Keyboard Settings

Help index

Keyboard processing
KeyboardMap setup
Keyboard macros
Composing national characters
Further reading

In Smalltalk/X, all keys are translated via a table called the keyboardMap.
This table maps raw physical keys and modifier keys (i.e. "Ctrl", "Alt" or "Meta") to logical keys (such as #Copy, #Cut or #EndOfText).

Within Smalltalk/X, only logical keys are used.

KeyboardMap setup

The keyboardMap is set up in the startup files:

keyboard.rc
Sets up all common mappings
(for example: a mapping of "Ctrl-a" to #BeginOfLine is created there)
d_vendor.rc or d_displayName.rc
Might add display-dependent mappings
(for example: a mapping for the "Copy" key found on sun workstations is created there)
private.rc
Place your personal preferences there

The current keyboardMap is displayed in the launcher's keyboardSetting dialog. Read ``Keyboard mappings''. in ``Configuration & Customization'': for more information.

Keyboard macros

In addition to builtin keyboard functions like #Copy or #Paste), additional user defined macros may be assigned to keys. Common macros such as #CommentSelection are defined in keyboardMacros.rc"; you may add your private macros and keyboard settings to your private.rc" file.

Read ``Keyboard macros''. in ``Configuration & Customization'' for more information.

Composing national characters

Notice: on modern systems, the following is obsolete, as it is already done by your operating system.

National characters which are not present on your keyboard can be entered via a Compose key sequence:
Press the "Compose" key followed by the two keys which graphically form the desired national key. For example, the german "ä" (Umlaut-a) is entered as:

	Compose a "

If your keyboard has no "Compose" key, it may be remapped (using the keyboard map) to some other unused key.
The default setup remaps the right control key ("Control_R").

If your keyboard has those characters but you don't get them with typing, consult the displays manual (i.e. xmodmap manual pages).

Here is a list of available compose key sequences:

standard characters (which may not be present on a national keyboard):


    Compose + +     for #  (number-sign)
    Compose A A     for @  (at-sign)

    Compose - (     for {  (left brace)
    Compose - )     for }  (right brace)

special characters:


    Compose | c     for ¢  (cent-sign)
    Compose | S     for $  (dollar-sign)
    Compose = L     for £  (pound-sign)
    Compose = Y     for ¥  (Yen-sign)

    Compose ! s     for §  (section-sign)
    Compose ! p     for ¶  (paragraph-sign)

    Compose O C     for ©  (copyright-sign)
    Compose O R     for ®  (registered-sign)

    Compose < <     for «  (french-<<-quotes)
    Compose > >     for »  (french->>-quotes)

    Compose / u     for µ  (greek mu)

    Compose ^ 0     for °  (degree or superscript-zero)
    Compose ^ 1     for ¹  (superscript-one)
    Compose ^ 2     for ²  (superscript-two)
    Compose ^ 3     for ³  (superscript-three)

    Compose ^ .     for ·  (dot, centered period)

    Compose 1 2     for ½  (1/2)
    Compose 1 4     for ¼  (1/4)
    Compose 3 4     for ¾  (3/4)

    Compose + -     for ±  (plus-minus)
    Compose ? ?     for ¿  (inverted ?)
    Compose - :     for ÷  (divide)

diacriticals characters - grave:


    Compose A `     for À  (A-grave)
    Compose a `     for à  (a-grave)
    Compose E `     for È  (E-grave)
    Compose e `     for è  (e-grave)
    Compose I `     for Ì  (I-grave)
    Compose i `     for ì  (i-grave)
    Compose O `     for Ò  (O-grave)
    Compose o `     for ò  (o-grave)
    Compose U `     for Ù  (U-grave)
    Compose u `     for ù  (u-grave)

diacriticals characters - acute:


    Compose A '     for Á  (A-acute)
    Compose a '     for á  (a-acute)

    ... like above for all vocals ...

diacriticals characters - circumflex:


    Compose A ^     for Â  (A-circumflex)
    Compose a ^     for â  (a-circumflex)

    ... like above for all vocals ...

diacriticals characters - tilde:


    Compose A ~     for Ã  (A-tilde)
    Compose a ~     for ã  (a-tilde)
    Compose O ~     for Õ  (O-tilde)
    Compose o ~     for õ  (o-tilde)
    Compose N ~     for Ñ  (N-tilde)
    Compose n ~     for ñ  (n-tilde)

diacriticals characters - ring:


    Compose A *     for Å  (A-ring)
    Compose a *     for å  (a-ring)

diacriticals characters - cedille:


    Compose C ,     for Ç  (C-cedille)
    Compose c ,     for ç  (c-cedille)

diacriticals characters - dieresis:


    Compose A "     for Ä  (A-dieresis)
    Compose a "     for ä  (a-dieresis)
    Compose E "     for Ë  (E-dieresis)
    Compose e "     for ë  (e-dieresis)
    Compose I "     for Ï  (I-dieresis)
    Compose i "     for ï  (i-dieresis)
    Compose O "     for Ö  (O-dieresis)
    Compose o "     for ö  (o-dieresis)
    Compose U "     for Ü  (U-dieresis)
    Compose u "     for ü  (u-dieresis)
    Compose y "     for ÿ  (y-dieresis)

diacriticals characters - slashed:


    Compose O /     for Ø  (O-slash)
    Compose o /     for ø  (o-slash)

diacriticals characters - single dot:


    Compose C .     for Ċ  (C-dot)
    Compose c .     for ċ  (c-dot)

    ... and so on for other consonants ...

diacriticals characters - macron:


    Compose A -     for Ā  (A-macron)
    Compose a -     for ā  (a-macron)

    ... and so on for other consonants ...

diacriticals characters - breve:


    Compose A u     for Ă  (A-breve)
    Compose a u     for ă  (a-breve)

    ... and so on for other consonants ...

diacriticals characters - caron:


    Compose A v     for Ǎ  (A-caron)
    Compose a v     for ǎ  (a-caron)

    ... and so on for other consonants ...

ligatures:


    Compose s s     for ß  (german sz)
    Compose A E     for Æ  (AE-ligature)
    Compose a e     for æ  (ae-ligature)
    Compose O E     for Œ  (OE-ligature)
    Compose o e     for œ  (oe-ligature)
    Compose I J     for &LJlig;  (IJ-ligature)
    Compose i j     for &ljlig;  (ij-ligature)

Keyboard Settings

Help index

Keyboard processing

KeyboardMap setup

Keyboard macros

Composing national characters

Further reading