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Add or Find a Key

How do I get to this dialog box?

From X Manager or X Manager for Domains

  1. Click Tools > Keyboard Maps.

  2. In the Keyboard Maps dialog box, click Map Key.

  3. On the Map Key tab, click the + sign above the column of Explicitly mapped keys to open the Add or Find a Key dialog box.

note

Administrators can also configure Keyboard Maps from the Domain Definitions tab.

You have two options for specifying a key you want to map:

  • Press a key. Review the key description, then click OK.

    This is the most straightforward way to ensure that you're mapping the key you want.

  • Locate the key by selecting it from the Select a key name list and specifying the key location as needed.

If the key is already in the list of Explicitly mapped keys, the key you pressed or selected is highlighted in the list. Review the X Keysyms associated with the key.

note

An X Keysym is an encoding of a symbol on the cap of a key. The set of defined X Keysyms includes the ISO Latin character sets, Katakana, Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Technical, Publishing, APL, Hebrew, Thai, Korean, and other keys found on keyboards such as Return, Help, and Tab.

A list of X Keysyms is associated with each keycode. The list is intended to convey the set of symbols on the corresponding key. Standard rules for obtaining an X Keysym from a KeyPress event make use of only the first four X Keysyms associated with a keycode. Depending on the state of the Shift and ModeSwitch (AltGr) modifiers, one of the first four keysyms will be selected.

If you want to change one of the X Keysym associated with the key, click the corresponding Change Mapped X Keysym button on the right. Although there are four buttons to change X Keysyms, it is likely that you will only need to map the Unshifted option.

Guidelines for Adding or Finding a Key

  • The implicitly mapped keys on the Characters tab do not need to be mapped if they are already doing what you expect.

  • Confirm that you have the appropriate key location selected when you use the Select a key name list. The Standard keyboard is the appropriate location for control characters such as Tab or Caps Lock. However, if you want to select a key on the numeric keypad, you should select Numeric Keypad in the Select a key location list to specify the correct key. If you choose a key that is already explicitly mapped, it is highlighted on the Map Key tab when you exit this dialog box.

More information