Re: [Bug-apl] Trouble with Unicomp keyboard

[Juergen Sauermann]

Hi Blake,

I am not using xkbcomp myself. I have briefly tried it but I am not at all an expert
in it. I will share all my knowledge with you, but don't expect too much. All the information
I have came from some emacs guys, see the postings around Oct 28, 2913 on:

http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2013-10/index.html

Maybe one of the emacs specialists can help you as well.

The first step is probably to adapt apl.xkb to your keyboard layout.
The new apl.xkb is then compiled into an apl.xkm using xkbcomp (see man xkbcomp).
The apl.xkm can then be installed (and that should be it, I hope).

It is correct that xkbcomp is far more powerful that xmodmap, but the power
comes with some more complexity.

/// Jürgen


On 04/14/2014 06:12 AM, Blake McBride wrote:

Greetings,

I have a Unicomp (USB) APL keyboard.  I am running the latest LinuxMint.  Using:

    xmodmap apl.xmodmap

does work but has two significant problems as follows:

1.  Many keys don't match the Unicomp layout of APL characters.  For example, on the Unicomp keyboard, ← and → are on the same keyboard key, not two different keys shown in keyboard.txt.  Some keys on the Unicomp keyboard represent up to five different characters.

Although I believe keyboard.txt shows a pretty standard layout, it doesn't matter what is correct when the keyboard is showing different keys.  It's nice to have a match.

2.  It seems the problem can not be fixed with xmodmap because that only allows a limited number of ctl/shift/alt combinations.  It seems insufficient for the Unicomp keyboard.

I looked into xkbcomp.  That appears powerful enough to fix the problem.  It seem like it handles many more ctl/shift/alt left/right combinations.  The problem, for me, is that the setup file for xkbcomp seems very complex.  Before I spend anymore time with it I am hoping to verify my findings.  Also, help with the setup is greatly appreciated.  At this point, I'm not really sure what to do.

There is a lot I want to do with GNU APL.  This has been holding me back.

Thanks!

Blake McBride