XFree86: Changing the keyboard layout in the X Windows environment

Support knowledgebase (js_xmodmap)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: Versions since 6.0
XFree86: Versions since 3.3

Request:

You'd like top switch between different keyboard mappings without having to reconfigure and restart the XFree86 system every time.

Procedure:

First, you'll need the keymap information for the specific keyboards you wish to use. These can be generated with the tool xmodmap.

After you've created the necessary keymaps proceed as follows:

  1. Start your X Window system and open a terminal window (e.g. xterm or the like)
  2. Save the actual keyboard configuration (in this case English) in your home directory with the following commands:
    xmodmap -pke > Xmodmap.en
  3. After this reconfigure the X Window sxystem (using, for example, SaX or xf86config) for the second keymap you'd like to use (in this example French).
  4. Restart X Windows again, open a terminal window and save the active (new) keymap:
    xmodmap -pke > Xmodmap.fr
  5. Repeat these steps to save as many extra configurations as desired.
  6. After all necessary keymaps have been created reconfigure the X Window system for the defualt keymap you wish to use, that is, the one that XFree86 starts with.
To change the keymap w/o restarting X simply call xmodmap in a terminal window as follows:
xmodmap ~/Xmodmap.fr
In this case we've changed to the French keymap we saved earlier.
Keywords: XFREE86, KEYBOARD, XMODMAP

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