Author: branden
Date: 2004-12-10 05:00:30 -0500 (Fri, 10 Dec 2004)
New Revision: 2068
Modified:
trunk/debian/CHANGESETS
trunk/debian/changelog
trunk/debian/local/FAQ.xhtml
Log:
Make corrections to the "How does the keyboard work in the X Window
System?" FAQ entry based on feedback from Frank Murphy. Thanks, Frank!
(Closes: #279055)
Modified: trunk/debian/CHANGESETS
===================================================================
--- trunk/debian/CHANGESETS 2004-12-10 09:10:03 UTC (rev 2067)
+++ trunk/debian/CHANGESETS 2004-12-10 10:00:30 UTC (rev 2068)
@@ -37,4 +37,9 @@
information, and otherwise enhancing them. (Closes: #275318)
2058
+Make corrections to the "How does the keyboard work in the X Window
+System?" FAQ entry based on feedback from Frank Murphy. Thanks, Frank!
+(Closes: #279055)
+ 2068
+
vim:set ai et sts=4 sw=4 tw=80:
Modified: trunk/debian/changelog
===================================================================
--- trunk/debian/changelog 2004-12-10 09:10:03 UTC (rev 2067)
+++ trunk/debian/changelog 2004-12-10 10:00:30 UTC (rev 2068)
@@ -25,8 +25,12 @@
* Tidy up and improve fbdev driver messages, correcting spelling, adding
information, and otherwise enhancing them. (Closes: #275318)
- -- Branden Robinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Wed, 8 Dec 2004 00:13:06 -0500
+ * Make corrections to the "How does the keyboard work in the X Window
+ System?" FAQ entry based on feedback from Frank Murphy. Thanks, Frank!
+ (Closes: #279055)
+ -- Branden Robinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Fri, 10 Dec 2004 04:59:01 -0500
+
xfree86 (4.3.0.dfsg.1-9) unstable; urgency=high
* Security update release. Resolves CAN-2004-0914 (several Xpm library
Modified: trunk/debian/local/FAQ.xhtml
===================================================================
--- trunk/debian/local/FAQ.xhtml 2004-12-10 09:10:03 UTC (rev 2067)
+++ trunk/debian/local/FAQ.xhtml 2004-12-10 10:00:30 UTC (rev 2068)
@@ -890,8 +890,8 @@
<p><em>It will take some time to write a comprehensive entry on this subject,
but in the meantime it is hoped that the information presented here is useful.
-Thanks to Denis Barbier and Andrew Suffield for their patience and
-explanations.</em></p>
+Thanks to Denis Barbier, Andrew Suffield, and Frank Murphy for their patience
+and explanations.</em></p>
<h4>Glossary</h4>
@@ -1023,54 +1023,60 @@
class="command">setxkbmap</code> command, which in turn depends on <code
class="command">xkbcomp</code>, the XKB data files, and the X libraries.</p>
-<p>Many users of the X Window System, particularly outside the United States,
-find that they need support for multiple <em>group</em>s on their keyboards.
-A group a set of two keyboard symbols paired so that pressing an unshifted key
-gets you the first symbol in the group, and pressing the same key with the
-<code>Shift</code> key held down give you the second symbol in the group.</p>
+<p>Many non-US keyboards need to support more than two glyphs per key. On a
+typical U.S. keyboard, there are at most two glyphs on each keycap — one
+is accessed with a <code>Shift</code> or <code>Caps Lock</code> key, and one
+without. To enable access to third, fourth, or fifth glyphs, other modifiers
+are used.</p>
-<p>A U.S. keyboard has only one group — this is sufficient to type all of
-the symbols in the ASCII character set. Elsewhere in the world, however,
-keyboards frequently have keys engraved with more than two glyphs. A third and
-often a fourth glyph appear. These comprise the <em>alternate group</em>,
which
-is usually accessed with a modifier key not found on most U.S. keyboards:
-<code>AltGr</code>. When the <code>AltGr</code> key is pressed, the third and
-fourth glyphs on the keycap can be entered: <kbd>AltGr + <em>key</em></kbd>
-gives you the third, and if a fourth is engraved, it is entered with <kbd>AltGr
-+ Shift + <em>key</em></kbd>. For example, on many European keyboards, one can
+<p>PC Keyboards for Latin-script characters ususally have an <kbd>AltGr</kbd>
+(alternate graphic) key that replaces the right <kbd>Alt</kbd> key. When a key
+is pressed while the <kbd>AltGr</kbd> key is down will generate the third
glyph,
+and when <kbd>Shift</kbd> <em>and</em> <kbd>AltGr</kbd> are down, it will
+generate the fourth glyph. For example, on many European keyboards, one can
press <kbd>AltGr + E</kbd> to produce the Euro sign (€). Sometimes the
-<code>Alt</code> key on the right-hand side of the keyboard is used as
-<code>AltGr</code> if there is no key actually engraved with
-<code>AltGr</code>.</p>
+<kbd>Alt</kbd> key on the right-hand side of the keyboard is used as
+<kbd>AltGr</kbd> if there is no key actually engraved as <kbd>AltGr</kbd>.</p>
-<p>If even an alternate group does not suffice to let users type all of the
-symbols they need to, the entire keyboard mapping can be switched out with a
