The Linux Danish/International HOWTO: Keyboard setup

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## 2. Keyboard setup

## 2.1 Loading a keytable

You have two tools for configuring your keyboard. Under plain Linux you have `loadkeys` and under X11 you have `xmodmap`.

To try out `loadkeys` type one of these two commands:

    loadkeys /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/dk.map

or

    loadkeys /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/dk-latin1.map

The difference between the two keymaps is that `dk-latin1.map` enables `dead' keys while `dk.map` does not. Dead keys are explained in section Dead keys and accented characters. The program `loadkeys` and the keymaps are part of the package `kbd-0.??.tar.gz` which (with differing version numbers ??) is available with all Linux distributions.

Usually `loadkeys` is executed at boot-time from one of the scripts under the directory `/etc/rc.d/`. Details vary between distributions.

(Note for non-Danish readers: Support for other languages is enabled in a similar manner. Use `es.map` for Spanish keyboards etc.)

Versions of XFree86 up to and including v3.1.2 will normally follow the keymap used by plain Linux, but you can modify keyboard behavior under X11 with `xmodmap`. Usually the X11 initialization process will run this command automatically if you have a file called `.Xmodmap` in your home directory.

In XFree86 v3.2 and higher you should have the following `Keyboard` section in your `/etc/XF86Config` (or `/etc/X11/XF86Config`) file (it should be made automatically by the program `XF86Setup` if you choose a Danish keytable):

    Section "Keyboard"
       Protocol        "Standard"
       XkbRules        "xfree86"
       XkbModel        "pc101"
       XkbLayout       "dk"
       XkbVariant      "nodeadkeys"
    EndSection

The only keyboard variant available at the moment is `"nodeadkeys"`, but dead keys can still be made to work. See section Dead keys and accented characters for more information on this.

## 2.2 Getting the AltGr key to work under X11

For versions of XFree86 up to and including v3.1.2 you should edit the file `/etc/XF86Config` (or `/etc/X11/XF86Config`) and make sure the line

    RightAlt    ModeShift

appears in the `Keyboard` section. Usually you can do this by uncommenting the appropriate line. In XFree86 v3.1.2 you can use `AltGr` as an alias for `RightAlt`.

The `AltGr` key should work as expected in XFree86 v3.2 and higher if you choose Danish keyboard support.

### Making {, [, ] and } work under Metro-X

You can't input the characters ``{'' `(<AltGr><7>)`, ``['' `(<AltGr><8>)`, ``]'' `(<AltGr><9>)` and ``}'' `(<AltGr><0>)` under the Metro-X server. This bug has been observed under versions 3.1.5 and 3.1.8 of the server.

To correct this bug you have to edit the file `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb/symbols/dk` and change the lines

    key <AE07> {    [               7,           slash      ]       };
    key <AE08> {    [               8,       parenleft      ]       };
    key <AE09> {    [               9,      parenright      ]       };
    key <AE10> {    [               0,           equal      ]       };

to

    key <AE07> {    [               7,           slash      ],
                    [       braceleft,        NoSymbol      ]       };
    key <AE08> {    [               8,       parenleft      ],
                    [     bracketleft,        NoSymbol      ]       };
    key <AE09> {    [               9,      parenright      ],
                    [    bracketright,        NoSymbol      ]       };
    key <AE10> {    [               0,           equal      ],
                    [      braceright,        NoSymbol      ]       };

## 2.3 Dead keys and accented characters

Dead keys are those that do not type anything until you hit another key. Tildes and umlauts are like this by default under plain Linux if you use the `dk-latin1.map` keymap. This is the default behaviour for these keys under Microsoft Windows as well.

