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keyboard(4)

NAME

     keyboard -- pc keyboard interface

DESCRIPTION

     The PC keyboard is used as the console character input device.  The key-
     board is owned by the current virtual console.  To switch between the
     virtual consoles use the sequence ALT+Fn, which means hold down ALT and
     press one of the function keys.  The virtual console with the same number
     as the function key is then selected as the current virtual console and
     given exclusive use of the keyboard and display.

     The console allows entering values that are not physically present on the
     keyboard via a special keysequence.  To use this facility press and hold
     down ALT, then enter a decimal number from 0-255 via the numerical key-
     pad, then release ALT.  The entered value is then used as the ASCII value
     for one character.  This way it is possible to enter any ASCII value, not
     present on the keyboard.  The console driver also includes a history
     function.	It is activated by pressing the scroll-lock key.  This holds
     the display, and enables the cursor arrows for scrolling up and down
     through the last scrolled out lines.

     The keyboard is configurable to suit the individual user and the differ-
     ent national layout.

     The keys on the keyboard can have any of the following functions:

     Normal key    Enter the ASCII value associated with the key.
     Function key  Enter a string of ASCII values.
     Switch Key    Switch virtual console.
     Modifier Key  Change the meaning of another key.

     The keyboard is seen as a number of keys numbered from 1 to n.  This num-
     ber is often referred to as the "scancode" for a given key.  The number
     of the key is transmitted as an 8 bit char with bit 7 as 0 when a key is
     pressed, and the number with bit 7 as 1 when released.  This makes it
     possible to make the mapping of the keys fully configurable.

     The meaning of every key is programmable via the PIO_KEYMAP ioctl call,
     that takes a structure keymap_t as argument.  The layout of this struc-
     ture is as follows:

			   struct keymap {
				   u_short n_keys;
				   struct key_t {
					   u_char map[NUM_STATES];
					   u_char spcl;
					   u_char flgs;
				   } key[NUM_KEYS];
			   };

     The field n_keys tells the system how many keydefinitions (scancodes)
     follows.  Each scancode is then specified in the key_t substructure.

     Each scancode can be translated to any of 8 different values, depending
     on the shift, control, and alt state.  These eight possibilities are rep-
     resented by the map array, as shown below:

     scancode 0x1E.  The eight states are as shown, giving the 'A' key its
     normal behavior.  The spcl field is used to give the key "special" treat-
     ment, and is interpreted as follows.  Each bit corresponds to one of the
     states above.  If the bit is 0 the key emits the number defined in the
     corresponding map[] entry.  If the bit is 1 the key is "special".	This
     means it does not emit anything; instead it changes the "state".  That
     means it is a shift, control, alt, lock, switch-screen, function-key or
     no-op key.  The bitmap is backwards i.e., 7 for base, 6 for shift etc.

     The flgs field defines if the key should react on caps-lock (1), num-lock
     (2), both (3) or ignore both (0).

     The kbdcontrol(1) utility is used to load such a description into/outof
     the kernel at runtime.  This makes it possible to change the key assign-
     ments at runtime, or more important to get (GIO_KEYMAP ioctl) the exact
     key meanings from the kernel (e.g. used by the X server).

     The function keys can be programmed using the SETFKEY ioctl call.

     This ioctl takes an argument of the type fkeyarg_t:

			   struct fkeyarg {
				   u_short keynum;
				   char    keydef[MAXFK];
				   char    flen;
			   };

     The field keynum defines which function key that is programmed.  The
     array keydef should contain the new string to be used (MAXFK long), and
     the length should be entered in flen.

     The GETFKEY ioctl call works in a similar manner, except it returns the
     current setting of keynum.

     The function keys are numbered like this:

		   F1-F12		   key 1 - 12
		   Shift F1-F12 	   key 13 - 24
		   Ctrl F1-F12		   key 25 - 36
		   Ctrl+shift F1-F12	   key 37 - 48

		   Home 		   key 49
		   Up arrow		   key 50
		   Page Up		   key 51
		   (keypad) -		   key 52
		   Left arrow		   key 53
		   (keypad) 5		   key 54
		   Right arrow		   key 55
		   (keypad) +		   key 56
		   End			   key 57
		   Down arrow		   key 58
		   Page down		   key 59
		   Insert		   key 60
		   Delete		   key 61

		   Left window		   key 62
		   Right window 	   key 63
		   Menu 		   key 64

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