-single keystroke using what the X KEYBOARD Extension (XKB) refers to as a
-"level". This is typically done with a <code>Mode Switch</code> key, which is
-somewhat analogous to <code>Caps Lock</code>. When this key is pressed, the X
-Window System toggles the second level. This approach is often taken with
-keyboards that need to type in both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. A
Russian
-user, for example, might use a French keyboard layout (complete with alternate
-group symbols) on the first level to correspond with Western European friends
-via email, but then press <code>Mode Switch</code> to change to the second
-level, featuring Cyrillic letters, to write messages to Russian friends.</p>
+<p>Non-Latin keyboards can have most of the keys engraved with both non-Latin
+<em>and</em> Latin glyphs. For example, Russian keyboards often work this way
+because they must support both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. As a
+consequence, users of the X Window System need a way to <em>combine
+layouts</em>. Combined layouts are often useful for users who need to type in
+multiple languages. A Russian user might use a French keyboard layout
(complete
+with third and fourth glyphs) to correspond with Western European friends via
+email, but then switch to another layout with Cyrillic letters to write
messages
+to Russian friends.</p>
-<p>XKB supports up to four keysyms per level (two groups of two symbols each),
-and up to four levels. In such situations, rather than having a <code>Mode
-Switch</code> key, there might be <code>Next Mode</code> and <code>Previous
-Mode</code> keys that cycle through the available levels.</p>
+<p>There are two ways to specify a more than two glyphs: levels and groups.
The
+core X protocol uses groups, but XKB (as of XFree86 4.3.0 and X.Org X11R6.7.0)
+uses levels. XKB changed in order to better support combined layouts. To
+specify a third glyph with groups, a second group is assigned to a key and the
+glyph is assigned to the first shift-level of the second group. To use levels,
+a third level is assigned to a key. The keysym used to generate these third
+glyphs also changes. When groups are used, the <kbd>AltGr</kbd> key is
assigned
+the keysym <code>Mode_switch</code>, and with levels it uses the keysym
+<code>ISO_Level3_Shift</code>. By moving from the muliple-group to the
+shift-level method, combined layouts become much more flexible and easier to
+maintain. With the old multiple-group approach, it was impossible to combine
+layouts that had more than two glyphs per key.</p>
-<p>A U.S. keyboard, even if keys are remapped so that <code>AltGr</code> and/or
-<code>Mode Switch</code> keys are available, does not acquire much meaningful
-additional functionality unless an alternate group and/or multiple levels are
-defined in software, so that "the keys know what to do" when the alternate
group
-is activated or the level is changed.</p>
+<p>XKB supports up to four keysyms per group and up to four groups per layout.
+In situations with three or four groups, rather than using
+<code>Mode_switch</code>, a keyboard can be configured to use the keysyms
+<code>ISO_Next_Group</code> and <code>ISO_Prev_Group</code> to cycle through
the
+available groups.</p>
-<p>A separate approach to typing symbols not engraved on the keyboard is to use
-the <code>Multi_key</code>. This enables you to use two keys to type any
symbol
-defined by Compose sequences for your locale. For most layouts, the
-<code>Multi_key</code> keysym is bound to <kbd>Shift + AltGr</kbd>. Note that
-<kbd>AltGr + Shift</kbd> means something else; see above.</p>
+<p>Another approach to typing symbols not engraved on the keyboard —
which
+is completely independent of levels and groups, and which may be used with
+either of them — is the <em>compose sequence</em>. The keysym
+<code>Multi_key</code> enables two keys to generate any symbol defined by
+Compose sequences for your locale. Keyboards that have a <kbd>Compose</kbd>
key
+often have the <code>Multi_key</code> keysym bound to it. For example, to type
+Ç in the C locale, first type <code>Multi_key</code>, then
+<code>comma</code> followed by capital <code>C</code>. The order of the
+<code>comma</code> and <code>C</code> can be reversed. Yet another way to
+define these kinds of symbols is with the XIM (X Input Method) extension.</p>
<h3><a id="xfree86_3x">What is the story with XFree86 3.<em>x</em>?</a></h3>
@@ -3161,8 +3167,8 @@
<p>The author would like to thank Andreas Metzler, Guillem Jover, Ingo Saitz,
Osamu Aoki, Matthew Arnison, Colin Walters, Steve Swales, Adam Jackson, Thomas
Dickey, Paul Gotch, Albert Cahalan, Denis Barbier, Jeff Licquia, Fabio Massimo
-Di Nitto, Andrew Suffield, and "ulisses" for their contributions to this
-document.</p>
+Di Nitto, Andrew Suffield, Frank Murphy, and "ulisses" for their contributions
+to this document.</p>
<hr />
<p class="x-small">$Id$</p>
