## SYNOPSIS

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

## DESCRIPTION

           The  program loadkeys reads the file or files specified by
           filename....  Its main  purpose  is  to  load  the  kernel
           keymap for the console.

## RESET TO DEFAULT

           If  the -d (or --default ) option is given, loadkeys loads
           a default keymap, probably the file  defkeymap.map  either
           in          /usr/share/kbd/keymaps          or          in
           /usr/src/linux/drivers/char.   (Probably  the  former  was
           user-defined,  while  the  latter is a qwerty keyboard map
           for PCs - maybe not what was desired.)  Sometimes, with  a
           strange  keymap  loaded  (with  the  minus on some obscure
           unknown modifier combination) it is easier to type  `load
           keys defkeymap'.

## LOAD KERNEL KEYMAP

           The  main  function  of  loadkeys is to load or modify the
           keyboard driver's translation tables.  When specifying the
           file  names, standard input can be denoted by dash (-). If
           no file is specified, the data is read from  the  standard
           input.

           For  many countries and keyboard types appropriate keymaps
           are available already, and a command  like  `loadkeys  uk'
           might  do  what you want. On the other hand, it is easy to
           construct one's own keymap. The user has to tell what sym
           bols  belong  to  each key. She can find the keycode for a
           key by use of showkey(1), while the keymap format is given
           in  keymaps(5)  and  can  also  be seen from the output of
           dumpkeys(1).

## LOAD KERNEL ACCENT TABLE

           If the input file does not contain any compose key defini
           tions,  the  kernel accent table is left unchanged, unless
           the -c (or --clearcompose ) option is given, in which case
           the  kernel  accent  table  is emptied.  If the input file
           does contain compose key definitions, then all old defini
           tions  are  removed,  and  replaced  by  the specified new
           entries.  The kernel accent table is  a  sequence  of  (by
           default  68) entries describing how dead diacritical signs
           and compose keys behave.  For example, a line

                  compose ',' 'c' to ccedilla

           means  that  <ComposeKey><,><c>  must   be   combined   to
                  string F70 = "Hello!"
                  string F71 = "Goodbye!"

           in the keymap.  The default bindings for the function keys
           are certain escape sequences mostly inspired by the  VT100
           terminal.

## CREATE KERNEL SOURCE TABLE

           If  the -m (or --mktable ) option is given loadkeys 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 (and does not modify the
           current keymap).

## OTHER OPTIONS

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

## WARNING

           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.

## FILES

           /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
                  default directory for keymaps

           /usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map
                  default kernel keymap

## SEE ALSO

           dumpkeys(1), keymaps(5)

                                6 Feb 1994                LOADKEYS(1)