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keyboard(5) File Formats Manual keyboard(5) NAME keyboard - Using keyboards for different native languages DESCRIPTION The keyboard lets you type not only the characters printed on the key- caps, but all the characters from the character set for the language that your keyboard supports. For your keyboard to function correctly with your system, you must load a keyboard mapping table (keymap) that is appropriate for your key- board's model and language. If you load a keymap that does not corre- spond to your keyboard's model and language, your keyboard behavior is unpredictable. The label located on the bottom surface of a keyboard usually specifies its model (five letter code) and language (two letter code). See the reference page for the native language you are using (Spanish(5), for example) to find tables that associate keyboard styles and models with keymap names. The operating system supports keymaps in xmodmap format, xkb format, or both formats. In the DECwindows environment, selecting keyboards through menu choices loads keymaps in xmodmap format. In the Common Desktop Environment (CDE), selecting keyboards through menu choices loads keymaps in xkb format. However, you can load keymaps in either format for both environments as described in the following sections. Note that xkb format is recommended, and keymaps for new keyboards may be available only in that format. Loading Keymaps in xkb Format The method used to load a keymap in xkb format depends on the windows environment you are using. For CDE: Click on the Application Manager's icon on the Front Panel. Double click on the Desktop_Apps icon to show the Desktop Applications. Double click on the Keyboard Options icon. The Keyboard Option dialog box displays two selection lists From the Language list in the dialog box, choose Spanish. From the Keyboard Type list in the dialog box, choose the model of your keyboard. If you chose one of the VT style models, you can also click on one of the Keyboard Style radio buttons that selects typewriter or data processing layout. (By default, typewriter layout is se- lected for you.) Click on the Apply or OK button. For DECwindows: Use the following command to display the Keyboard Op- tion dialog box: % /usr/dt/bin/dxkeyboard If you do not want to run dxkeyboard from the command line, you can customize DECwindows to be able to choose dxkeyboard from the Session Manager's Applications menu. For more information, see the the online help for the Applications Menu... and Appli- cations Definitions... items in the Session Manager's Options menu. Perform the last three steps specified in the list of steps for CDE users. All supported keyboard models are not represented in the Keyboard Type selection list displayed by the dxkeyboard application. Loading Keymaps in xmodmap Format The method used to load a keymap in xmodmap format depends on the win- dows environment you are using. For CDE: Check the /usr/lib/X11/keymaps directory to find the name.keymap file that corresponds to your keyboard model and language. Use the following command to load the keymap: % /usr/bin/X11/xmodmap /usr/lib/X11/keymaps/name.keymap For DECwindows: Choose Keyboard... from the Session Manager's Option menu. When the Keyboard Option dialog box appears, select the entry in the Keyboard Type list that corresponds to your keyboard language and model. Click on the Apply or OK button. For most native languages, you usually enter characters by using a one- or two-key sequence. For example, you press a letter key to enter a letter in lowercase and hold down Shift while pressing the letter key to enter the letter in uppercase. However, keyboards that support cer- tain languages may support more than two characters per keycap. When using these keyboards, you have to press several keys, either at the same time or in sequence, to enter some of the characters in the lan- guage. The following sections describe the prefix and modifier keys used for different kinds of character input methods and then provide instructions on using those input methods. PREFIX AND MODIFIER KEYS Both the VT and PC styles of keyboards group keys by function into four subsets, or keypads. This discussion is only about the main keypad and not the auxilliary keypads. The main keypad, which is similar to a typewriter keyboard, contains the keys with alphanumeric characters, punctuation marks, the space bar, and Shift keys. Unlike a typewriter keyboard, the main keypad con- tains additional modifier and prefix keys. Modifier keys are pressed in combination with another key, to modify the code sent by that key. Pre- fix keys are pressed and released before pressing another key, to change the function of one or more keystrokes that follow. Lock and Shift, which are found on the typewriter keyboard, are exam- ples of keys that are implemented as modifier or prefix keys for VT and PC style keyboards. Ctrl, Alt, and Compose, not found on typewriter keyboards, are also examples of keycap engravings that identify a modi- fier or prefix key. However, the engraved names and functions of modi- fier and prefix keys vary between the VT and PC keyboard styles. Even within a given keyboard style, the engraved names and functions of these keys may differ from one native language to another. Control keys Control keys (whose keycap engraving usually is Ctrl) are most often used to send a control (nonprintable) character to the host system. For example, holding down Ctrl while pressing the letter C usually sends a sequence that stops, or aborts, an operation. However, a control key is sometimes used in