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.\" $Xorg: xmodmap.man,v 1.4 2001/02/09 02:05:56 xorgcvs Exp $
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.\" Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1998 The Open Group
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.\" Copyright 1987 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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.\" Except as contained in this notice, the name of The Open Group shall
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.\" from The Open Group.
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.\" $XFree86: xc/programs/xmodmap/xmodmap.man,v 1.11 2002/10/12 16:06:48 herrb Exp $
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.de EX \"Begin example
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.TH XMODMAP 1 __xorgversion__
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xmodmap - utility for modifying keymaps and pointer button mappings in X
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[-options ...] [filename]
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The \fIxmodmap\fP program is used to edit and display the
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keyboard \fImodifier map\fP and \fIkeymap table\fP that are used by client
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applications to convert event keycodes into keysyms. It is usually run from
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the user's session startup script to configure the keyboard according to
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The following options may be used with \fIxmodmap\fP:
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.B \-display \fIdisplay\fP
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This option specifies the host and display to use.
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This option indicates that a brief description of the command line arguments
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should be printed on the standard error channel. This will be done whenever an
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unhandled argument is given to
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This option indicates that a help message describing the expression grammar
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used in files and with \-e expressions should be printed on the standard error.
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This option indicates that
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should print logging information as it parses its input.
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This option turns off the verbose logging. This is the default.
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This option indicates that
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should not change the mappings, but should display what it would do, like
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\fImake(1)\fP does when given this option.
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.B \-e \fIexpression\fB
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This option specifies an expression to be executed. Any number of expressions
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may be specified from the command line.
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This option indicates that the current modifier map should be printed on the
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standard output. This is the default mode of operation if no other mode
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options are specified.
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This option indicates that the current keymap table should be printed on the
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This option indicates that the current keymap table should be printed on the
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standard output in the form of expressions that can be fed back to
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This option indicates that the current pointer map should be printed on the
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A lone dash means that the standard input should be used as the input file.
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The \fIfilename\fP specifies a file containing \fIxmodmap\fP expressions
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to be executed. This file is usually kept in the user's home directory with
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a name like \fI.xmodmaprc\fP.
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.SH EXPRESSION GRAMMAR
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program reads a list of expressions and parses them all before attempting
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to execute any of them. This makes it possible to refer to keysyms that are
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being redefined in a natural way without having to worry as much about name
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.B keycode \fINUMBER\fP = \fIKEYSYMNAME ...\fP
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The list of keysyms is assigned to the indicated keycode
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(which may be specified in decimal, hex or octal and can be determined by
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program). Up to eight keysyms may be attached to a key, however the last four
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are not used in any major X server implementation. The first keysym is used
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when no modifier key is pressed in conjunction with this key, the second with
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Shift, the third when the Mode_switch key is used with this key and the fourth
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when both the Mode_switch and Shift keys are used.
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.B keycode any = \fIKEYSYMNAME ...\fP
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If no existing key has the specified list of keysyms assigned to it,
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a spare key on the keyboard is selected and the keysyms are assigned to it.
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The list of keysyms may be specified in decimal, hex or octal.
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.B keysym \fIKEYSYMNAME\fP = \fIKEYSYMNAME ...\fP
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The \fIKEYSYMNAME\fP on the left hand side is translated into matching keycodes
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used to perform the corresponding set of \fBkeycode\fP expressions.
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The list of keysym names may be
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found in the header file \fI<X11/keysymdef.h>\fP (without the \fIXK_\fP prefix)
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or the keysym database \fI __projectroot__/lib/X11/XKeysymDB\fP. Note that
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if the same keysym is bound to multiple keys, the expression is executed
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for each matching keycode.
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.B clear \fIMODIFIERNAME\fP
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This removes all entries in the modifier map for the given modifier, where
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does not matter in modifier names, although it does matter for all other
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names). For example, ``clear Lock'' will remove
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all any keys that were bound to the shift lock modifier.
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.B add \fIMODIFIERNAME\fP = \fIKEYSYMNAME ...\fP
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This adds all keys containing the given keysyms to the indicated modifier map.
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are evaluated after all input expressions are read to make it easy to write
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expressions to swap keys (see the EXAMPLES section).
