XkbApplyCompatMapToKey essentially performs the operation described in Core Keyboard Mapping to Xkb Keyboard Mapping Transformation to a specific key. This updates the behavior, actions, repeat status, and virtual modifier bindings of the key.
Core Keyboard Mapping to Xkb Keyboard Mapping Transformation
When a core protocol keyboard mapping request is received by the server, the server's core keyboard map is updated, and then the Xkb map maintained by the server is updated. Because a client may have explicitly configured some of the Xkb keyboard mapping in the server, this automatic regeneration of the Xkb keyboard mapping from the core protocol keyboard mapping should not modify any components of the Xkb keyboard mapping that were explicitly set by a client. The client must set explicit override controls to prevent this from happening (see Explicit Components-Avoiding Automatic Remapping by the Server). The core-to-Xkb mapping is done as follows:
Explicit Components-Avoiding
Automatic Remapping by the Server
Whenever a client remaps the keyboard using core protocol requests, Xkb examines the map to determine likely default values for the components that cannot be specified using the core protocol.
This automatic remapping might replace definitions explicitly requested by an application, so the Xkb keyboard description defines an explicit components mask for each key. Any aspects of the automatic remapping listed in the explicit components mask for a key are not changed by the automatic keyboard mapping.
The explicit components masks are held in the explicit field of the server map, which is an array indexed by keycode. Each entry in this array is a mask that is a bitwise inclusive OR of the values shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Explicit Component Masks |
Bit in Explicit Mask Value Protects Against |
ExplicitKeyType1 (1<<0) T{ |
Automatic determination of the key type associated with Group1. |
T} |
ExplicitKeyType2 (1<<1) T{ |
Automatic determination of the key type associated with Group2. |
T} |
ExplicitKeyType3 (1<<2) T{ |
Automatic determination of the key type associated with Group3. |
T} |
ExplicitKeyType4 (1<<3) T{ |
Automatic determination of the key type associated with Group4. |
T} |
ExplicitInterpret (1<<4) T{ |
Application of any of the fields of a symbol interpretation to the key in |
question. |
T} |
ExplicitAutoRepeat (1<<5) T{ |
Automatic determination of auto-repeat status for the key, as specified in a |
symbol interpretation. |
T} |
ExplicitBehavior (1<<6) T{ |
Automatic assignment of the XkbKB_Lock behavior to the key, if the |
XkbSI_LockingKey flag is set in a symbol interpretation. |
T} |
ExplicitVModMap (1<<7) T{ |
Automatic determination of the virtual modifier map for the key based on the |
actions assigned to the key and the symbol interpretations that match the key. |
T} |
G1L1 G1L2 G2L1 G2L2 G3L1 G3L2 G3L3If an explicit override control is set for group one or two, the symbols are taken from the core set in a somewhat different order. The first four symbols from the core set are assigned to G1L1, G1L2, G2L1, G2L2, respectively. If group one requires more symbols, they are taken next, and then any additional symbols needed by group two. Group three and four symbols are taken in complete sequence after group two. For example, a key with four groups and three symbols in each group would take symbols from the core set in the following order:
G1L1 G1L2 G2L1 G2L2 G1L3 G2L3 G3L1 G3L2 G3L3 G4L1 G4L2 G4L3As previously noted, the core protocol map requires at lease two symbols in groups one and two. Because of this, if an explicit override control for an Xkb key is set and group one and / or group two is of width one, it is not possible to generate the symbols taken from the core protocol set and assigned to position G1L2 and / or G2L2.
At this point, the groups and their associated symbols have been assigned to the corresponding key definitions in the Xkb map.
The symbol interpretations used in step 2 are configurable and may be specified using XkbSymInterpretRec structures referenced by the sym_interpret field of an XkbCompatMapRec.
Symbol Interpretations - the XkbSymInterpretRec Structure
Symbol interpretations are used to guide the X server when it modifies the Xkb keymap in step 2. An initial set of symbol interpretations is loaded by the server when it starts. A client may add new ones using XkbSetCompatMap.
