head 1.1; branch 1.1.1; access; symbols netbsd-11-0-RC4:1.1.1.6 netbsd-11-0-RC3:1.1.1.6 netbsd-11-0-RC2:1.1.1.6 netbsd-11-0-RC1:1.1.1.6 netbsd-11:1.1.1.6.0.4 netbsd-11-base:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.6 netbsd-8-3-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-9-4-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-10-0-RELEASE:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10-0-RC6:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10-0-RC5:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10-0-RC4:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10-0-RC3:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10-0-RC2:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10-0-RC1:1.1.1.6 xkeyboard-config-2-38:1.1.1.6 netbsd-10:1.1.1.6.0.2 netbsd-10-base:1.1.1.6 xkeyboard-config-2-37:1.1.1.6 netbsd-9-3-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-34:1.1.1.5 xkeyboard-config-2-33:1.1.1.5 netbsd-9-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-32:1.1.1.5 xkeyboard-config-2-31:1.1.1.5 netbsd-9-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-8-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-29:1.1.1.4 netbsd-9-0-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-9-0-RC2:1.1.1.4 netbsd-9-0-RC1:1.1.1.4 netbsd-9:1.1.1.4.0.10 netbsd-9-base:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-27:1.1.1.4 netbsd-8-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-8-1-RC1:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-26:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-25:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-8-0-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-8-0-RC2:1.1.1.4 netbsd-8-0-RC1:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-1-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-23-1:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-1-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-21:1.1.1.4 netbsd-8:1.1.1.4.0.8 netbsd-8-base:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-1:1.1.1.4.0.6 netbsd-7-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-1-RC2:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-20:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-1-RC1:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-19:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-0-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-0-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-0:1.1.1.4.0.4 netbsd-7-0-RELEASE:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-0-RC3:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-0-RC2:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-15:1.1.1.4 netbsd-7-0-RC1:1.1.1.4 netbsd-5-2-3-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-1-5-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-6-0-6-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1-5-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-7:1.1.1.4.0.2 netbsd-7-base:1.1.1.4 xkeyboard-config-2-12:1.1.1.4 netbsd-6-1-4-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-0-5-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 riastradh-xf86-video-intel-2-7-1-pre-2-21-15:1.1.1.3 xkeyboard-config-2-11:1.1.1.3 riastradh-drm2:1.1.1.3.0.8 riastradh-drm2-base:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1-3-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-0-4-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-5-2-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-1-4-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-6-1-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-0-3-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-5-2-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-1-3-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-6-1-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 xkeyboard-config-2-9:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1:1.1.1.3.0.6 netbsd-6-0-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1-RC4:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1-RC3:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1-RC2:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-1-RC1:1.1.1.3 netbsd-5-2:1.1.1.1.0.8 netbsd-6-0-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-5-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-2-RC1:1.1.1.1 netbsd-6-0:1.1.1.3.0.4 netbsd-6-0-RELEASE:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-0-RC2:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6-0-RC1:1.1.1.3 netbsd-6:1.1.1.3.0.2 netbsd-6-base:1.1.1.3 netbsd-5-1-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-1-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 xkeyboard-config-2-3:1.1.1.3 xkeyboard-config-2-1:1.1.1.2 xkeyboard-config-2-0:1.1.1.2 netbsd-5-1:1.1.1.1.0.6 netbsd-5-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-1-RC4:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-1-RC3:1.1.1.1 xkeyboard-config-1-9:1.1.1.2 netbsd-5-1-RC2:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-1-RC1:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-0-2-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-0-1-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 xkeyboard-config-1-4:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-0:1.1.1.1.0.4 netbsd-5-0-RELEASE:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-0-RC4:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-0-RC3:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-0-RC2:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5-0-RC1:1.1.1.1 