323 lines
9.5 KiB
XML
323 lines
9.5 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.3//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.3/docbookx.dtd"
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[
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<!ENTITY % defs SYSTEM "defs.ent"> %defs;
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]>
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<article id='XKB-Config'>
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<articleinfo>
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<title>The XKB Configuration Guide</title>
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<releaseinfo>X Version 11, Release &fullrelvers;</releaseinfo>
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<authorgroup>
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<author>
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<firstname>Kamil</firstname><surname>Toman</surname>
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</author>
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<author>
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<firstname>Ivan</firstname><othername>U.</othername>
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<surname>Pascal</surname>
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</author>
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</authorgroup>
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<pubdate>November 2010</pubdate>
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<abstract>
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<para>
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This document describes how to configure Xorg XKB from a user's point
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of view. It covers basic configuration syntax and gives also a few examples.
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</para>
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<para>
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This version covers Xorg server versions 1.8 and later, used with the
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data files from the <ulink
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url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/XKeyboardConfig"
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>xkeyboard-config</ulink> project.
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</para>
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</abstract>
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</articleinfo>
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<sect1 id='Overview'>
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<title>Overview</title>
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<para>
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The XKB configuration is decomposed into a number of components. Selecting
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proper parts and combining them back you can achieve most of the configurations
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you might need. Unless you have a completely atypical keyboard you really don't
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need to touch any of the xkb configuration files.
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</para>
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<para>
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Some desktop environments now provide integrated graphical configuration
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tools for setting XKB configuration as part of your desktop session. The
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instructions in this document are provided for those without such support,
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those who need to configure XKB before the session startup (such as at the
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login screen), or those who need to perform more advanced configuration
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than those tools provide.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id='Selecting_XKB_Configuration'>
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<title>Selecting XKB Configuration</title>
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<para>
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The easiest and the most natural way to specify a keyboard mapping is to use
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the <literal remap="tt">rules</literal> component. As its name suggests it describes a number of
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general rules to combine all bits and pieces into a valid and useful keyboard
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mapping. All you need to do is to select a suitable rules file and then to
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feed it with a few parameters that will adjust the keyboard behaviour to
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fulfill your needs.
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</para>
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<para>
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The parameters are:
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>XkbRules</option></term>
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<listitem><para>
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files of rules to be used for keyboard mapping composition
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>XkbModel</option></term>
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<listitem><para>
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name of the model of your keyboard type
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>XkbLayout</option></term>
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<listitem><para>
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layout(s) you intend to use
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>XkbVariant</option></term>
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<listitem><para>
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variant(s) of the layout you intend to use
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>XkbOptions</option></term>
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<listitem><para>
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extra xkb configuration options
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</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</para>
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<para>
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The rules file used depends on your system. The rules files commonly
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used with Xorg are provided by the <ulink
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url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/XKeyboardConfig"
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>xkeyboard-config</ulink> project.
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On Linux systems, the <filename>evdev</filename> rules are most
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commonly used, on other systems the <filename>base</filename> rules
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are used. Some additional rules files exist for historical reasons,
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but are no longer widely used. In general, it's best to simply not
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specify the rules file, in order to use the default rules selected
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automatically by the X server.
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</para>
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<para>
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For each rules file there is a description file named
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<filename><<replaceable>vendor-rules</replaceable>>.lst</filename>,
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for instance <filename>base.lst</filename> which is located in
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the xkb configuration subdirectory <filename>rules</filename>
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(for example <filename>/usr/share/X11/xkb/rules</filename>).
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</para>
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<sect2 id='Basic_Configuration'>
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<title>Basic Configuration</title>
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<para>
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Let's say you want to configure a PC-style American keyboard with 104
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keys as described in <filename>base.lst</filename>. This can be done
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by simply writing several lines from below to a new configuration file
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in <filename>/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d</filename>, such
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as <filename>/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-custom-kbd.conf</filename>.
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<screen>
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Section "InputClass"
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Identifier "keyboard defaults"
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MatchIsKeyboard "on"
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Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
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Option "XkbLayout" "us"
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Option "XKbOptions" ""
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EndSection
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</screen>
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The values of <option>XkbModel</option> and <option>XkbLayout</option> are
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really not surprising. The <option>XkbOptions</option>
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has been explicitly set to the empty set of parameters.
