by use of showkey(1), while the keymap
format is given in keymaps(5) and can also be seen from the output of dumpkeys(1).

LOAD KERNEL ACCENT TABLE
If the input file does not contain any compose key definitions, the kernel accent
table is left unchanged, unless the -c (or --clearcompose ) option is given, in
which case the kernel accent table is emptied. If the input file does contain com-
pose key definitions, then all old definitions are removed, and replaced by the
specified new entries. The kernel accent table is a sequence of (by default 68)
entries describing how dead diacritical signs and compose keys behave. For exam-
ple, a line

compose ’,’ ’c’ to ccedilla

means that <ComposeKey><,><c> must be combined to <ccedilla>. The current content
of this table can be see using ‘dumpkeys --compose-only’.

LOAD KERNEL STRING TABLE
The option -s (or --clearstrings ) clears the kernel string table. If this option
is not given, loadkeys will only add or replace strings, not remove them. (Thus,
the option -s is required to reach a well-defined state.) The kernel string table
is a sequence of strings with names like F31. One can make function key F5 (on an
ordinary PC keyboard) produce the text ‘Hello!’, and Shift+F5 ‘Goodbye!’ using
lines

keycode 63 = F70 F71
string F70 = "Hello!"
string F71 = "Goodbye!"

in the keymap. The default bindings for the function keys are certain escape
sequences mostly inspired by the VT100 terminal.

CREATE KERNEL SOURCE TABLE
If the -m (or --mktable ) option is given loadkeys prints to the standard output a
file that may be used as /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.c, specifying the
default key bindings for a kernel (and does not modify the current keymap).

OTHER OPTIONS
-h --help
loadkeys prints its version number and a short usage message to the programs
standard error output and exits.

WARNING
Note that anyone having read access to /dev/console can run loadkeys and thus
change the keyboard layout, possibly making it unusable. Note that the keyboard
translation table is common for all the virtual consoles, so any changes to the
keyboard bindings affect all the virtual consoles simultaneously.

Note that because the changes affect all the virtual consoles, they also outlive
your session. This means that even at the login prompt the key bindings may not be
what the user expects.

FILES
/lib/kbd/keymaps
default directory for keymaps

/usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map
default kernel keymap