netbsd-5:1.1.1.1.0.2 netbsd-5-base:1.1.1.1 xkeyboard-config-1-3:1.1.1.1 xorg:1.1.1; locks; strict; comment @# @; 1.1 date 2008.08.30.09.12.23; author mrg; state Exp; branches 1.1.1.1; next ; 1.1.1.1 date 2008.08.30.09.12.23; author mrg; state Exp; branches; next 1.1.1.2; 1.1.1.2 date 2010.05.28.09.54.51; author ghen; state Exp; branches; next 1.1.1.3; 1.1.1.3 date 2011.07.23.11.20.08; author mrg; state Exp; branches; next 1.1.1.4; 1.1.1.4 date 2014.07.11.19.08.50; author mrg; state Exp; branches; next 1.1.1.5; commitid sTMk7xRU971ADZHx; 1.1.1.5 date 2020.11.01.12.00.13; author mrg; state Exp; branches; next 1.1.1.6; commitid 75Iv0Ep30piUabuC; 1.1.1.6 date 2022.10.17.07.37.06; author mrg; state Exp; branches; next ; commitid WK5G7TzJGmFIJ2YD; desc @@ 1.1 log @Initial revision @ text @ How to further enhance XKB configuration Kamil Toman, Ivan U. Pascal 25 November 2002 Abstract This guide is aimed to relieve one's labour to create a new (inter- nationalized) keyboard layout. Unlike other documents this guide accents the keymap developer's point of view. 1. Overview The developer of a new layout should read the xkb protocol specification (The X Keyboard Extension: Protocol Specification ) at least to clarify for himself some xkb-specific terms used in this document and elsewhere in xkb configuration. Also it shows wise to understand how the X server and a client digest their keyboard inputs (with and without xkb). A useful source is also Ivan Pascal's text about xkb configuration often referenced throughout this docu- ment. Note that this document covers only enhancements which are to be made to XFree86 version 4.3.x and above. 2. The Basics At the startup (or at later at user's command) X server starts its xkb key- board module extension and reads data from a compiled configuration file. This compiled configuration file is prepared by the program xkbcomp which behaves altogether as an ordinary compiler (see man xkbcomp). Its input are human readable xkb configuration files which are verified and then composed into a useful xkb configuration. Users don't need to mess with xkbcomp them- selves, for them it is invisible. Usually, it is started upon X server startup. As you probably already know, the xkb configuration consists of five main modules: Keycodes Tables that defines translation from keyboard scan codes into reasonable symbolic names, maximum, minimum legal keycodes, sym- bolic aliases and description of physically present LED-indica- tors. The primary sence of this component is to allow definitions of maps of symbols (see below) to be independent of physical key- board scancodes. There are two main naming conventions for sym- bolic names (always four bytes long): o names which express some traditional meaning like (stands for space bar) or o names which express some relative positioning on a key- board, for example (an exclamation mark on US key- boards), on the right there are keys , etc. Types Types describe how the produced key is changed by active modi- fiers (like Shift, Control, Alt, ...). There are several prede- fined types which cover most of used combinations. Compat Compatibility component defines internal behaviour of modifiers. Using compat component you can assign various actions (elabo- rately described in xkb specification) to key events. This is also the place where LED-indicators behaviour is defined. Symbols For i18n purposes, this is the most important table. It defines what values (=symbols) are assigned to what keycodes (represented by their symbolic name, see above). There may be defined more than one value for each key and then it depends on a key type and on modifiers state (respective compat component) which value will be the resulting one. Geometry Geometry files aren't used by xkb itself but they may be used by some external programs to depict a keyboard image. All these components have the files located in xkb configuration tree in sub- directories with the same names (usually in /usr/lib/X11/xkb). 3. Enhancing XKB Configuration Most of xkb enhancements concerns a need to define new output symbols for the some input key events. In other words, a need to define a new symbol map (for a new language, standard or just to feel more comfortable when typing text). What do you need to do? Generally, you have to define following things: o the map of symbols itself o the rules to allow users to select the new mapping o the description of the new layout First of all, it is good to go through existing layouts and to examine them if there is something you could easily adjust to fit your needs. Even if there is nothing similar you may get some ideas about basic concepts and used tricks. 