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The <option>XkbVariant</option> option has been left out.
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That means the default variant named <literal remap="tt">basic</literal>
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is loaded.
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</para>
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<para>
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Of course, this can be also done at runtime using the utility
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<command>setxkbmap</command>.
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The shell command loading the same keyboard mapping would look like:
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<screen>
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setxkbmap -model pc104 -layout us -option ""
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</screen>
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The configuration and the shell command would be very analogous
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for most other layouts (internationalized mappings).
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</para>
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<para id="zap">
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If you wanted to enable the <keycombo action='simul'><keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
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<keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>Backspace</keycap></keycombo> sequence to kill
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the X server by default, you could create a configuration snippet
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<filename>/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-zap.conf</filename> containing:
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<screen>
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Section "InputClass"
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Identifier "keyboard defaults"
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MatchIsKeyboard "on"
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Option "XKbOptions" "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"
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EndSection
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</screen>
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This would be equivalent to running the shell command:
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<screen>
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setxkbmap -option "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"
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</screen>
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</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id='Advanced_Configuration'>
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<title>Advanced Configuration</title>
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<para>
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You can use multi-layouts xkb configuration.
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What does it mean? Basically it allows to load up to four different
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keyboard layouts at a time. Each such layout would reside in its
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own group. The groups (unlike complete keyboard remapping) can be
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switched very fast from one to another by a combination of keys.
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</para>
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<para>
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Let's say you want to configure your new Logitech cordless desktop
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keyboard, you intend to use three different layouts at the same
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time - us, czech and german (in this order), and that you are used to
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<keycombo action='simul'><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>Shift</keycap></keycombo>
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combination for switching among them.
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</para>
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<para>
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Then the configuration snippet could look like this:
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<screen>
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Section "InputClass"
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Identifier "Logitech Cordless"
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MatchIsKeyboard "on"
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Option "XkbModel" "logicordless"
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Option "XkbLayout" "us,cz,de"
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Option "XKbOptions" "grp:alt_shift_toggle"
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EndSection
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</screen>
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Of course, this can be also done at runtime using the utility
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<command>setxkbmap</command>.
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The shell command loading the same keyboard mapping would look like:
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<screen>
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setxkbmap -model logicordless -layout "us,cz,de" \
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-option "grp:alt_shift_toggle"
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</screen>
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</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id='Even_More_Advanced_Configuration'>
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<title>Even More Advanced Configuration</title>
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<para>
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Okay, let's say you are more demanding. You do like the example
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above but you want it to change a bit. Let's imagine you want
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the czech keyboard mapping to use another variant but basic.
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The configuration snippet then changes into:
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<screen>
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Section "InputClass"
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Identifier "Logitech Cordless"
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MatchIsKeyboard "on"
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Option "XkbModel" "logicordless"
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Option "XkbLayout" "us,cz,de"
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Option "XkbVariant" ",bksl,"
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Option "XKbOptions" "grp:alt_shift_toggle"
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EndSection
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</screen>
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That seems tricky but it is not. The logic for settings of variants
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is the same as for layouts, that means the first and the third variant
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settings are left out (set to <literal remap="tt">basic</literal>),
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the second is set to <literal remap="tt">bksl</literal> (a special
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variant with an enhanced definition of the backslash key).
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</para>
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<para>
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Analogously, the loading runtime will change to:
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<screen>
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setxkbmap -model logicordless -layout "us,cz,de" \
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-variant ",bksl," -option "grp:alt_shift_toggle"
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</screen>
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</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id='Basic_Global_Options'>
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<title>Basic Global Options</title>
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<para>
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For a list of available options, with a short description of what they do,
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see the section starting with <quote><literal>! option</literal></quote> in the
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<filename>rules/*.lst</filename> files.
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</para>
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<!--
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TODO: More detailed descriptions of options. Users often get confused.
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-->
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</sect2>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id='Keymap_XKB_Configuration'>
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<title>Keymap XKB Configuration</title>
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<para>
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Keymap configuration is the way formerly used to configure xkb. The
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user included a special keymap file which specified the direct xkb
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configuration. This method has been obsoleted by previously described
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rules files which are far more flexible and allow simpler and more
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intuitive syntax. It is preserved merely for compatibility reasons and
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should be avoided if possible.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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</article>
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