WSKBD(4) | Device Drivers Manual | WSKBD(4)

# NAME

`wskbd` —
generic keyboard support in wscons

# SYNOPSIS

`wskbd* at pckbd? console ? mux 1` (standard PC keyboard)
`wskbd* at ukbd? console ? mux 1` (USB keyboard)
`wskbd* at lkkbd? console ? mux 1` (DEC LK200/400 serial keyboard)
`wskbd0 at akbd? console ? mux 1` (Apple ADB keyboard)
`wskbd0 at nextkbd? console ? mux 1` (NeXT keyboard)
`wskbd* at vrkiu? console ? mux 1` (NEC VR4000 series HPC keyboard)
`wskbd* at skbd? console ? mux 1` (keyboard of misc hpcmips handheld devices)
`wskbd* at btkbd? console ? mux 1` (Bluetooth keyboard)

# DESCRIPTION

The `wskbd` driver handles common tasks for keyboards within the wscons(4) framework. It is attached to the hardware specific keyboard drivers and provides their connection to “wsdisplay” devices and a character device interface.

The common keyboard support consists of:

- Mapping from keycodes (defined by the specific keyboard driver) to keysyms (hardware independent, defined in /usr/include/dev/wscons/wsksymdef.h).
- Handling of “compose” sequences. Characters commonly not present as separate key on keyboards can be generated after either a special “compose” key is pressed or a “dead accent” character is used.
- Certain translations, like turning an “ALT” modifier into an “ESC” prefix.
- Automatic key repetition (“typematic”).
- Parameter handling for “keyboard bells”.
- Generation of “keyboard events” for use by X servers.

The `wskbd` driver provides a number of ioctl functions to control key maps and other parameters. These functions are accessible though the associated “wsdisplay” device as well. A complete list is in /usr/include/dev/wscons/wsconsio.h. The wsconsctl(8) utility allows to access key maps and other variables.

The console locator in the configuration line refers to the device's use as input part of the operating system console. A device specification containing a positive value here will only match if the device is in use as system console. (The console device selection in early system startup is not influenced.) This way, the console device can be connected to a known wskbd device instance.

## Keyboard encodings

The following encodings are supported. Device drivers for legacy keyboard interfaces may only support a subset of these. However, generally, all encodings are supported by pckbd(4) and ukbd(4).

wsconsctl | define | language
`user` | KB_USER | User-defined
`us` | KB_US | English/US keyboard mapping (default)
`uk` | KB_UK | English/UK keyboard mapping
`be` | KB_BE | Belgian
`br` | KB_BR | Brazilian with “dead accents”
`cf` | KB_CF | Canadian French
`cz` | KB_CZ | Czech (QWERTY)
`dk` | KB_DK | Danish with “dead accents”
`nl` | KB_NL | Dutch
`ee` | KB_EE | Estonian with “dead accents”
`fi` | KB_FI | Finnish
`fr` | KB_FR | French
`de` | KB_DE | German with “dead accents”
`gr` | KB_GR | Greek
`hu` | KB_HU | Hungarian
`is` | KB_IS | Icelandic with “dead accents”
`it` | KB_IT | Italian
`jp` | KB_JP | Japanese
`la` | KB_LA | Latin American Spanish
`no` | KB_NO | Norwegian with “dead accents”
`pl` | KB_PL | Polish
`pt` | KB_PT | Portuguese
`ru` | KB_RU | Russian
`es` | KB_ES | Spanish
`sv` | KB_SV | Swedish with “dead accents”
`sf` | KB_SF | Swiss French
`sg` | KB_SG | Swiss German
`tr` | KB_TR | Turkish (QWERTY) with “dead accents”
`ua` | KB_UA | Ukrainian
`us.declk` | KB_US|KB_DECLK | English/US mapping for DEC
|  | LK400-style keyboards with PC keyboard
|  | interface (e.g., LK461)
`us.dvorak` | KB_US|KB_DVORAK | English/US keyboard with
|  | “Dvorak” layout
`us.colemak` | KB_US|KB_COLEMAK | English/US keyboard with
|  | “Colemak” layout

`KB_NODEAD` ( “.nodead”) can be applied to layouts with “dead accents” to switch them off.

The `KB_US`, `KB_UK`, `KB_FR`, `KB_JP` and `KB_US|KB_DVORAK` mappings can be modified to swap the left CTRL and the CAPS LOCK keys by the `KB_SWAPCTRLCAPS` variant bit or the “.swapctrlcaps” suffix.

The `KB_METAESC` ( “.metaesc”) option can be applied to any layout. If set, keys pressed together with the ALT modifier are prefixed by an ESC character. (Standard behaviour is to add 128 to the ASCII value.)

## Ioctls

The following ioctl(2) calls are provided by the `wskbd` driver or by devices which use it. Their definitions are found in dev/wscons/wsconsio.h.

`WSKBDIO_GTYPE`
  Get the keyboard type.
`WSKBDIO_COMPLEXBELL, WSKBDIO_SETBELL, WSKBDIO_GETBELL, WSKBDIO_SETDEFAULTBELL, WSKBDIO_GETDEFAULTBELL` (`struct wsmouse_repeat`)
  Get and set keyboard bell settings.
`WSKBDIO_SETKEYREPEAT, WSKBDIO_GETKEYREPEAT, WSKBDIO_SETDEFAULTKEYREPEAT, WSKBDIO_GETDEFAULTKEYREPEAT` (`struct wskbd_keyrepeat_data`)
  Get and set keyboard autorepeat settings.
`WSKBDIO_SETLEDS, WSKBDIO_GETLEDS` (`int`)
  Get and set keyboard LED settings.
`WSKBDIO_GETMAP, WSKBDIO_SETMAP` (`struct wskbd_map_data`)
  Get and set keyboard keymapping settings.
`WSKBDIO_GETENCODING, WSKBDIO_SETENCODING` (`kbd_t`)
  Get and set keyboard encoding settings.
`WSKBDIO_GETKEYCLICK, WSKBDIO_SETKEYCLICK` (`int`)
  Get and set keyboard keyclick settings.
`WSKBDIO_SETVERSION` (`int`)
  Set the wscons_event protocol version. The default is 0 for binary compatibility. The latest version is always available as `WSKBD_EVENT_VERSION`, and is currently 1. All new code should use a call similar to the below to ensure the correct version is returned.

      int ver = WSKBD_EVENT_VERSION;
      if (ioctl(fd, WSKBDIO_SETVERSION, &ver) == -1)
          err(EXIT_FAILURE, "cannot set version");

# FILES

- /dev/wskbd*
- /usr/include/dev/wscons/wsksymdef.h
- /usr/include/dev/wscons/wsconsio.h.

# SEE ALSO

btkbd(4), pckbd(4), ukbd(4), wscons(4), wsmux(4), wsconsctl(8), wskbd(9)

# BUGS

The list of builtin mappings doesn't follow any logic. It grew as people submitted what they needed.

July 13, 2020 | NetBSD 9.4