LOADKEYS(1)                          General Commands Manual                          LOADKEYS(1)



NAME
       loadkeys - load keyboard translation tables

SYNOPSIS
       loadkeys  [  -b  --bkeymap ] [ -c --clearcompose ] [ -C '<FILE>' | --console=<FILE> ] [ -d
       --default ] [ -h --help ] [ -m --mktable ] [ -q --quiet ]  [  -s  --clearstrings  ]  [  -u
       --unicode ] [ -v --verbose ] [ filename...  ]

DESCRIPTION
       The  program  loadkeys reads the file or files specified by filename....  Its main purpose
       is to load the kernel keymap for the console.  You can specify console device  by  the  -C
       (or --console ) option.

RESET TO DEFAULT
       If  the  -d (or --default ) option is given, loadkeys loads a default keymap, probably the
       file defkeymap.map either in /usr/share/keymaps or in /usr/src/linux/drivers/char.  (Prob‐
       ably  the  former  was  user-defined,  while the latter is a qwerty keyboard map for PCs -
       maybe not what was desired.)  Sometimes, with a strange keymap loaded (with the  minus  on
       some obscure unknown modifier combination) it is easier to type `loadkeys defkeymap'.

LOAD KERNEL KEYMAP
       The  main  function  of  loadkeys  is  to load or modify the keyboard driver's translation
       tables.  When specifying the file names, standard input can be denoted by dash (-). If  no
       file is specified, the data is read from the standard input.

       For  many  countries  and  keyboard types appropriate keymaps are available already, and a
       command like `loadkeys uk' might do what you want. On the other hand, it is easy  to  con‐
       struct  one's  own  keymap.  The user has to tell what symbols belong to each key. She can
       find the keycode for a key by use of showkey(1), while  the  keymap  format  is  given  in
       keymaps(5) and can also be seen from the output of dumpkeys(1).

LOAD KERNEL ACCENT TABLE
       If the input file does not contain any compose key definitions, the kernel accent table is
       left unchanged, unless the -c (or --clearcompose ) option is given, in which case the ker‐
       nel accent table is emptied.  If the input file does contain compose key definitions, then
       all old definitions are removed, and replaced by the specified new  entries.   The  kernel
       accent  table  is  a  sequence  of (by default 68) entries describing how dead diacritical
       signs and compose keys behave.  For example, a line

              compose ',' 'c' to ccedilla

       means that <ComposeKey><,><c> must be combined to <ccedilla>.  The current content of this
       table can be see using `dumpkeys --compose-only'.

LOAD KERNEL STRING TABLE
       The  option  -s (or --clearstrings ) clears the kernel string table. If this option is not
       given, loadkeys will only add or replace strings, not remove them.  (Thus, the  option  -s
       is  required  to  reach  a  well-defined state.)  The kernel string table is a sequence of
       strings with names like F31. One can make function key F5 (on  an  ordinary  PC  keyboard)
       produce the text `Hello!', and Shift+F5 `Goodbye!' using lines

              keycode 63 = F70 F71
              string F70 = "Hello!"
              string F71 = "Goodbye!"

       in  the  keymap.   The default bindings for the function keys are certain escape sequences
       mostly inspired by the VT100 terminal.

CREATE KERNEL SOURCE TABLE
       If the -m (or --mktable ) option is given loadkeys prints to the standard  output  a  file
       that  may  be  used as /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.c, specifying the default key
       bindings for a kernel (and does not modify the current keymap).

CREATE BINARY KEYMAP
       If the -b (or --bkeymap ) option is given loadkeys prints to the standard  output  a  file
       that  may be used as a binary keymap as expected by Busybox loadkmap command (and does not
       modify the current keymap).

UNICODE MODE
       loadkeys automatically detects whether the console is in Unicode or  ASCII  (XLATE)  mode.
       When  a  keymap  is  loaded,  literal  keysyms (such as section) are resolved accordingly;
       numerical keysyms are converted to fit the current console mode,  regardless  of  the  way
       they are specified (decimal, octal, hexadecimal or Unicode).

       The  -u  (or  --unicode) switch forces loadkeys to convert all keymaps to Unicode.  If the
       keyboard is in a non-Unicode mode, such as XLATE, loadkeys will change it to  Unicode  for
       the time of its execution.  A warning message will be printed in this case.

       It is recommended to run kbd_mode(1) before loadkeys instead of using the -u option.

OTHER OPTIONS
       -h --help
              loadkeys  prints its version number and a short usage message to the programs stan‐
              dard error output and exits.

       -q --quiet
              loadkeys suppresses all normal output.

WARNING
       Note that anyone having read access to /dev/console can run loadkeys and thus  change  the
       keyboard  layout, possibly making it unusable. Note that the keyboard translation table is
       common for all the virtual consoles, so any changes to the keyboard  bindings  affect  all
       the virtual consoles simultaneously.

       Note that because the changes affect all the virtual consoles, they also outlive your ses‐
       sion. This means that even at the login prompt the key bindings may not be what  the  user
       expects.

FILES
       /usr/share/keymaps
              default directory for keymaps

       /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map
              default kernel keymap

SEE ALSO
       dumpkeys(1), keymaps(5)




                                            6 Feb 1994                                LOADKEYS(1)