3.1 Levels And Groups Since XFree86 4.3.0 you can use multi-layout concept of xkb configuration. Though it is still in boundaries of xkb protocol and general ideas, the keymap designer must obey new rules when creating new maps. In exchange we get a more powerful and cleaner configuration system. Remember that it is the application which must decide which symbol matches which keycode according to effective modifier state. The X server itself sends only an input event message to. Of course, usually the general inter- pretation is processed by Xlib, Xaw, Motif, Qt, Gtk and similar libraries. The X server only supplies its mapping table (usually upon an application startup). You can think of the X server's symbol table as of a irregular table where each keycode has its row and where each combination of modifiers determines exactly one column. The resulting cell then gives the proper symbolic value. Not all keycodes need to bind different values for different combination of modifiers. key, for instance, usually doesn't depend on any modi- fiers so it its row has only one column defined. Note that in XKB there is no prior assumption that certain modifiers are bound to certain columns. By editing proper files (see keytypes (section 4.2, page 1)) this mapping can be changed as well. Unlike the original X protocol the XKB approach is far more flexible. It is comfortable to add one additional XKB term - group. You can think of a group as of a vector of columns per each keycode (naturally the dimension of this vector may differ for different keycodes). What is it good for? The group is not very useful unless you intend to use more than one logically different set of symbols (like more than one alphabet) defined in a single mapping ta- ble. But then, the group has a natural meaning - each symbol set has its own group and changing it means selecting a different one. XKB approach allows up to four different groups. The columns inside each group are called (shift) levels. The X server knows the current group and reports it together with modifier set and with a keycode in key events. To sum it up: o for each keycode XKB keyboard map contains up to four one-dimensional tables - groups (logically different symbol sets) o for each group of a keycode XKB keyboard map contains some columns - shift levels (values reached by combinations of Shift, Ctrl, Alt, ... modifiers) o different keycodes can have different number of groups o different groups of one keycode can have different number of shift lev- els o the current group number is tracked by X server It is clear that if you sanely define levels, groups and sanely bind modi- fiers and associated actions you can have simultaneously loaded up to four different symbol sets where each of them would reside in its own group. The multi-layout concept provides a facility to manipulate xkb groups and symbol definitions in a way that allows almost arbitrary composition of pre- defined symbol tables. To keep it fully functional you have to: o define all symbols only in the first group o (re)define any modifiers with extra care to avoid strange (anisometric) behaviour 4. Defining New Layouts See Some Words About XKB internals for explanation of used xkb terms and problems addressed by XKB extension. See Common notes about XKB configuration files language for more precise explanation of syntax of xkb configuration files. 4.1 Predefined XKB Symbol Sets If you are about to define some European symbol map extension, you might want to use on of four predefined latin alphabet layouts. Okay, let's assume you want extend an existing keymap and you want to over- ride a few keys. Let's take a simple U.K. keyboard as an example (defined in pc/gb): partial default alphanumeric_keys xkb_symbols "basic" { include "pc/latin" name[Group1]="Great Britain"; key { [ 2, quotedbl, twosuperior, oneeighth ] }; key { [ 3, sterling, threesuperior, sterling ] }; key { [apostrophe, at, dead_circumflex, dead_caron] }; key { [ grave, notsign, bar, bar ] }; key { [numbersign, asciitilde, dead_grave, dead_breve ] }; key { type[Group1]="TWO_LEVEL", [ ISO_Level3_Shift, Multi_key ] }; modifier_map Mod5 { }; }; It defines a new layout in basic variant as an extension of common latin alphabet layout. The layout (symbol set) name is set to "Great Britain". Then there are redefinitions of a few keycodes and a modifiers binding. As you can see the number of shift levels is the same for , , , and keys but it differs from number of shift levels of . Note that the key itself is a binding key for Mod5 and that it serves like a shift modifier for LevelThree, together with Shift as a multi-key. It is a good habit to respect this rule in a new similar layout. Okay, you could now define more variants of your new layout besides basic simply by including (augmenting/overriding/...) the basic definition and altering what may be needed. 4.2 Key Types The differences in the number of columns (shift levels) are caused by a dif- ferent types of keys (see the types definition in section basics). Most key- codes have implicitly set the keytype in the included "pc/latin" file to "FOUR_LEVEL_ALPHABETIC". The only exception is keycode which is explicitly set "TWO_LEVEL" keytype. All those names refer to pre-defined shift level schemes. Usually you can choose a suitable shift level scheme from default types scheme list in proper xkb component's subdirectory. The most used schemes are: ONE_LEVEL The key does not depend on any modifiers. The symbol from first level is always chosen. TWO_LEVEL The key uses a modifier Shift and may have two possible values. The second level may be chosen by Shift modifier. If Lock modi- fier (usually Caps-lock) applies the symbol is further processed using system-specific capitalization rules. If both Shift+Lock modifier apply the symbol from the second level is taken and cap- italization rules are applied (and usually have no effect). ALPHABETIC The key uses modifiers Shift and Lock. It may have two possible values. The second level may be chosen by Shift modifier. When Lock modifier applies, the symbol from the first level is taken and further processed using system-specific capitalization rules. If both Shift+Lock modifier apply the symbol from the first level