kedit

Edit a keyboard layout file (QNX)

Syntax:

kedit [-o file] kbfile

Options:

-o file

Write output to the specified file if the user requests to save changes when exiting.

kbfile

A keyboard layout file, usually found in the /etc/config/kbd directory. You must specify the full pathname. The special name system can be used to edit the currently defined layout.

Description:

The kedit utility is a fullscreen program that lets you generate custom keyboard layouts. The program displays several screens that let you view or change the codes assigned to individual keys. There's a separate screen for each of these modes:UNSHIFTED, SHIFTED, CTRL, ALT.

Once you've entered kedit, you can perform the following actions:

You can determine that a key will generate a different character if either CapsLock or NumLock is active. The value of the opposite shift state will be sent instead of the default value. For example, if CapsLock is active on a US keyboard, pressing A will generate A instead of a, and if both CapsLock and Shift are active, A will generate a, not A. Typically, the A-Z keys are CapsLock-dependent, while the keys on the numeric keypad are NumLock-dependent.

Dead keys, which are useful for non-US layouts (e.g. French, German), don't generate a character when used alone. Instead, they're used to modify the effects of other keys. The user presses the dead key, then presses the key that it modifies. Dead keys are often used for creating accented characters. For example, to create the umlaut character, the user presses the umlaut dead key, followed by Shift-U.

If you change any key assignments, and then attempt to exit by pressing Esc, you'll be asked whether the changes should be saved.

Examples:

Edit the German layout file:

    kedit /etc/config/kbd/Germany

Create a new layout file based on the current keyboard layout:

    kedit -o /etc/config/kbd/custom system

Files:

/etc/config/kbd

Keyboard layout files are typically found in this directory.

See also:

kbd