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 /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
       `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 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 current content  of  this  table  can  be  see  using  `dumpkeys  --com-
       pose-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  speci-
       fied (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 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 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 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)