conjunction with other modifier keys to perform some special keyboard functions. On VT style keyboards, there is one control key, which is located on the left side of the main keypad. On PC style keyboards, there are two control keys, which are located on the left and right sides of the main keypad. Shift Keys Shift keys (whose keycap engraving is usually Shift) cause a standard key to send an uppercase character for alphabetic keys or shifted (top) character for nonalphabetic keys. There are two Shift keys on both the VT and PC styles of keyboards. Holding down Shift while pressing a standard key sends the uppercase character on alphabetic keys or shifted (top) character engraved on nonalphabetic keys. Lock Key The lock key (whose keycap engraving usually includes Lock) can put the keyboard in Caps Lock mode or Shift Lock mode. On both VT and PC styles of keyboards, there is one lock key, which is located on the left side of the main keypad. You can set the lock mode (Caps Lock mode or Shift Lock mode) for your keyboard by using the interface that your windows application environ- ment provides for general keyboard setup. In the DECwindows environ- ment, you invoke this interface by choosing the the Keyboard... item from the Session Manager's Options menu. In the Common Desktop Environ- ment (CDE), you choose the Keyboard application. (The path name for this application is /usr/dt/bin/dxkeyboard.) In Caps Lock mode, the alphabetic keys send their uppercase (shifted) character when pressed alone. For Caps Lock mode, pressing and releas- ing the lock key turns on the mode and pressing and releasing the lock key again turns off the mode. In Shift Lock mode, all keys on the main keypad send their shifted character when pressed alone. For Shift Lock mode, pressing and releasing the Lock key turns on the mode, and press- ing and releasing either the Lock or the Shift key turns off the mode. Compose-Character Keys Compose-character keys (often engraved with Compose) were originally designed to prefix a sequence of keystrokes. However, for most lan- guages on VT style keyboards (except the LK201), the left compose-char- acter key has been redefined to be the group-shift or alternate-func- tion key. PC style keyboards do not include Compose keys. The VT style LK201 key- board contains one Compose key on the left side of the main keypad. Other VT style keyboards contain two Compose keys, one on each side of the main keypad. Alternate-Function Keys Alternate-function keys (usually engraved with Alt or Alt Gr) either select alternate functions defined by application software or generate characters not present on the keyboard. The PC style and most VT style keyboards have two alternate-function keys, one on each side of the main keypad. For the VT style keyboard, LK201, no key is defined by default to be an alternate-function key. However, the one Compose key, located on the left side of the keyboard can be redefined to be an alternate-function key. For PC style keyboards supporting languages other than American Eng- lish, the alternate-function key on the right side is engraved with Alt Gr, rather than Alt. INPUT METHODS FOR CHARACTER ENTRY Note This reference page does not discuss complex input methods used to in- put characters in Asian languages. See the Chinese(5), Japanese(5), Ko- rean(5), and Thai(5) reference pages for information about input meth- ods used with a particular Asian language. The alphanumeric and punctuation characters used for a particular na- tive language are usually all present on the keyboard for that lan- guage. Depending on the number of characters in the alphabet for the language, it is sometimes necessary to engrave more than two characters per keycap. In this case, the more frequently used characters are usu- ally engraved on the left side of the keycaps and the less frequently used characters on the right side of the keycaps. Characters on the left side of the keycap are called Group 1 characters and those on the right side of the keycap are called Group 2 characters. Entering Characters Engraved on the Keycaps The keycaps on keyboards for languages supported by the ISO Latin char- acter sets can be engraved with characters from one or two alphabets. Keyboards on which only one alphabet appears support languages, such as Czech, French, and German, whose alphabets are similar to English. Key- boards on which two alphabets appear (English and native-language) sup- port languages, such as Greek, Hebrew, and Russian, whose alphabets are very different from English. The number of supported alphabets deter- mines the input method used to enter characters engraved on the right side of keycaps. For keyboards that support ISO Latin character sets and only one alpha- bet: Enter the characters engraved on the left half of keycaps in the ordinary way. That is, press the key itself to enter the character en- graved on the bottom left of its keycap and press Shift in combination with the key to enter the character engraved on the top left of the keycap. Purely alphabetic keys usually have only the uppercase letters (entered in combination with the Shift key) engraved on the keycap. In this case, pressing the key by itself enters the lowercase letter. En- ter the characters engraved on the right half of keycaps in one of the following ways: Load a keyboard mapping table (keymap) that is differ- ent from the default In this case, the keyboard selection application for your win- dows environment displays both a typewriter (TW) option and a data-processing (DP) option for the combination of keyboard and language you are using. The typewriter keymap is