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.B remove \fIMODIFIERNAME\fP = \fIKEYSYMNAME ...\fP
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This removes all keys containing the given keysyms from the indicated
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the keysym names are evaluated as the line is read in. This allows you to
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remove keys from a modifier without having to worry about whether or not they
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have been reassigned.
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.B "pointer = default"
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This sets the pointer map back to its default settings (button 1 generates a
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code of 1, button 2 generates a 2, etc.).
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.B pointer = \fINUMBER ...\fP
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This sets the pointer map to contain the indicated button codes. The list
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always starts with the first physical button.
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Lines that begin with an exclamation point (!) are taken as comments.
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If you want to change the binding of a modifier key, you must also remove it
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from the appropriate modifier map.
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Many pointers are designed such that the first button is pressed using the
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index finger of the right hand. People who are left-handed frequently find
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that it is more comfortable to reverse the button codes that get generated
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so that the primary button is pressed using the index finger of the left hand.
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This could be done on a 3 button pointer as follows:
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% xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1"
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Many applications support the notion of Meta keys (similar to Control
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keys except that Meta is held down instead of Control). However,
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some servers do not have a Meta keysym in the default keymap table, so one
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needs to be added by hand.
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The following command will attach Meta to the Multi-language key (sometimes
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labeled Compose Character). It also takes advantage of the fact that
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applications that need a Meta key simply need to get the keycode and don't
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require the keysym to be in the first column of the keymap table. This
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means that applications that are looking for a Multi_key (including the
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default modifier map) won't notice any change.
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% xmodmap -e "keysym Multi_key = Multi_key Meta_L"
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Similarly, some keyboards have an Alt key but no Meta key.
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In that case the following may be useful:
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% xmodmap -e "keysym Alt_L = Meta_L Alt_L"
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One of the more simple, yet convenient, uses of \fIxmodmap\fP is to set the
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keyboard's "rubout" key to generate an alternate keysym. This frequently
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involves exchanging Backspace with Delete to be more comfortable to the user.
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If the \fIttyModes\fP resource in \fIxterm\fP is set as well, all terminal
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emulator windows will use the same key for erasing characters:
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% xmodmap -e "keysym BackSpace = Delete"
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% echo "XTerm*ttyModes: erase ^?" | xrdb -merge
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Some keyboards do not automatically generate less than and greater than
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characters when the comma and period keys are shifted. This can be remedied
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with \fIxmodmap\fP by resetting the bindings for the comma and period with
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the following scripts:
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! make shift-, be < and shift-. be >
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keysym comma = comma less
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keysym period = period greater
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One of the more irritating differences between keyboards is the location of the
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Control and Shift Lock keys. A common use of \fIxmodmap\fP is to swap these
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! Swap Caps_Lock and Control_L
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remove Lock = Caps_Lock
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remove Control = Control_L
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keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock
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keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L
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add Control = Control_L
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This example can be run again to swap the keys back to their previous
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The \fIkeycode\fP command is useful for assigning the same keysym to
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multiple keycodes. Although unportable, it also makes it possible to write
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scripts that can reset the keyboard to a known state. The following script
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sets the backspace key to generate Delete (as shown above), flushes all
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existing caps lock bindings, makes the CapsLock
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key be a control key, make F5 generate Escape, and makes Break/Reset be a
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! On the HP, the following keycodes have key caps as listed:
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keycode 55 = Control_R
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add Control = Control_R
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keycode 15 = Caps_Lock
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to get default host and display number.
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X(__miscmansuffix__), xev(1), \fIXlib\fP documentation on key and pointer events
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Every time a \fBkeycode\fP expression is evaluated, the server generates
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a \fIMappingNotify\fP event on every client. This can cause some thrashing.
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All of the changes should be batched together and done at once.
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Clients that receive keyboard input and ignore \fIMappingNotify\fP events
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will not notice any changes made to keyboard mappings.
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should generate "add" and "remove" expressions automatically
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whenever a keycode that is already bound to a modifier is changed.
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There should be a way to have the
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expression accept keycodes as well as keysyms for those times when you really
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mess up your mappings.
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Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium, rewritten from an earlier version by
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David Rosenthal of Sun Microsystems.
added
removed
xmodmap/xmodmap.man