is taken and no capitalization rules applied. This is often called shift-cancels-caps behaviour. THREE_LEVEL Is the same as TWO_LEVEL but it considers an extra modifier - LevelThree which can be used to gain the symbol value from the third level. If both Shift+LevelThree modifiers apply the value from the third level is also taken. As in TWO_LEVEL, the Lock modifier doesn't influence the resulting level. Only Shift and LevelThree are taken into that consideration. If the Lock modi- fier is active capitalization rules are applied on the resulting symbol. FOUR_LEVEL Is the same as THREE_LEVEL but unlike LEVEL_THREE if both Shift+LevelThree modifiers apply the symbol is taken from the fourth level. FOUR_LEVEL_ALPHABETIC Is similar to FOUR_LEVEL but also defines shift-cancels-caps behaviour as in ALPHABETIC. If Lock+LevelThree apply the symbol from the third level is taken and the capitalization rules are applied. If Lock+Shift+LevelThree apply the symbol from the third level is taken and no capitalization rules are applied. KEYPAD As the name suggest this scheme is primarily used for numeric keypads. The scheme considers two modifiers - Shift and NumLock. If none of modifiers applies the symbol from the first level is taken. If either Shift or NumLock modifiers apply the symbol from the second level is taken. If both Shift+NumLock modifiers apply the symbol from the first level is taken. Again, shift-cancels- caps variant. FOUR_LEVEL_KEYPAD Is similar to KEYPAD scheme but considers also LevelThree modi- fier. If LevelThree modifier applies the symbol from the third level is taken. If Shift+LevelThree or NumLock+LevelThree apply the symbol from the fourth level is taken. If all Shift+Num- Lock+LevelThree modifiers apply the symbol from the third level is taken. This also, shift-cancels-caps variant. FOUR_LEVEL_MIXED_KEYPAD A four-level keypad scheme where the first two levels are similar to the KEYPAD scheme (NumLock+Shift) LevelThree acts as an override providing access to two Shift-ed levels. When LevelThree is active we totally ignore NumLock state Intended for the digit area of the keypad FOUR_LEVEL_X A four-level scheme where the base level accepts no modifier, LevelThree provides two more Shift-ed levels like in the previous scheme, and Ctrl+Alt controls the fourth level Intended for the operator part of a keypad, though since NumLock plays no part, it is not keypad-specific Besides that, there are several schemes for special purposes: PC_CONTROL_LEVEL2 It is similar to TWO_LEVEL scheme but it considers the Control modifier rather than Shift. That means, the symbol from the sec- ond level is chosen by Control rather than by Shift. PC_ALT_LEVEL2 It is similar to TWO_LEVEL scheme but it considers the Alt modi- fier rather than Shift. That means, the symbol from the second level is chosen by Alt rather than by Shift. CTRL+ALT The key uses modifiers Alt and Control. It may have two possible values. If only one modifier (Alt or Control) applies the symbol from the first level is chosen. Only if both Alt+Control modi- fiers apply the symbol from the second level is chosen. SHIFT+ALT The key uses modifiers Shift and Alt. It may have two possible values. If only one modifier (Alt or Shift) applies the symbol from the first level is chosen. Only if both Alt+Shift modifiers apply the symbol from the second level is chosen. If needed, special caps schemes may be used. They redefine the standard behaviour of all *ALPHABETIC types. The layouts (maps of symbols) with keys defined in respective types then automatically change their behaviour accord- ingly. Possible redefinitions are: o internal o internal_nocancel o shift o shift_nocancel None of these schemes should be used directly. They are defined merely for 'caps:' xkb options (used to globally change the layouts behaviour). Don't alter any of existing key types. If you need a different behaviour cre- ate a new one. 4.2.1 More On Definitions Of Types When the XKB software deals with a separate type description it gets a com- plete list of modifiers that should be taken into account from the 'modi- fiers=' list and expects that a set of 'map[]=' instructions that contain the mapping for each combination of modifiers mentioned in that list. Modifiers that are not explicitly listed are NOT taken into account when the resulting shift level is computed. If some combination is omitted the program (subroutine) should choose the first level for this combination (a quite reasonable behavior). Lets consider an example with two modifiers ModOne and ModTwo: type "..." { modifiers = ModOne+ModTwo; map[None] = Level1; map[ModOne] = Level2; }; In this case the map statements for ModTwo only and ModOne+ModTwo are omit- ted. It means that if the ModTwo is active the subroutine can't found explicit mapping for such combination an will use the default level i.e. Level1. But in the case the type described as: type "..." { modifiers = ModOne; map[None] = Level1; map[ModOne] = Level2; }; the ModTwo will not be taken into account and the resulting level depends on the ModOne state only. That means, ModTwo alone produces the Level1 but the combination ModOne+ModTwo produces the Level2 as well as ModOne alone. What does it mean if the second modifier is the Lock? It means that in the first case (the Lock itself is included in the list of modifiers but combina- tions with this modifier aren't mentioned in the map statements) the internal capitalization rules will be applied to the symbol from