loaded by de- fault and you must replace this with the data-processing keymap to enter the additional characters. Use the key that performs the group-shift keyboard function if this function is supported for your language and keyboard. See the section titled ``Group- Shift Input Method'' for more information. For keyboards that support ISO Latin character sets and two alphabets: Enter the characters engraved on the upper left corner of the keycaps in the usual way, by pressing the key by itself to enter the lowercase letter (or bottom left character) and pressing Shift with that key to enter the uppercase letter (or top left character). Enter the charac- ter engraved on the lower right corner of the keycaps by using a mode- switch key or key sequence. See the section titled "Mode-Switch Input Method" for more information. Group-Shift Input Method The group-shift keyboard function allows you to enter the Group 2 char- acters (engraved on the right half of keycaps) without changing the keyboard mapping table. Support for the group-shift function depends in part on whether the keymap loaded for your keyboard is in xkb or xmodmap format. When you set your keyboard option through the Session Manager in the DECwindows environment, xmodmap format is used. When you set your keyboard option using the Keyboard application in the Common Desktop Environment, xkb format is used. Note If you are working in the DECwindows environment, you can invoke /usr/dt/bin/dxkeyboard from the command line to load keymaps in xkb format. If you load a keymap in xkb format, the operating system supports the group-shift function for most ISO Latin keyboards, both VT and PC styles. The exceptions are keyboards for languages, such as American English and Portuguese, that do not need more than two characters as- signed to the same keycap. If you load a keymap in xmodmap format, support for the group-shift function is available for: All PC style keyboards having keycaps with more than two characters VT style keyboards, except the LK201 Assuming that the loaded keymap supports the group-shift function, you enter characters on the right side of keycaps in the following way: En- ter the bottom right character by holding down the key defined to be the group-shift key along with the character key. This entry method also applies to characters engraved in the middle right position of the keycap. Characters are engraved in this position when a key supports three, rather than four, char- acters. Enter the top right character by holding down the Shift key along with the group-shift and character keys. The key defined to perform the group-shift function varies according to keyboard style, as follows: For VT style keyboards, the group-shift function is assigned to the compose-character key (usually engraved with Compose) on the left side of the main keypad. On some VT style keyboards, the keycap engraving for this key might be Group Shift rather than Compose. For PC style keyboards, the group-shift function is assigned to the alternate-function key on the right side of the main keypad. For most languages, this key is engraved with Alt Gr rather than Alt. Note The effect of the group-shift key is only temporary. This means that you need to press the group-shift key each time you enter a Group 2 character (engraved on the right side of the keycap). Mode-Switch Input Method Keyboards for languages, such as Greek, Hebrew, and Russian, support input of characters in two different alphabets (English and native-lan- guage) without reloading a keymap. On the alphabetic keys of these key- boards, characters of the native-language alphabet are engraved on the bottom right of the keycaps and characters in the English alphabet are engraved on the top left of the keycaps. On these keyboards, you use a mode-switch key or key sequence to toggle input mode between English and the native language. Use the following keys to perform the mode-switch function: For VT style keyboards, hold down the control key while pressing the left Compose key (Ctrl+Left Compose) For PC style keyboards, press the right control key (Right Ctrl). Dead-Key Input Method for Characters Missing From Keyboard Some languages supported by ISO Latin character sets have alphabets that contain so many characters that they cannot all be engraved on the keycaps of the main keypad. The missing characters are most often glyphs composed of a base Latin letter and a top or bottom accent (dia- critical) mark. The keyboards for these languages support the dead-key input method to enter the additional characters. The term "dead" means that certain characters, usually the diacritical marks, are defined to be nonspacing characters. The dead-key input method consists of typing a two-stroke sequence (pressing and releasing the key for the nonspacing diacritical mark and then pressing and releasing the the key for the base character) to send the corresponding "accented" character. Typing a space as the base character sends the code for the spacing diacritical mark (the diacrit- ical mark by itself). Keys defined as nonspacing diacritical characters do not send the char- acter code immediately (do not echo), but instead modify the code of the character entered next. The modified character code is sent only if the diacritical and following character can be combined to form a valid character in the character set supported by the keyboard. If the key combination does not result in a valid character, no character is sent. In addition, an audible warning sounds if the ``bell'' is enabled for your keyboard. The following table specifies diacritical characters defined as non- spacing