                          XMODMAP.EXE

Xmodmap is a utility for modifying keymaps in the X Window System.
You can use xmodmap 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.

SYNOPSIS:

xmodmap [-options ...] [filename]

-display display
This option specifies the host and display to use.

-help
This option displays a brief description of the command line
options.

-grammar
This option displays a help message describing the expression
grammar used in files with -e expressions (see below).

-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.

-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.

-pk
This option indicates that the current keymap table should be
printed on the standard output.

-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 \dvx\app-defa directory
with the name xmodmap.res


EXPRESSION GRAMMAR
The xmodmap program reads a list of expressions and parses them all
before attempting 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.

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 in the examples directory).  Usually only
one keysym is assigned to a given code.

keysym KEYSYMNAME = KEYSYMNAME ...
The KEYSYMNAME on the left side is looked up to find its
current keycode and the line is replaced with the appropriate
keycode expression.  Note that if you have the same keysym bound to
multiple keys, this might not work.

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 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 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 to pointer map to contain the indicated button codes.  The
list always starts with the first physical 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.

EXAMPLES
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:

c:\dvx\>  xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1"

Many editor 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.

keysym Multi_key = Multi_key Meta_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 \fIxmodmap\fP 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 Shift Lock 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

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

ENVIRONMENT

   DISPLAY
   To get default host and display number.

BUGS
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.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1988, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Copyright 1987 Sun Microsystems, Inc.

AUTHOR
Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium, rewritten from an earlier version by
David Rosenthal of Sun Microsystems.
