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, probably the file defkeymap.map either
in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps or in
/usr/src/linux/drivers/char. (Probably the former was
user-defined, while the latter 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 combination) it is easier to type `load
keys defkeymap'.
LOAD KERNEL KEYMAP
The main function of loadkeys is to load or modify the
keyboard driver's translation 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 sym
bols 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 defini
tions, 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 compose key definitions, then all old defini
tions 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 example, a line
compose ',' 'c' to ccedilla
means that <ComposeKey><,><c> must be combined to
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 con
soles, they also outlive your session. This means that
even at the login prompt the key bindings may not be what
the user expects.
FILES
/usr/share/kbd/keymaps
default directory for keymaps
/usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map
default kernel keymap
SEE ALSO
dumpkeys(1), keymaps(5)
6 Feb 1994 LOADKEYS(1)
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