for use with the dead-key input method on VT style keyboards. +-------------------------------------------- | Nonspacing Diacritical Characters +-------------------------------------------- | C D D | i D o b | C c i t l | e u a M O | A B C d m r A A G a g R T T | c r a i f e b c r c o r i o -------------------+ u e r l l s o u a r n i l n VT Style | t v o l e i v t v o e n d o Keyboard for: | e e n a x s e e e n k g e s -------------------+-------------------------------------------- Bel- gian French * * * * Czech * * * Flemish * * * * French * * * * French Canadian * * * German * * * * * * * Greek * * * Hungarian * * * Lithuanian * * Polish * * Portuguese * * * * Slovak * * * * Spanish * * * * * Swiss French * * * * Swiss German * * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following table specifies the diacritical marks defined as nonspac- ing for use with the dead-key input method on PC style keyboards. +------------------------------------------ | C D D | i D o b | C c i t l | e u a M O | A B C d m r A A G a g R T T | c r a i f e b c r c o r i o -------------------+ u e r l l s o u a r n i l n PC Style | t v o l e i v t v o e n d o Keyboard for: | e e n a x s e e e n k g e s -------------------+------------------------------------------- Belgian French * * * * * Czech * * * * * * * Danish * * * * * Dutch * * * * * * Finnish * * * * * French * * French Canadian * * * * * German * * * Greek * * * Hungarian * * * * * * * * * * * * Lithuanian * * Norwegian * * * * * Polish * * * * * * * * * Portuguese * * * * * Serb/Croat/Slovene * * * Slovak * * * * Spanish * * * * Swedish * * * * * Swiss French * * * * * Swiss German * * * * * Turkish F * Turkish Q * --------------------------------------------------------------- Note The number of nonspacing diacritical characters defined for the key- board may vary from those shown in the tables, depending on the type and generation of the keyboard. Keyboards for languages not shown in the tables do not define diacriti- cal marks as nonspacing and therefore do not support the dead-key input method. Compose-Character Input Method for Characters Missing From Keyboard In addition to or in place of the dead-key input method, your keyboard may support the compose-character, or multikey, input method. Like the dead-key input method, the compose-character input method allows you to enter characters that are not present on your keyboard. You can enter the full range of characters supported by the keyboard character set, which encompasses more characters than those in a particular native language. The compose-key input method consists of the following two steps: Press and release the key defined as the multikey for your keyboard. The key- cap for this key is often engraved with Compose. Enter the two-charac- ter pair that composes the resulting character. You can type these characters in any sequence (with a few exceptions). Do not hold down the keys simultaneously. Use the following keys for this input method: On VT style keyboards, other than LK201, press and release the Compose key on the right side of the main keypad (Right Compose) You can use the Compose key on either side of the keyboard for American English and Portuguese. For these languages, the Left Compose key has not been redefined to perform another function. On the LK201 keyboard, which has a Compose key only on the left side, hold down Compose along with the space bar (Com- pose+Space). Note, however, that the compose-character function for this key sequence is disabled if you set Alt+Space to be the key sequence that opens a menu on an active window. (See the following list item for information about defining a key sequence to open a menu on an active window.) On PC style keyboards, hold down the alternate-function key on the left side of the main keypad while pressing the space bar (Left Alt+Space) For PC style keyboards, the Left Alt+Space key sequence con- flicts with the key sequence used to open a menu on an active window. If you are using a PC style keyboard and do not need to use the compose-character input method, you can redefine this key sequence to open menus in the following way: If you are working in the Common Desktop Environment: Edit the file /usr/i18n/dt/config/locale/sys.dtwmrc and remove the com- ment character (#) from the beginning of the following line: # Alt<Key>space icon|window f.post_wmenu Restart the Workspace Manager If you are working in the DECwindows environment: Pop up the Window Manager's Workspace menu and select the Options menu and Workspace... item. In the Workspace: Options dialog box, click on the button to the left of the label "Set Alt + Space to dis- play the window menu". This action sets the button to its on state. Restart the Window manager. If, after entering compose-character mode, you type a character pair that is invalid, no character code is sent. In addition, an audible warning sounds if the ``bell'' is enabled for your keyboard. The compose-character input method requires three to four keystrokes to enter a character whereas the dead-key input method requires two to three keystrokes. If your keyboard supports both input methods for en- try of a particular character, the dead-key input method is more effi- cient. Compose-character sequences and their resulting characters vary accord- ing to the coded character set (codeset) that supports your keyboard and language. See the appropriate codeset reference page (iso8859-1(5), for example) for the compose-character sequences you can use. FILES Directory containing data and keymaps in xkb format Directory contain- ing keymaps in xmodmap format keyboard(5)