the first level. But in the second case the capitalization will be applied to the symbol chosen accordingly to he first modifier - and this can be the symbol from the first as well as from the second level. Usually, all modifiers introduced in 'modifiers=' list are used for shift level calculation and then discarded. Sometimes this is not desirable. If you want to use a modifier for shift level calculation but you don't want to discard it, you may list in 'preserve[]='. That means, for a given combination all listed modifiers will be preserved. If the Lock modifier is preserved then the resulting symbol is passed to internal capitalization routine regardless whether it has been used for a shift level calculation or not. Any key type description can use both real and virtual modifiers. Since real modifiers always have standard names it is not necessary to explicitly declare them. Virtual modifiers can have arbitrary names and can be declared (prior using them) directly in key type definition: virtual_modifiers ; as seen in for example basic, pc or mousekeys key type definitions. 4.3 Rules Once you are finished with your symbol map you need to add it to rules file. The rules file describes how all the five basic keycodes, types, compat, sym- bols and geometry components should be composed to give a sensible resulting xkb configuration. The main advantage of rules over formerly used keymaps is a possibility to simply parameterize (once) fixed patterns of configurations and thus to ele- gantly allow substitutions of various local configurations into predefined templates. A pattern in a rules file (often located in /usr/lib/X11/xkb/rules) can be parameterized with four other arguments: Model, Layout, Variant and Options. For most cases parameters model and layout should be sufficient for choosing a functional keyboard mapping. The rules file itself is composed of pattern lines and lines with rules. The pattern line starts with an exclamation mark ('!') and describes how will the xkb interpret the following lines (rules). A sample rules file looks like this: ! model = keycodes macintosh_old = macintosh ... * = xfree86 ! model = symbols hp = +inet(%m) microsoftpro = +inet(%m) geniuscomfy = +inet(%m) ! model layout[1] = symbols macintosh us = macintosh/us%(v[1]) * * = pc/pc(%m)+pc/%l[1]%(v[1]) ! model layout[2] = symbols macintosh us = +macintosh/us[2]%(v[2]):2 * * = +pc/%l[2]%(v[2]):2 ! option = types caps:internal = +caps(internal) caps:internal_nocancel = +caps(internal_nocancel) Each rule defines what certain combination of values on the left side of equal sign ('=') results in. For example a (keyboard) model macintosh_old instructs xkb to take definitions of keycodes from file keycodes/macintosh while the rest of models (represented by a wild card '*') instructs it to take them from file keycodes/xfree86. The wild card represents all possible values on the left side which were not found in any of the previous rules. The more specialized (more complete) rules have higher precedence than gen- eral ones, i.e. the more general rules supply reasonable default values. As you can see some lines contain substitution parameters - the parameters preceded by the percent sign ('%'). The first alphabetical character after the percent sign expands to the value which has been found on the left side. For example +%l%(v) expands into +cz(bksl) if the respective values on the left side were cz layout in its bksl variant. More, if the layout resp. vari- ant parameter is followed by a pair of brackets ('[', ']') it means that xkb should place the layout resp. variant into specified xkb group. If the brack- ets are omitted the first group is the default value. So the second block of rules enhances symbol definitions for some particular keyboard models with extra keys (for internet, multimedia, ...) . Other mod- els are left intact. Similarly, the last block overrides some key type defi- nitions, so the common global behaviour ''shift cancels caps'' or ''shift doesn't cancel caps'' can be selected. The rest of rules produces special symbols for each variant us layout of macintosh keyboard and standard pc sym- bols in appropriate variants as a default. 4.4 Descriptive Files of Rules Now you just need to add a detailed description to .xml description file so the other users (and external programs which often parse this file) know what is your work about. 4.4.1 Old Descriptive Files The formerly used descriptive files were named .lst Its structure is very simple and quite self descriptive but such simplicity had also some cav- ities, for example there was no way how to describe local variants of layouts and there were problems with the localization of descriptions. To preserve compatibility with some older programs, new XML descriptive files can be con- verted to old format '.lst'. For each parameter of rules file should be described its meaning. For the rules file described above the .lst file could look like: ! model pc104 Generic 104-key PC microsoft Microsoft Natural pc98 PC-98xx Series macintosh Original Macintosh ... ! layout us U.S. English cz Czech de German ... ! option caps:internal uses internal capitalization. Shift cancels Caps caps:internal_nocancel uses internal capitalization. Shift doesn't cancel Caps And that should be it. Enjoy creating your own xkb mapping. Generated from XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/XKB-Enhancing.sgml,v 1.2 dawes Exp $ $XFree86: xc/programs/xkbcomp/README.enhancing,v 1.5 