xmodmap (X) X Version 11 (Release 4) xmodmap (X)
NAME
xmodmap - utility for modifying keymaps in X
SYNOPSIS
xmodmap [-options ...] [filename]
DESCRIPTION
The xmodmap program is used to edit and display the
keyboard modifier map and keymap table that are used
by client applications to convert event keycodes
into keysyms. It is usually run from the user's
session startup script to configure the keyboard
according to personal tastes.
OPTIONS
The following options may be used with xmodmap:
-display display
This option specifies the host and display
to use.
-help This option indicates that a brief descrip-
tion of the command line arguments should be
printed on the standard error. This will be
done whenever an unhandled argument is given
to xmodmap.
-grammar
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.
-verbose
This option indicates that xmodmap should
print logging information as it parses its
input.
-quiet This option turns off the verbose logging.
This is the default.
-n This option indicates that xmodmap should
not change the mappings, but should display
what it would do, like make does when
given this option.
-e expression
This option specifies an expression to be
executed. Any number of expressions may be
specified from the command line.
-pm This option indicates that the current
modifier map should be printed on the stan-
dard output.
-pk This option indicates that the current key-
map table should be printed on the standard
output.
-pp This option indicates that the current
pointer map should be printed on the stan-
dard output.
- A lone dash means that the standard input
should be used as the input file.
The filename specifies a file containing xmodmap
expressions to be executed. This file is usually
kept in the user's home directory with a name like
.xmodmaprc.
EXPRESSION GRAMMAR
The xmodmap program reads a list of expressions and
parses them all before attempting execute any of
them. This makes it possible to refer to keysyms
that are being redefined in a natural way without
having to worry as much about name conflicts.
keycode NUMBER = KEYSYMNAME ...
The list of keysyms is assigned to the indi-
cated keycode (which may be specified in
decimal, hex or octal and can be determined
by running the xev program in the examples
directory). Usually only one keysym is
assigned to a given code.
keysym KEYSYMNAME = KEYSYMNAME ...
The KEYSYMNAME on the left hand side is
looked up to find its current keycode and
the line is replaced with the appropriate
keycode expression. Note that if you have
the same keysym bound to multiple keys, this
might not work.
clear MODIFIERNAME
This removes all entries in the modifier map
for the given modifier, where valid name
are: Shift, Lock, Control, Mod1, Mod2,
Mod3, Mod4 and Mod5 (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.
add MODIFIERNAME = KEYSYMNAME ...
This adds 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).
remove MODIFIERNAME = KEYSYMNAME ...
This removes the given keysyms from the
indicated modifier map. Unlike add, 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 reas-
signed.
pointer = default
This sets the pointer map back to its
default settings (button 1 generates a code
of 1, button 2 generates a 2, etc.).
pointer = NUMBER ...
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 modif-
ier map.
EXAMPLES
Many pointers are designed such the first button is
pressed using the index finger of the right hand.
People who are left-handed frequently find that it
is more comfortable 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 follows:
% 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 label Compose Character).
It also takes advantage of the fact that applica-
tions 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.
% keysym Multi_key = Multi_key Meta_L
One of the more simple, yet convenient, uses of
xmodmap is to set the keyboard's "rubout" key to
generate an alternate keysym. This frequently
involves exchanging Backspace with Delete to be more
comfortable to the user. If the ttyModes resource
in xterm 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
xmodmap 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 key-
boards is the location of the Control and Shift Lock
keys. A common use of xmodmap 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 keycode 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 bind-
ings, 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
!
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
DISPLAY to get default host and display number.
SEE ALSO
X(X)
BUGS
Every time a keycode expression is evaluated, the
server generates a MappingNotify 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 Map-
pingNotify events will not notice any changes made
to keyboard mappings.
xmodmap should generate "add" and "remove" expres-
sions automatically whenever a keycode that is
already bound to a modifier is changed.
There should be a way to have the "remove" expression
accept keycodes as well as keysyms for those times
when you really mess up your mappings.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1988, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Copyright 1987 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
See X(X) for a full statement of rights and permissions.
AUTHOR
Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium, rewritten from an ear-
lier version by David Rosenthal of Sun Microsystems.