xmodmap - utility for modifying keymaps and pointer button mappings in X
xmodmap [-options ...] [filename]
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.
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 description of the
command line arguments should be printed on the standard error channel.
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.
- -version
- This option indicates that xmodmap should print its
version information and exit.
- -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(1)
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 standard output. This is the default mode of operation
if no other mode options are specified.
- -pk
- This option indicates that the current keymap table should
be printed on the standard output.
- -pke
- This option indicates that the current keymap table should
be printed on the standard output in the form of expressions that can be
fed back to xmodmap.
- -pp
- This option indicates that the current pointer map should
be printed on the standard 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.
The
xmodmap program reads a list of expressions and parses them all
before attempting to 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.
The list of keysym names may be found in the header file
<X11/keysymdef.h> (without the
XK_ prefix). Keysyms
matching Unicode characters may be specified as "U0020" to
"U007E" and "U00A0" to "U10FFFF" for all
possible Unicode characters.
- keycode NUMBER = KEYSYMNAME ...
- The list of keysyms is assigned to the indicated keycode
(which may be specified in decimal, hex or octal and can be determined by
running the xev program). Up to eight keysyms may be attached to a
key, however the last four are not used in any major X server
implementation. The first keysym is used when no modifier key is pressed
in conjunction with this key, the second with Shift, the third when the
Mode_switch key is used with this key and the fourth when both the
Mode_switch and Shift keys are used.
- keycode any = KEYSYMNAME ...
- If no existing key has the specified list of keysyms
assigned to it, a spare key on the keyboard is selected and the keysyms
are assigned to it. The list of keysyms may be specified in decimal, hex
or octal.
- keysym KEYSYMNAME = KEYSYMNAME
...
- The KEYSYMNAME on the left hand side is translated
into matching keycodes used to perform the corresponding set of
keycode expressions. Note that if the same keysym is bound to
multiple keys, the expression is executed for each matching keycode.
- 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 all keys containing 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 all keys containing 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
reassigned.
- 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 the pointer map to contain the indicated button
codes. The list always starts with the first physical button. Setting a
button code to 0 disables events from that 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 modifier map.
Many pointers are designed such that 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 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 labeled Compose Character). It also takes advantage of the fact
that applications 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.
% xmodmap -e "keysym Multi_key = Multi_key Meta_L"
Similarly, some keyboards have an Alt key but no Meta key. In that case the
following may be useful:
% xmodmap -e "keysym Alt_L = Meta_L Alt_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 windows 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 keyboards is the location of the
Control and CapsLock 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
This example can be run again to swap the keys back to their previous
assignments.
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 bindings, 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
- DISPLAY
- to get default host and display number.
X(7),
xev(1),
setxkbmap(1),
XStringToKeysym(3),
Xlib documentation on key
and pointer events
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
MappingNotify events will not notice
any changes made to keyboard mappings.
Xmodmap should generate "add" and "remove"
expressions 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.
Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium, rewritten from an earlier version by David
Rosenthal of Sun Microsystems.