LOADKEYS(1)		    General Commands Manual		   LOADKEYS(1)



NAME
       loadkeys - load keyboard translation tables

SYNOPSIS
       loadkeys	 [  -b	--bkeymap  ]  [ -c --clearcompose ] [ -C '<cons1 cons2
       ...>' | --console=cons1,cons2,...  ] [ -d --default ] [ -h --help  ]  [
       -m  --mktable ] [ -q --quiet ] [ -s --clearstrings ] [ -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.  The
       affected console device or devices can be specified using  the  -C  (or
       --console ) option. This option supports a list of device names

RESET TO DEFAULT
       If  the	-d  (or	 --default ) option is given, loadkeys loads a default
       keymap, probably the file defkeymap.map either in  /lib/kbd/keymaps  or
       in /usr/src/linux/drivers/char.	(Probably 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	`load-
       keys 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 construct 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 kernel 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 cur-
       rent 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 key-
       board) 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 stan-
       dard 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	 stan-
       dard  output  a file that may be used as a binary keymap as expected by
       Busybox loadkmap command (and does not modify the current keymap).

OTHER OPTIONS
       -h --help
	      loadkeys prints its version number and a short usage message  to
	      the programs standard 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 con-
       soles, 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 session. This means that even at the login prompt the
       key bindings may not be what the user expects.

FILES
       /lib/kbd/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)