Xmodmap configuration

[Dotan Cohen]

On 13/02/07, Daniel Stone <daniel at fooishbar.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 13, 2007 at 12:09:00PM +0200, Dotan Cohen wrote:
> > While looking for something else, I stumbed upon the /etc/X11/Xmodmap
> > file. It seems to define certain keystrokes and their functions:
> > ! keycode 22 = BackSpace
> > ! keycode 107 = Delete
> >
> > I'd like to define certain non-English keyboard shortcuts to translate
> > to their English equivelents, could I do that with this file? For
> > instance, I'd like CTRL-ה to be sent to the system as CTRL-V, as ה and
> > V share a key. What would be the proper syntax? I use the US English,
> > Dvorak English, and Hebrew keyboard layouts and I need the keyboard
> > shortcuts to be uniform across them (physical key mapping).
> >
> > I'm currently running Fedora Core 6 on a Dell E1505 laptop. Thanks in
> > advance.
>
> Hi,
> XKB takes care of this sort of thing, not xmodmap.  This should already
> happen by default (it does in GNOME, e.g.).  Unfortunately, some apps
> are broken and don't respect this; this is an app issue.  I think
> Firefox is the main offender.
>
> Cheers,
> Daniel
>

You're right- in Gnome apps keyboard shortcuts work even with the
Hebrew layout selected. Firefox does not work, as you pointed out, but
KDE apps (I tested with Kate) and Open Office do.

However, niether KDE nor Gnome give me regular keyboard shortcuts when
I'm in Dvorak. Although I don't use VI much, I'm big into keyboard
shortcuts and the regular English-layout shortcuts are rather
hardwired into my brain.

How can I configure XKB to always use English-layout keyboard
shortcuts? In other words, to have the shortcuts wired to the physical
keys, regardless of which character they produce.

Thanks.

Dotan Cohen

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