2003/10/19 19:57:44 dawes Exp $ @ 1.1.1.1 log @initial import of xkeyboard-config-1.3 @ text @@ 1.1.1.2 log @Initial import of xkeyboard-config-1.9 @ text @d16 5 a20 5 X Keyboard Extension: Protocol Specification ) at least to clarify for himself some xkb-specific terms used in this document and elsewhere in xkb configuration. Also it shows wise to understand how the X server and a client digest their keyboard inputs (with and without xkb). @ 1.1.1.3 log @initial import of xkeyboard-config 2.3. important changes include: added symbols/apl, symbols/cm, symbols/tw removed all symbols/extras/* @ text @d521 5 @ 1.1.1.4 log @initial import of xkeyboard-config-2.12 @ text @d23 1 a23 1 often referenced throughout this docu- d173 3 a175 3 See Some Words About XKB internals for explanation of used xkb terms and problems addressed by XKB extension. d178 1 a178 1 for more precise @ 1.1.1.5 log @initial import of xkeyboard-config-2.31 @ text @d190 1 a190 1 default partial alphanumeric_keys @ 1.1.1.6 log @initial import of xkeyboard-config-2.37 @ text @d1 1 a1 2 How to enhance XKB configuration d9 3 a11 4 This guide is aimed at alleviating one's labour when creating a new (internationalized) keyboard layout. Unlike other documents, this guide emphasizes the keymap developer's point of view. d15 10 a24 10 The developer of a new layout should read the XKB protocol specification (The X Keyboard Extension: Protocol Specification [1]) at least to clarify for themselves some XKB-specific terms used in this document and elsewhere in XKB configuration. It is also wise to understand how the X server and a client digest their keyboard inputs (with and without XKB). Another useful source is Ivan Pascal's text about XKB configuration [2]. [1] https://www.x.org/docs/XKB/XKBproto.pdf [2] http://pascal.tsu.ru/en/xkb/ d27 1 a27 2 XFree86 versions 4.3.x and newer. d31 2 a32 2 At boottime (or later at the user's command) the X server starts its xkb keyboard extension module and reads data from a compiled configuration file. d35 2 a36 2 behaves altogether as an ordinary compiler (see man xkbcomp). Its input are human-readable xkb configuration files which are verified and then composed d38 2 a39 1 selves, for them it is invisible. Usually, it is run upon X server startup. d41 1 a41 1 As you probably already know, XKB configuration consists of five main d45 4 a48 4 Tables that define the translation from keyboard scan codes into reasonably symbolic names, maximum and minimum valid keycodes, symbolic aliases, and a description of physically present LED-indica- tors. The primary sense of this component is to allow definitions d50 2 a51 2 board scancodes. There are two main conventions for symbolic names (always four bytes long): d53 2 a54 2 o names which express some traditional meaning, like (which stands for space bar) d56 3 a58 3 o names which express a relative position on the keyboard, for example (the exclamation mark on US keyboards), with on its right the keys , , etc. d61 3 a63 3 Types describe how the pressed key is affected by active modifiers (like Shift, Control, Alt, ...). There are several predefined types which cover most of the usual combinations. d66 4 a69 5 The compatibility component defines the internal behaviour of modifiers. Using the compat component you can assign various actions (elaborately described in the XKB specification) to key events. This is also the place where LED-indicators behaviour is defined. d74 4 a77 4 by their symbolic name, see above). More than one value may be defined for each key and then it depends on the key type and on the modifiers state (respective compat component) which value will be the resulting one when the key is pressed. d83 2 a84 3 All these components have their files located in the xkb configuration tree, in subdirectories with the same name (usually in /usr/share/X11/xkb). d86 1 a86 1 3. Enhancing the XKB Configuration d88 1 a88 1 Most of XKB enhancements are about a need to define new output symbols for d90 1 a90 1 a new language, or standard, or just to feel more comfortable when typing text). d92 1 a92 1 What do you need to do? Generally, you have to define the following things: d101 10 a110 10 to see if there is something you could easily adjust to fit your needs. Even if there is nothing similar, you may get some ideas about the basic concepts and used tricks. 3.1 Levels and Groups Since XFree86 4.3.0, you can use multiple layouts in the xkb configuration. Though still within the boundaries of the xkb protocol and its general ideas, the keymap designer must obey new rules when creating new maps. In exchange we get a more powerful and cleaner configuration system. d113 5 a117 4 which keycode according to the effective modifier state. The X server itself sends only an input event message. Of course, usually the interpretation is done by Xlib, Xaw, Motif, Qt, Gtk, or similar libraries. The X server only supplies its mapping table (usually upon application startup). d119 1 a119 1 You can think of the X server's symbol table as of an irregular table where d122 3 a124 3 Not all keycodes need to bind different values for different combinations of modifiers. The key, for instance, usually doesn't depend on any modi- fiers so it has in its row only one column defined. d127 2 a128 2 bound to certain columns. By editing the proper files (see Key Types, below) this mapping can be changed as well. d130 3 a132 3 Unlike the original X protocol, the XKB approach is far more flexible. XKB