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libxkbcommon

libxkbcommon is a keyboard keymap compiler and support library which processes a reduced subset of keymaps as defined by the XKB (X Keyboard Extension) specification. It also contains a module for handling Compose and dead keys, a separate registry library for listing available keyboard layouts and a fair set of CLI tools.

# Quick Guide

- Introduction to XKB: to learn the essentials of XKB.
- User-configuration: instructions to add a custom layout or option.
- Keymap format: keymap components and keymap text syntax documentation.
- Library quick Guide: introduction on how to use this library.
- Tools: introduction to the xkbcli application.
- Release notes.
- Frequently Asked Question (FAQ).

# Building

libxkbcommon is built with Meson:

meson setup build
meson compile -C build
meson test -C build # Run the tests.

To build for use with Wayland, you can disable X11 support while still using the X11 keyboard configuration resource files thusly:

meson setup build \
-Denable-x11=false \
-Dxkb-config-root=/usr/share/X11/xkb \
-Dx-locale-root=/usr/share/X11/locale
meson compile -C build
Complete list of user options
option(
'xkb-config-root',
type: 'string',
description: 'The XKB config root [default=xkeyboard-config install path]',
)
option(
'xkb-config-versioned-extensions-path',
type: 'string',
description: 'Lookup path for system-wide XKB versioned data extensions [default=xkeyboard-config install path + .d]',
)
option(
'xkb-config-unversioned-extensions-path',
type: 'string',
description: 'Lookup path for system-wide XKB unversioned data extensions [default=xkeyboard-config install path - version + .d]',
)
option(
'xkb-config-extra-path',
type: 'string',
description: 'Extra lookup path for system-wide XKB data [default=$sysconfdir/xkb]',
)
option(
'x-locale-root',
type: 'string',
description: 'The X locale root [default=$datadir/X11/locale]',
)
option(
'bash-completion-path',
type: 'string',
description: 'Directory for bash completion scripts'
)
option(
'default-rules',
type: 'string',
value: 'evdev',
description: 'Default XKB ruleset',
)
option(
'default-model',
type: 'string',
value: 'pc105',
description: 'Default XKB model',
)
option(
'default-layout',
type: 'string',
value: 'us',
description: 'Default XKB layout',
)
option(
'default-variant',
type: 'string',
value: '',
description: 'Default XKB variant',
)
option(
'default-options',
type: 'string',
value: '',
description: 'Default XKB options',
)
option(
'enable-tools',
type: 'boolean',
value: true,
description: 'Enable building tools',
)
option(
'enable-x11',
type: 'boolean',
value: true,
description: 'Enable building the xkbcommon-x11 library',
)
option(
'enable-docs',
type: 'boolean',
value: false,
description: 'Enable building the documentation',
)
option(
'enable-cool-uris',
type: 'boolean',
value: false,
description: 'Enable creating redirections to maintain stable documentation pages',
)
option(
'enable-wayland',
type: 'boolean',
value: true,
description: 'Enable support for Wayland utility programs (requires enable-tools)',
)
option(
'enable-xkbregistry',
type: 'boolean',
value: true,
description: 'Enable building libxkbregistry',
)
option(
'enable-bash-completion',
type: 'boolean',
value: true,
description: 'Enable installing bash completion scripts',
)

# API

While libxkbcommon’s API is somewhat derived from the classic XKB API as found in X11/extensions/XKB.h and friends, it has been substantially reworked to expose fewer internal details to clients.

See the API Documentation.

# Tools

Libxkbcommon has a fair set of CLI `tools`, grouped under the `xkbcli` application:

`xkbcli compile-keymap`
  Compile an XKB keymap
`xkbcli compile-compose`
  Compile a compose file
`xkbcli how-to-type`
  Show how to type a given Unicode codepoint
`xkbcli interactive-wayland`
  Interactive debugger for XKB keymaps for Wayland
`xkbcli interactive-x11`
  Interactive debugger for XKB keymaps for X11
`xkbcli interactive-evdev`
  Interactive debugger for XKB keymaps for evdev
`xkbcli dump-keymap-wayland`
  Dump a XKB keymap from a Wayland compositor
`xkbcli dump-keymap-x11`
  Dump a XKB keymap from a X server
`xkbcli list`
  List available layouts and more

It may require the installation of the package libxkbcommon-tools or similar name.

# Dataset

libxkbcommon does not distribute a keyboard layout dataset itself, other than for testing purposes. The most common dataset is xkeyboard-config, which is used by all current distributions for their X11 XKB data. Further information on xkeyboard-config is available at its homepage and at its repository.

The dataset for Compose is distributed in libX11, as part of the X locale data.

# Relation to X11

See Compatibility notes.

# Development

An project’s homepage can be found at https://xkbcommon.org.

xkbcommon is maintained in git at: https://github.com/xkbcommon/libxkbcommon

Patches are always welcome, and may be sent to either xorg-.nosp@m.deve.nosp@m.l@lis.nosp@m.ts.x.nosp@m..org or wayla.nosp@m.nd-d.nosp@m.evel@.nosp@m.list.nosp@m.s.fre.nosp@m.edes.nosp@m.ktop..nosp@m.org or in a GitHub pull request.

Bug reports (and usage questions) are also welcome, and may be filed at GitHub.

The maintainers are:

- Daniel Stone
- Ran Benita
- Pierre Le Marre

# License

See the LICENSE file.

# Credits

Many thanks are due to Dan Nicholson for his heroic work in getting xkbcommon off the ground initially.