====== XmodMap ====== All the funny things you can do using the ''xmodmap'' command. ===== Mapping Umlauts ===== Though I'm german, I prefer US-layout for my keyboards. This is mainly for two reasons: * intensive use of Alt_R leads to worn out joints of my right hand's thumb * umlauts weren't working for me in the past anyway. Since I fixed my earlier problems using umlauts, I now want to at least be able to type them, still using my preferred keyboard layout. This is how I made that possible: Using ''xev'', I had to find out some things: * the Alt_R key has the keycode 113 * keycodes for a, o, u and s are 38, 32, 30 and 39 The nice command ''dumpkeys -l'' shows you the currently available keysyms. It showed me that: * the umlauted a, o and u are being called ''adiaeresis'', ''odiaeresis'' and ''udiaeresis'' and * the sharp s is being called ''ssharp''. Now let's do it: a first entry in //.Xmodmap//: keycode 113 = Mode_switch Alt_R sets the functionality of the Alt_R key (keycode 113) to ''Mode_switch'' by default. When being used shifted, the old functionality is restored. First a short usage of the ''keycode'' statement of //.Xmodmap//: keycode CODE = KEY_NORMAL KEY_SHIFTED KEY_MODIFIED KEY_SHIFTED_MODIFIED placeholder naming should be self-explanatory. Putting the above together, we can remap a, o, u and s: keycode 38 = a A adiaeresis Adiaeresis keycode 32 = o O odiaeresis Odiaeresis keycode 30 = u U udiaeresis Udiaeresis keycode 39 = s S ssharp that's it. ===== Home Made Swapcaps ===== Of course, also Caps_lock and Control can be swapped using ''xmodmap'': remove Lock = Caps_Lock remove Control = Control_R keysym Control_R = Caps_Lock keysym Caps_Lock = Control_R add Lock = Caps_Lock add Control = Control_R the special feature of this configuration is that Caps_lock is actually swapped with Control_R, so the original function of the left Ctrl-button is sustained. yes, I really have no need for Caps_lock