introduces one additional term: the group. You can think of a group as of a vector of columns per keycode (naturally the dimension of this d136 2 a137 2 ble. But then the group has a natural meaning: each symbol set has its own group and changing it means selecting a different one. The XKB approach allows d139 2 a140 2 levels. The X server knows what the current group is and reports it together with the modifier state and the keycode in key events. d144 2 a145 2 o for each keycode the XKB keyboard map contains up to four one-dimensional tables - groups (logically different symbol sets) d147 3 a149 3 o for each group of a keycode the XKB keyboard map contains some columns - shift levels (values reached by combinations of Shift, Ctrl, Alt, ... modifiers) d153 2 a154 1 o different groups of one keycode can have different number of shift levels d156 1 a156 1 o the current group number is tracked by the X server d158 2 a159 2 It is clear that if you sanely define levels and groups, and sanely bind modi- fiers and associated actions, you can have loaded simultaneously up to four d163 2 a164 2 symbol definitions in a way that allows almost arbitrary composition of predefined symbol tables. To keep it fully functional you have to: d169 1 a169 2 behaviour d173 7 a179 8 See "Some Words About XKB internals" [3] for an explanation of used XKB terms and problems addressed by the XKB extension. See "Common notes about XKB configuration files language" [4] for a more precise explanation of the syntax of XKB configuration files. [3] http://pascal.tsu.ru/en/xkb/internals.html [4] http://pascal.tsu.ru/en/xkb/gram-common.html d184 1 a184 1 to use one of four predefined Latin alphabet layouts. d186 1 a186 1 Okay, let's assume you want to extend an existing keymap and you want to over- a191 1 a200 1 d202 1 a202 1 [ ISO_Level3_Shift, Multi_key ] }; d207 1 a207 1 It defines a new layout in the basic variant as an extension of a common latin d209 4 a212 4 Then there are redefinitions of a few keycodes and a modifier binding. As you can see, the number of shift levels is the same for the , , , and keys but it differs from the number of shift levels of . d215 2 a216 2 like a shift modifier for LevelThree, and together with Shift as a Compose key. It is a good habit to respect this rule in a new similar layout. d224 4 a227 4 The differences in the number of columns (shift levels) are caused by the different types of the keys (see the Types definition in section The Basics). Most keycodes have implicitly set the keytype in the included "pc/latin" file to "FOUR_LEVEL_ALPHABETIC". The only exception is the keycode which is d231 2 a232 2 choose a suitable shift level scheme from the default types scheme list in the proper xkb component's subdirectory. d237 2 a238 2 The key does not depend on any modifiers. The symbol from the first level is always chosen. d241 6 a246 7 The key uses the modifier Shift and may have two possible values. The second level is chosen by the Shift modifier. If the Lock modifier (usually Caps-lock) applies, the symbol is further processed using system-specific capitalization rules. If both the Shift and Lock modifiers apply, the symbol from the second level is taken and capitalization rules are applied (but usually have no effect). d249 2 a250 2 The key uses the modifiers Shift and Lock. It may have two possible values. The second level is chosen by Shift. When the d253 3 a255 3 If both the Shift and Lock modifiers apply, the symbol from the first level is taken and no capitalization rules are applied. This is often called shift-cancels-caps behaviour. d258 7 a264 7 Is the same as TWO_LEVEL but it considers an extra modifier: LevelThree, which can be used to gain the symbol value from the third level. If both the Shift and LevelThree modifiers apply, the value from the third level is taken. As in TWO_LEVEL, the Lock modifier doesn't influence the resulting level - only Shift and LevelThree are taken into consideration. If the Lock modifier is active, capitalization rules are applied to the resulting d268 3 a270 3 Is the same as THREE_LEVEL but, unlike THREE_LEVEL, if both the Shift and LevelThree modifiers apply, the symbol is taken from the fourth level. d274 4 a277 5 behaviour as in ALPHABETIC. If both Lock and LevelThree apply, the symbol from the third level is taken and the capitalization rules are applied. If all three modifiers (Lock and Shift and LevelThree) apply, the symbol from the third level is taken and no capitalization rules are applied d280 7 a286 7 As the name suggest, this scheme is primarily used for numeric keypads. The scheme considers two modifiers: Shift and NumLock. If none of the modifiers applies, the symbol from the first level is taken. If either the Shift or the NumLock modifier apply, the symbol from the second level is taken. If both the Shift and the NumLock modifier apply, the symbol from the first level is taken. Again, a shift-cancels-caps variant. d289 6 a294 6 Is similar to the KEYPAD scheme but considers also the LevelThree modifier. If the LevelThree modifier applies, the symbol from the third level is taken. If both Shift and LevelThree or NumLock and LevelThree apply, the symbol from the fourth level is taken. If all three (Shift+NumLock+LevelThree) apply, the symbol from the third level is taken. This also is a shift-cancels-caps variant. d297 5 a301 5 A four-level keypad scheme where the first two levels behave like the KEYPAD scheme (with Shift and NumLock). The LevelThree