xkeyboard-config

This project provides a consistent, well-structured, frequently released, open source database of keyboard configuration data. The project is targeted at XKB-based systems.

What is XKB?

The X KeyBoard (XKB) Extension essentially replaces the core protocol definition of a keyboard. The extension makes it possible to specify clearly and explicitly most aspects of keyboard behaviour on a per-key basis, and to track more closely the logical and physical state of a keyboard. It also includes a number of keyboard controls designed to make keyboards more accessible to people with physical impairments.

There are five components that define a complete keyboard mapping: symbols, geometry, keycodes, compat, and types; these five components can be combined together using the 'rules' component of the database provided by this project, xkeyboard-config.

The complete specification for the XKB Extension can be found here: http://xfree86.org/current/XKBproto.pdf

Documentation

• XKB configuration information, see: docs/README.config

• For information on how to enhance the database itself, see: docs/README.enhancing

• For guidelines to making contributions to this project, see: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/XKeyboardConfig/Rules

• To submit bug reports (and patches), please use the issue system in freedesktop.org's gitlab instance: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xkeyboard-config/xkeyboard-config/issues

Building

This project is built using meson:

1. Install meson:

   # Recommended: with pipx
   pipx install meson
   # Alternative: with pip
   pip3 install --user meson
   

2. Setup & build:

   meson setup build --prefix="$PWD/inst"
   meson compile -C build
   

3. Install locally for debugging:

   # You may choose the install directory with --prefix at the
   # setup step.
   meson install -C build
   

4. Test:

   • With XOrg tools:

     # Compile keymap to a file
     setxkbmap -print -layout … \
         | xkbcomp -I -I"$PWD/inst/share/X11/xkb" \
                   -xkb - /tmp/keymap.xkb
     # Activate keymap
     setxkbmap -print -layout … \
         | xkbcomp -I -I"$PWD/inst/share/X11/xkb" - "$DISPLAY"
     # Interactive debugging
     xev -event keyboard
     

   • With libxkbcommon tools:

     # Compile keymap to a file
     xkbcli compile-keymap --include "$PWD/inst/share/X11/xkb" \
                           --layout … > /tmp/keymap.xkb
     # Interactive debugging; require having your user in group “input”
     xkbcli interactive-evdev --include "$PWD/inst/share/X11/xkb" \
                              --layout …