You can get your keyboard supported if keyTouch doesn't yet, by following the instructions of this howto. KeyTouch has a function to import a so called “keyboard file”. You have to create such keyboard file, which contains information about the keyboard.
About (extra function) keys
When you press a key on your keyboard, your keyboard sends a keycode (also called hardwarecode) to your computer. X will convert this keycode to a symbolic code. Examples of symbolic codes are: 'a' (the 'a'-key), 'space' (your space-key).
There are no standard hardwarecodes for extra function keys. So we have to find out what hardwarecode a extra function key has. To do this we use the program 'xev', which opens a window. When this window recieves a X event the contents of that event will be printed to the commandline. An example of the contents of a key press event is:
KeyPress event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x2600001,
root 0x3a, subw 0x2600002, time 3968686, (58,60), root:(899,589),
state 0x0, keycode 38 (keysym 0x61, a), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes: "a"
The part of output which is bold gives us the information we need about a key:
keycode 38
... tells us that the keycode is 38
(keysym 0x61, a)
... tells us that the symbolic code is a.
However, we only need to know what the keycode is. Normally the contents of a key press event of a extra function key will be:
KeyPress event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x2600001,
root 0x3a, subw 0x2600002, time 3968686, (58,60), root:(899,589),
state 0x0, keycode 158 (keysym 0x0, NoSymbol), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes: ""
As you can see there is no symbolic code for the key yet (one job of keyTouch is to give a key a symbolic code).
Creating a keyboard file
A keyboard file contains information about a keyboard.
The first line contains the model name of the keyboard. The second line contains the name of the manufacturer. It's recommended that the first character of a word (in a model and manufacturer name) is an uppercase character. An example of the first two lines is:
Internet Navigator SE
Logitech
After these two lines the file contains information about the extra function keys. The information for 1 key occupies 4 lines (let's call these four line a key setting):
The keycode
The symbolic keycode
The name of the key
The default (predefined) program or special action for this key.
The symbolic keycode must be a valid one that exists on (almost) every system. It's recommanded to use one of the following:
|
XF86ModeLock XF86Standby XF86AudioLowerVolume XF86AudioMute XF86AudioRaiseVolume XF86AudioPlay XF86AudioStop XF86AudioPrev XF86AudioNext XF86HomePage XF86Mail XF86Start XF86Search XF86AudioRecord XF86Calculator XF86Memo XF86ToDoList XF86Calendar XF86PowerDown XF86ContrastAdjust XF86RockerUp XF86RockerDown XF86RockerEnter XF86Back XF86Forward XF86Stop XF86Refresh XF86PowerOff XF86WakeUp XF86Eject XF86ScreenSaver XF86WWW XF86Sleep XF86Favorites XF86AudioPause XF86AudioMedia XF86MyComputer XF86VendorHome XF86LightBulb XF86Shop XF86History XF86OpenURL XF86AddFavorite |
XF86HotLinks XF86BrightnessAdjust XF86Finance XF86Community XF86AudioRewind XF86BackForward XF86Launch0 XF86Launch1 XF86Launch2 XF86Launch3 XF86Launch4 XF86Launch5 XF86Launch6 XF86Launch7 XF86Launch8 XF86Launch9 XF86LaunchA XF86LaunchB XF86LaunchC XF86LaunchD XF86LaunchE XF86LaunchF XF86ApplicationLeft XF86ApplicationRight XF86Book XF86CD XF86Calculater XF86Clear XF86Close XF86Copy XF86Cut XF86Display XF86DOS XF86Documents XF86Excel XF86Explorer XF86Game XF86Go XF86iTouch XF86LogOff XF86Market XF86Meeting XF86MenuKB |
XF86MenuPB XF86MySites XF86New XF86News XF86OfficeHome XF86Open XF86Option XF86Paste XF86Phone XF86Q XF86Reply XF86Reload XF86RotateWindows XF86RotationPB XF86RotationKB XF86Save XF86ScrollUp XF86ScrollDown XF86ScrollClick XF86Send XF86Spell XF86SplitScreen XF86Support XF86TaskPane XF86Terminal XF86Tools XF86Travel XF86UserPB XF86User1KB XF86User2KB XF86Video XF86WheelButton XF86Word XF86Xfer XF86ZoomIn XF86ZoomOut XF86Away XF86Messenger XF86WebCam XF86MailForward XF86Pictures XF86Music |
The fourth line contains the name of the program or the name of the special action to excute when the key is pressed. If the line contains the name of a special action a ':' will precede.
An example of the four (/key setting) lines is:
178
XF86HomePage
My home
:WWW – Home
This key setting may be followed by another one. It's allowed to insert empty lines between key settings and also recommended to insert 1 empty line (for readability of the file).
The beginning of a keyboard file may look like:
Internet Navigator SE
Logitech
174
XF86AudioLowerVolume
Lower volume
:Aumix - Volume decrease
176
XF86AudioRaiseVolume
Raise volume
:Aumix - Volume increase
147
XF86iTouch
iTouch
keytouch
229
XF86Search
Search
:WWW – Search
After you created a keyboard file
After you created the keyboard file you can use it for yourself, but maybe there are also other users that have the same keyboard. Thus it would be very nice that you send the keyboard file to: marvinr (at) users.sourceforge.net