modifier acts as an override, providing access to two normally Shift-ed levels: when LevelThree is active we ignore the NumLock state. Intended for the digit area of the keypad. d305 4 a308 4 LevelThree provides two more Shift-ed levels (levels 2 and 3), and Ctrl plus Alt command the fourth level. Intended for the operator part of a keypad, though since NumLock plays no part, it is not keypad-specific. d310 1 a310 1 Besides that, there are some schemes for special purposes: d313 3 a315 3 Similar to the TWO_LEVEL scheme but it considers the Control modifier rather than Shift. That means, the symbol from the second level is chosen by Control rather than by Shift. d318 3 a320 3 Similar to the TWO_LEVEL scheme but it considers the Alt modifier rather than Shift. That means, the symbol from the second level is chosen by Alt rather than by Shift. d323 4 a326 5 The key uses the modifiers Alt and Control. It may have two possible values. If just one modifier (Alt or Control) applies, the symbol from the first level is chosen. Only if both the Alt and Control modifiers apply, the symbol from the second level is chosen. d329 4 a332 5 The key uses the modifiers Shift and Alt. It may have two possible values. If just one modifier (Alt or Shift) applies, the symbol from the first level is chosen. Only if both the Alt and Shift modifiers apply, the symbol from the second level is chosen. d348 1 a348 1 the 'caps:' xkb option (used to globally change the layouts behaviour). d350 2 a351 2 Don't alter any of the existing key types. If you need a different behaviour, create a new type. d353 1 a353 1 4.2.1 More on Definitions of Types d355 1 a355 1 When the XKB software deals with a separate type description, it gets a com- d357 2 a358 2 fiers=' list and expects a set of 'map[]=' instructions that contain the mapping for d361 1 a361 1 is computed. If some combination is omitted, the program (subroutine) should d364 1 a364 1 Let's consider an example with two modifiers, ModOne and ModTwo: d372 3 a374 3 In this case the map has a statement for ModOne only and ModOne+ModTwo is omitted. This means that if ModTwo is active, the subroutine can't find an explicit mapping for this combination and will use the default level, i.e. d377 1 a377 1 But in the case that the type is described as: d387 1 a387 1 combination ModOne+ModTwo (as well as ModOne alone) produces the Level2. d389 2 a390 2 What does it mean if the second modifier is not ModTwo but Lock? It means that in the first case (Lock itself is included in the list of modifiers but combina- d394 1 a394 1 accordingly to the first modifier - and this can be the symbol from the first d400 1 a400 1 don't want to discard it, you may list it in 'preserve[ ; d413 1 a413 1 as seen in for example the basic, pc, or mousekeys key type definitions. d417 3 a419 3 Once you are finished with your symbol map you need to add it to the rules file. The rules file describes how all the five basic components (keycodes, types, compat, symbols, and geometry) should be composed to give a sensible resulting d422 1 a422 1 The main advantage of rules over formerly used keymaps is the possibility to d427 3 a429 3 A pattern in a rules file (often located in /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules) can be parameterized with four other arguments: Model, Layout, Variant, and Options. For most cases the parameters Model and Layout should be sufficient for choosing d432 4 a435 3 The rules file itself is composed of pattern lines and lines with rules. Each pattern line starts with an exclamation mark ('!') and describes how XKB will interpret the subsequent lines (rules). A sample rules file looks like this: d438 1 a438 1 macintosh_old = macintosh d442 1 a442 1 ! model = symbols d444 2 a445 2 microsoftpro = +inet(%m) geniuscomfy = +inet(%m) d447 11 a457 11 ! model layout[1] = symbols macintosh us = macintosh/us%(v[1]) * * = pc/pc(%m)+pc/%l[1]%(v[1]) ! model layout[2] = symbols macintosh us = +macintosh/us[2]%(v[2]):2 * * = +pc/%l[2]%(v[2]):2 ! option = types caps:internal = +caps(internal) caps:internal_nocancel = +caps(internal_nocancel) d459 2 a460 2 Each rule defines what a certain combination of values on the left side of the equals sign ('=') results in. For example, a (keyboard) model macintosh_old d462 2 a463 2 while the rest of the models (represented by a wildcard '*') instructs it to take them from file keycodes/xfree86. The wildcard represents all possible d474 2 a475 2 should place the layout resp. variant into the specified xkb group. If the brackets are omitted, the first group is the default value. d481 3 a483 3 doesn't cancel caps'' can be selected. The rest of the rules produce special symbols for each US variant of the macintosh keyboard, and standard pc symbols in appropriate variants as a default. d487 3 a489 3 Now you just need to add a detailed description to the .xml description file so that other users (and external programs which often parse this file) know what your work is about. d493 1 a493 1 The formerly used descriptive files were named .lst. Its structure is d498 1 a498 1 verted to the old '.lst' format. d500 2 a501 2 The meaning of each possible parameter of the rules file should be described. For the sample rules file given above, the .lst file could look like this: d507 1 a507 1 macintosh Original Macintosh d517 2 a518 2 caps:internal uses internal capitalization, Shift cancels Caps caps:internal_nocancel uses internal capitalization, Shift doesn't cancel Caps @