loadkeys

NAME

       loadkeys - load keyboard translation tables

SYNOPSIS

       loadkeys  [  -c  --clearcompose  ]  [  -d --default ] [ -h
       --help ] [ -m --mktable ]  [  -s  --clearstrings  ]  [  -v
       --verbose ] [ filename...  ]

DESCRIPTION

       loadkeys reads the file or files specified by filename....
       If this file does not contain any compose key definitions,
       the  kernel  accent table is left unchanged, unless the -c
       (or --clearcompose ) option is given.  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.   If  the  -d (or --default )
       option is given, loadkeys loads a default keymap, probably
       the file defkeymap.map either in /usr/lib/kbd/keytables or
       in /usr/src/linux/drivers/char.  If the -m (or --mktable )
       option  is  given  it 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.  Otherwise, it modifies
       the  keyboard drivers's translation tables.  The files are
       in the format specified by keytables(5).  When  specifying
       the file names, standard input can be denoted by dash (-).
       The files are read in  consecutively  one  by  one  to  in
       effect  catenate  all the input files together. If no file
       is specified, the data is read from  the  standard  input.
       Thus, the following command lines are equivalent:

              cat foo.map bar.map | loadkeys

              cat foo.map bar.map | loadkeys -

              cat foo.map | loadkeys - bar.map

              cat bar.map | loadkeys foo.map -

              loadkeys foo.map bar.map

       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  con-
       soles,  they  also  outlive  your session. This means that
       even at the login prompt the key bindings may not be  what
       the user expects.

OPTIONS

       -h --help
              loadkeys  prints  its  version  number  and a short
              usage message to the programs standard error output
              and exits.

FILES

       /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/
                           default directory for keytable files
       /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map default keymap

SEE ALSO

       dumpkeys(1), keytables(5)