1LOADKEYS(1) General Commands Manual LOADKEYS(1)
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6 loadkeys - load keyboard translation tables
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9 loadkeys [ -b --bkeymap ] [ -c --clearcompose ] [ -C '<cons1 cons2
10 ...>' | --console=cons1,cons2,... ] [ -d --default ] [ -h --help ] [
11 -m --mktable ] [ -q --quiet ] [ -s --clearstrings ] [ -v --verbose ] [
12 filename... ]
13
15 The program loadkeys reads the file or files specified by filename....
16 Its main purpose is to load the kernel keymap for the console. The
17 affected console device or devices can be specified using the -C (or
18 --console ) option. This option supports a list of device names
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21 If the -d (or --default ) option is given, loadkeys loads a default
22 keymap, probably the file defkeymap.map either in /lib/kbd/keymaps or
23 in /usr/src/linux/drivers/char. (Probably the former was user-defined,
24 while the latter is a qwerty keyboard map for PCs - maybe not what was
25 desired.) Sometimes, with a strange keymap loaded (with the minus on
26 some obscure unknown modifier combination) it is easier to type `load‐
27 keys defkeymap'.
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30 The main function of loadkeys is to load or modify the keyboard
31 driver's translation tables. When specifying the file names, standard
32 input can be denoted by dash (-). If no file is specified, the data is
33 read from the standard input.
34 For many countries and keyboard types appropriate keymaps are available
36 already, and a command like `loadkeys uk' might do what you want. On
37 the other hand, it is easy to construct one's own keymap. The user has
38 to tell what symbols belong to each key. She can find the keycode for a
39 key by use of showkey(1), while the keymap format is given in
40 keymaps(5) and can also be seen from the output of dumpkeys(1).
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43 If the input file does not contain any compose key definitions, the
44 kernel accent table is left unchanged, unless the -c (or --clearcompose
45 ) option is given, in which case the kernel accent table is emptied.
46 If the input file does contain compose key definitions, then all old
47 definitions are removed, and replaced by the specified new entries.
48 The kernel accent table is a sequence of (by default 68) entries
49 describing how dead diacritical signs and compose keys behave. For
50 example, a line
51 compose ',' 'c' to ccedilla
53 means that <ComposeKey><,><c> must be combined to <ccedilla>. The cur‐
55 rent content of this table can be see using `dumpkeys --compose-only'.
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58 The option -s (or --clearstrings ) clears the kernel string table. If
59 this option is not given, loadkeys will only add or replace strings,
60 not remove them. (Thus, the option -s is required to reach a well-
61 defined state.) The kernel string table is a sequence of strings with
62 names like F31. One can make function key F5 (on an ordinary PC key‐
63 board) produce the text `Hello!', and Shift+F5 `Goodbye!' using lines
64 keycode 63 = F70 F71
66 string F70 = "Hello!"
67 string F71 = "Goodbye!"
68 in the keymap. The default bindings for the function keys are certain
70 escape sequences mostly inspired by the VT100 terminal.
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73 If the -m (or --mktable ) option is given loadkeys prints to the stan‐
74 dard output a file that may be used as /usr/src/linux/drivers/char‐
75 /defkeymap.c, specifying the default key bindings for a kernel (and
76 does not modify the current keymap).
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79 If the -b (or --bkeymap ) option is given loadkeys prints to the stan‐
80 dard output a file that may be used as a binary keymap as expected by
81 Busybox loadkmap command (and does not modify the current keymap).
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84 -h --help
85 loadkeys prints its version number and a short usage message to
86 the programs standard error output and exits.
87 -q --quiet
89 loadkeys suppresses all normal output.
90
92 Note that anyone having read access to /dev/console can run loadkeys
93 and thus change the keyboard layout, possibly making it unusable. Note
94 that the keyboard translation table is common for all the virtual con‐
95 soles, so any changes to the keyboard bindings affect all the virtual
96 consoles simultaneously.
97 Note that because the changes affect all the virtual consoles, they
99 also outlive your session. This means that even at the login prompt the
100 key bindings may not be what the user expects.
101
103 /lib/kbd/keymaps
104 default directory for keymaps
105 /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map
107 default kernel keymap
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110 dumpkeys(1), keymaps(5)
111 6 Feb 1994 LOADKEYS(1)