Symbol interpretations result in key semantics being set. When a symbol
interpretation is applied, the following components of server key event
processing may be modified for the particular key involved:
Virtual modifier map Auto repeat Key behavior (may be set to XkbKB_Lock) Key actionThe XkbSymInterpretRec structure specifies a symbol interpretation:
typedef struct { KeySym sym; /* keysym of interest or NULL */ unsigned char flags; /* XkbSI_AutoRepeat, XkbSI_LockingKey */ unsigned char match; /* specifies how mods is interpreted */ unsigned char mods; /* modifier bits, correspond to eight real modifiers */ unsigned char virtual_mod; /* 1 modifier to add to key virtual mod map */ XkbAnyAction act; /* action to bind to symbol position on key */ } XkbSymInterpretRec,*XkbSymInterpretPtr;If sym is not NULL, it limits the symbol interpretation to keys on which that particular keysym is selected by the modifiers matching the criteria specified by mods and match. If sym is NULL, the interpretation may be applied to any symbol selected on a key when the modifiers match the criteria specified by mods and match.
match must be one of the values shown in Table 2 and specifies how the real modifiers specified in mods are to be interpreted.
Table 2 Symbol Interpretation Match Criteria |
Match Criteria Value Effect |
XkbSI_NoneOf (0) T{ |
None of the bits that are on in mods can be set, but other bits can be. |
T} |
XkbSI_AnyOfOrNone (1) T{ |
Zero or more of the bits that are on in mods can be set, as well as others. |
T} |
XkbSI_AnyOf (2) T{ |
One or more of the bits that are on in mods can be set, as well as any others. |
T} |
XkbSI_AllOf (3) T{ |
All of the bits that are on in mods must be set, but others may be set as well. |
T} |
XkbSI_Exactly (4) T{ |
All of the bits that are on in mods must be set, and no other bits may be set. |
T} |
In addition to the above bits, match may contain the XkbSI_LevelOneOnly
bit, in which case the modifier match criteria specified by mods and
match applies only if sym is in level one of its group; otherwise,
mods and match are ignored and the symbol matches a condition where
no modifiers are set.
#define XkbSI_LevelOneOnly (0x80) /* use mods + match only if sym is level 1 */If no matching symbol interpretation is found, the server uses a default interpretation where:
sym = 0 flags = XkbSI_AutoRepeat match = XkbSI_AnyOfOrNone mods = 0 virtual_mod = XkbNoModifier act = SA_NoActionWhen a matching symbol interpretation is found in step 2a, the interpretation is applied to modify the Xkb map as follows.
The act field specifies a single action to be bound to the symbol position; any key event that selects the symbol causes the action to be taken. Valid actions are defined in Key Actions.
If the Xkb keyboard map for the key does not have its ExplicitVModMap control set, the XkbSI_LevelOneOnly bit and symbol position are examined. If the XkbSI_LevelOneOnly bit is not set in match or the symbol is in position G1L1, the virtual_mod field is examined. If virtual_mod is not XkbNoModifier, virtual_mod specifies a single virtual modifier to be added to the virtual modifier map for the key. virtual_mod is specified as an index in the range [0..15].
If the matching symbol is in position
G1L1 of the key, two bits in the flags field potentially specify additional
behavior modifications:
#define XkbSI_AutoRepeat (1<<0) /* key repeats if sym is in position G1L1 */ #define XkbSI_LockingKey (1<<1) /* set KB_Lock behavior if sym is in psn G1L1 */If the Xkb keyboard map for the key does not have its ExplicitAutoRepeat control set, its auto repeat behavior is set based on the value of the XkbSI_AutoRepeat bit. If the XkbSI_AutoRepeat bit is set, the auto-repeat behavior of the key is turned on; otherwise, it is turned off.
If the Xkb keyboard map for the key does not have its ExplicitBehavior control set, its locking behavior is set based on the value of the XkbSI_LockingKey bit. If XkbSI_LockingKey is set, the key behavior is set to KB_Lock; otherwise, it is turned off.