1LOADKEYS(1) General Commands Manual LOADKEYS(1)
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6 loadkeys - load keyboard translation tables
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9 loadkeys [ -a --ascii ] [ -b --bkeymap ] [ -c --clearcompose ] [ -C
10 '<FILE>' | --console=<FILE> ] [ -d --default ] [ -h --help ] [ -m
11 --mktable ] [ -p --parse ] [ -q --quiet ] [ -s --clearstrings ] [ -u
12 --unicode ] [ -v --verbose ] [ -V --version ] [ filename... ]
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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. You can
17 specify console device by the -C (or --console ) option.
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20 If the -d (or --default ) option is given, loadkeys loads a default
21 keymap, probably the file defkeymap.map either in /lib/kbd/keymaps or
22 in /usr/src/linux/drivers/char. (Probably the former was user-defined,
23 while the latter is a qwerty keyboard map for PCs - maybe not what was
24 desired.) Sometimes, with a strange keymap loaded (with the minus on
25 some obscure unknown modifier combination) it is easier to type `load‐
26 keys defkeymap'.
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29 The main function of loadkeys is to load or modify the keyboard
30 driver's translation tables. When specifying the file names, standard
31 input can be denoted by dash (-). If no file is specified, the data is
32 read from the standard input.
33 For many countries and keyboard types appropriate keymaps are available
35 already, and a command like `loadkeys uk' might do what you want. On
36 the other hand, it is easy to construct one's own keymap. The user has
37 to tell what symbols belong to each key. She can find the keycode for a
38 key by use of showkey(1), while the keymap format is given in
39 keymaps(5) and can also be seen from the output of dumpkeys(1).
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42 If the input file does not contain any compose key definitions, the
43 kernel accent table is left unchanged, unless the -c (or --clearcompose
44 ) option is given, in which case the kernel accent table is emptied.
45 If the input file does contain compose key definitions, then all old
46 definitions are removed, and replaced by the specified new entries.
47 The kernel accent table is a sequence of (by default 68) entries
48 describing how dead diacritical signs and compose keys behave. For
49 example, a line
50 compose ',' 'c' to ccedilla
52 means that <ComposeKey><,><c> must be combined to <ccedilla>. The cur‐
54 rent content of this table can be see using `dumpkeys --compose-only'.
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57 The option -s (or --clearstrings ) clears the kernel string table. If
58 this option is not given, loadkeys will only add or replace strings,
59 not remove them. (Thus, the option -s is required to reach a well-
60 defined state.) The kernel string table is a sequence of strings with
61 names like F31. One can make function key F5 (on an ordinary PC key‐
62 board) produce the text `Hello!', and Shift+F5 `Goodbye!' using lines
63 keycode 63 = F70 F71
65 string F70 = "Hello!"
66 string F71 = "Goodbye!"
67 in the keymap. The default bindings for the function keys are certain
69 escape sequences mostly inspired by the VT100 terminal.
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72 If the -m (or --mktable ) option is given loadkeys prints to the stan‐
73 dard output a file that may be used as /usr/src/linux/drivers/char‐
74 /defkeymap.c, specifying the default key bindings for a kernel (and
75 does not modify the current keymap).
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78 If the -b (or --bkeymap ) option is given loadkeys prints to the stan‐
79 dard output a file that may be used as a binary keymap as expected by
80 Busybox loadkmap command (and does not modify the current keymap).
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83 loadkeys automatically detects whether the console is in Unicode or
84 ASCII (XLATE) mode. When a keymap is loaded, literal keysyms (such as
85 section) are resolved accordingly; numerical keysyms are converted to
86 fit the current console mode, regardless of the way they are specified
87 (decimal, octal, hexadecimal or Unicode).
88 The -u (or --unicode) switch forces loadkeys to convert all keymaps to
90 Unicode. If the keyboard is in a non-Unicode mode, such as XLATE,
91 loadkeys will change it to Unicode for the time of its execution. A
92 warning message will be printed in this case.
93 It is recommended to run kbd_mode(1) before loadkeys instead of using
95 the -u option.
96
98 -a --ascii
99 Force conversion to ASCII.
100 -h --help
102 loadkeys prints its version number and a short usage message to
103 the programs standard error output and exits.
104 -p --parse
106 loadkeys searches and parses keymap without action.
107 -q --quiet
109 loadkeys suppresses all normal output.
110 -V --version
112 loadkeys prints version number and exits.
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115 Note that anyone having read access to /dev/console can run loadkeys
116 and thus change the keyboard layout, possibly making it unusable. Note
117 that the keyboard translation table is common for all the virtual con‐
118 soles, so any changes to the keyboard bindings affect all the virtual
119 consoles simultaneously.
120 Note that because the changes affect all the virtual consoles, they
122 also outlive your session. This means that even at the login prompt the
123 key bindings may not be what the user expects.
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126 /lib/kbd/keymaps
127 default directory for keymaps
128 /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map
130 default kernel keymap
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133 dumpkeys(1), keymaps(5)
134 6 Feb 1994 LOADKEYS(1)