### Removing dead key functionality

- Removing dead key functionality under plain Linux and XFree86 v3.1.2 Under plain Linux type

      loadkeys dk.map

- Removing dead key functionality under XFree86 v3.2 and higher Put the following line in the `Keyboard` section of your `/etc/XF86Config` (or `/etc/X11/XF86Config`) file:

      XkbVariant      "nodeadkeys"

### Invoking dead key functionality

- Invoking dead key functionality under plain Linux Under plain Linux type

      loadkeys dk-latin1.map

- Invoking dead key functionality under X11R6 sessions First you must make sure you are running XFree86 v3.1.2 or higher. Download and install everything related to the newest release if you have a lower version number. Neither compose nor dead keys will work in X11R6 applications unless these are compiled with support for accented (8-bit) character input. An example of such an application is `GNU emacs` version 19.30 (or higher.) Some X11 applications still do not support this input method. Eventually this situation might improve, but until that happens you can either hack your applications or submit polite bug reports to the program authors. The latter approach is often the most efficient. See section Programming tips for X11 for some advice on what needs to be done. Next you will have to map a key to `Multi_key` (`Compose`.) The `Scroll Lock` key is most likely already mapped as such if you use XFree86 v3.1.2 (you can verify this with the program `xev`,) and it is easy to map the right `Control` key by uncommenting the appropriate line in the `Keyboard` section of the XFree86 configuration file (often `/etc/XF86Config` or `/etc/X11/XF86Config`.) If you wish to use some other key, or if you are using XFree86 v3.2 or higher and want to change the default, you should put something like

      keycode 78 = Multi_key

  in your `~/.Xmodmap` file. The statement in the example defines `Scroll Lock` as the `Compose` key. The default `Compose` key in XFree86 v3.2 and higher is `<Shift><AltGr>`. XFree86 v3.2 and higher comes without support for the dead keys on the standard Danish keyboard. To get this support you have to change a few lines in the `xkb_symbols "basic"` section of the file `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb/symbols/dk`. The lines

      key <AE12> {    [           acute,           grave      ],
                      [             bar,     dead_ogonek      ]       };
      key <AD12> {    [       diaeresis,     asciicircum      ],
                      [      asciitilde,     dead_macron      ]       };

  should be changed to

      key <AE12> {    [      dead_acute,      dead_grave      ],
                      [             bar,     dead_ogonek      ]       };
      key <AD12> {    [  dead_diaeresis, dead_circumflex      ],
                      [      dead_tilde,     dead_macron      ]       };

  After these changes you can get support for dead keys by removing the line

      XkbVariant      "nodeadkeys"

  from the `Keyboard` section of your `/etc/XF86Config` (or `/etc/X11/XF86Config`) file. (Note for non-Danish readers: There are files for many local keyboard maps in `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb/symbols`.) The available keystroke combinations are listed in `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/locale/iso8859-1/Compose`. There are some bugs in that file you will want to fix:
  - The line reading

        <dead_tilde> <space>                    : "~"   tilde

    should be changed to

        <dead_tilde> <space>                    : "~"   asciitilde

  - In several places `asciicircum` is misspelled as `asciicirum`
  Finally make sure your shells and/or applications are set up for ISO-8859-1 compatibility as described in section International character sets in specific applications and you should be all set.

## 2.4 Making $ (the dollar sign), ø (oslash) and Ø (Oslash) work

### $ (the dollar sign)

There is a bug in the Danish keymaps causing the dollar sign to be accessed with `<Shift><4>` instead of `<AltGr><4>` by default. If this is a problem for you, determine what keymap you load at boot-time. You can find it by looking around in the directory `/etc/rc.d/` or simply by paying attention to what happens at boot-time. On my computer the relevant keymap is called `/usr/lib/kbd/keytables/dk-latin1.map`. You can fix the problem by changing the line

    keycode   5 = four             dollar           dollar

in the keymap file to

    keycode   5 = four             currency         dollar

and then (re-)loading the keytable as described in section Loading a keytable. Currency (dansk: ``soltegn'') is the default `<Shift><4>` character on a Danish keyboard.

This should fix the problem for both X11 and plain Linux.

### ø (oslash) and Ø (Oslash)

In some older distributions ``ø'' and ``Ø'' appear as cent and yen. Find the line for keycode 40 in the keymap file and change it from

    keycode  40 = cent              yen

to

    keycode  40 = +oslash           +Ooblique

This bug appears to have been fixed in `kbd-0.88.tar.gz` and newer versions.

The plus signs are necessary to get `Caps Lock` working properly. ``Oslash'' can be used as an alias for ``Ooblique'' in `kbd-0.90.tar.gz` and newer versions.

You can read more about keyboard configuration at this site.

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